Job Descriptions - Definitions - Career Fields: Composer
 

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Composer

"If music be the food of love, play on." This could quite well have been altered to read, "If music be your life, practice on."
If you are contemplating becoming a professional musician, you will already have realised that only those talented few reach star status and that they attained their success through constant practice, skill and effort.

A musician needs strong hands and fingers, a sensitive ear for music tones, rhythm, dedication and enthusiastic patience. The different roles in the music world are composers, performers and conductors. Within the group of performers are soloists, accompanists, members of an orchestra or a musical group. Music is the creation of ideas, emotions and melodies into compositions. Every one of the three fields of musicians dovetail one into the other for even a conductor who does not play an instrument cannot conduct without a deep knowledge and understanding of music.

A performer usually chooses a particular instrument - even a musical board of a computer - if he wishes to become a soloist but many are proficient with a variety of different instruments and most can play the piano. The once stereotyped violinist in his familiar evening suit, for example, gave way a short while ago when a famous violinist wore a black suit, running shoes and a tartan-coloured scarf on stage during a performance. Some fairly modern compositions - like those of the legendary Beetles - are so well written that they are currently being played by the members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

If you are interested in writing your own compositions, you will need to be able to read as well as write music.

If being an accompanist is more to your liking, you will have to decide on which instrument you would prefer to become expert at playing. Modern day musicians not only play for the public, they make records, tapes, videos and take part in concerts or solo performances. The guy playing the penny whistle on a street corner is also a musician. Bands are springing up all over the country and ethnic, classical, rap, etc., etc., kind of music is being played all over the world. Humans cannot live without some form of music. Take the man who has no instrument but his hands, his body and his toe-tapping feet - he is sometimes no less great in his own way than Beethoven. Music is communication and all musicians attempt to touch the souls of their listeners. Wind instruments probably began to be invented after a person placed a blade of grass between his fingers and thumbs and blew on it. The sound he heard was so titivating that he looked for a way of making it possible to reproduce that sound at will. Great music is emotion in sound; a method of releasing pent up emotions; an aid to romance and a balm to sadness. The music artists create canvases on which they write their feelings.

As a composer, you would be spending many hours improvising or writing new - or transposing old - compositions and you might even be called upon to arrange the words that accompany the music. Many advertising companies commission composers to write jingles for them and although this might seem an easy task, a deep knowledge of music is required in order to make the ad noteworthy. Sound effects add to the drama of the message. Musical groups are always looking for new songs and for new sounds. You would probably spend most of your time in your own home apart from time spent in rehearsals with the musicians.

As a performer, you would have to carefully study the music scores and practice at home until you could play them perfectly. During rehearsals or a performance, you would have to be able to perform in public without getting stage fright and bolting out into the wings. This applies in particular to soloists. Usually, rehearsals are held daily until the conductor feels that the orchestra, soloist or musical group is expert enough to be let loose on the public. You must be able to interact with other people.

A conductor should be a very experienced musician who has studied music and educated himself in the art of conducting an orchestra or a band. It is his task to conduct in such a way that every musician plays his part correctly and at the tempo decided upon by the experts or the conductor. It will usually be his task to select the music, arrange the programmes and train the musicians while directing rehearsals.


Career Fields


Performing Arts and Entertainment
 
 

Courtesy: CareerExpo

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