Open House / Curriculum Night

Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts 2026 - 2027 Music Composition

A pre-professional course where students turn musical ideas into original scores, recordings, and multimedia projects. Through

composition, production, technology, critique, and revision, students develop an individual artistic voice and a portfolio for college,

competitions, and future creative work.

WHAT STUDENTS WILL CREATE

• Original music for live performance, film, video games, and commercial media

• Professionally engraved scores, recordings, mockups, remixes, and sound-design projects

• A polished portfolio suitable for college auditions and competition submissions

SKILLS & TOOLS

• Composition, harmony, arranging, orchestration, and active listening

• MIDI/audio editing, synthesis, recording, mixing, and mastering

• Logic Pro X and MuseScore using professional creative workflows

• Collaboration, presentation, critique, revision, and file organization

THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

Q1 - Composition Foundations - Notation • transcription • orchestration • engraving • harmony • first major composition

Q2 - Music Production - Logic Pro workflow • MIDI/audio editing • beats • remixes • mixing/mastering • portfolio work

Q3 - Music for Media - Film scoring • Foley • sound design • 8-bit game music • sampling • sync licensing

Q4 - Portfolio / EP - Advanced audio editing • Integrating notation and DAW’s • Music tools• EP • Juries

HOW LEARNING IS ASSESSED

80% Classwork & Projects

20% Daily Class Procedures

Headphone Options

Wired headphones are strongly recommended, as Bluetooth headphones can cause noticeable audio delays while recording and editing music. Below are four wired headphone options at different price points. TAny of these options will work well for this class. The higher-end models are intended for students interested in continuing with professional music composition, recording, or production.