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Certificate Programs 8 Courses (24 credits)
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Arranging and orchestration skills are a hot commodity. Placements on television, in video games and
animation, and in other modern revenue outlets require a detailed understanding of arranging, orchestral
writing, and production techniques. In the Master Certificate in Arranging and Orchestration, you’ll gain a
broad but in-depth background in arranging—for the rhythm section, horns, and strings—to writing for the
full orchestra and gain marketable skills that you’ll be able to put to work immediately.

You’ll start the certificate with Arranging: Small Ensemble and Horns, which focuses on smaller bands and
larger ensembles. You’ll learn techniques that can be applied to both live instrumentation or
sequenced/sampled sounds. You'll explore the properties of the horn section—including the trumpet,
trombone, and alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones—and study techniques and melodic embellishments that
will give you a basic understanding of writing/arranging for these instruments.

You’ll then move onto Arranging: Advanced Horn Writing, where you’ll learn more advanced arranging
techniques for the rhythm section and horn section. You'll learn unison, 2, 3, 4, and 5-part writing, and study
techniques for voicing chords, orchestration, articulations, and background lines. You'll also learn advanced
topics of harmony, such as tension substitutions and lower interval limits, knowledge that you can use to
create more expressive and captivating music for both live instrumentation or sequenced/sampled sounds.

In Arranging: Woodwinds and Strings, you'll gain a true understanding of the sound and personality of
woodwind and string instruments, exploring the fundamental properties of each instrument or group of
instruments—its extreme range, practical or useable range, and inherent idiosyncrasies. You’ll also learn how
to apply this information to actual songs, arrangements, and compositions—and in a variety of commercial
music settings, such as television and film.

Once you have this solid foundation in arranging, you’ll move on to orchestration techniques. In Orchestration
1, you’ll expand your writing knowledge base and apply traditional and emerging orchestration techniques to
both sampled performances and live orchestral performances. You’ll also learn how to create modern day
orchestral sounds and identify the characteristics and idiomatic writing techniques for each orchestral
instrument family: strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion.

The required courses in this certificate program conclude with our most advanced orchestration course,
Orchestration 2. Building on the techniques presented in Orchestration 1, this extensive course equips
students with new strategies and approaches to writing for full orchestra. You’ll gain the tools you need to
succeed—from making orchestration choices based on the tone color of the various instruments, to voicing
chords and progressions. You’ll also take an in-depth look at orchestrating from single layer material such as
solos and homophonic statements, to complex textures of four or more layers—music that is too complex to
fit into a traditional melody/countermelody/harmony format.

After completing the program’s core course work, you’ll choose three electives to steer your studies in your
own direction. You’ll choose from courses covering a wide array of deeper topics in Arranging, Orchestration,
and Songwriting. By the end of this all-encompassing certificate program, you’ll gain the flexibility and
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Arranging and Orchestration Master Certificate http://www.berkleemusic.com/school/certificates/certificate?area...

knowledge necessary to create dynamic arrangements and orchestral pieces that will provide you with
immense credibility in the musical world as well as pieces that can be used in income generation situations.

Substitutions may be requested for electives. Please contact our Continuing Education Registrar at
registrar@berkleemusic.com or call (617) 747-2146 to see if your request suits the overall academic
requirements for your chosen program.

Required Courses

Arranging: Small Ensemble and Horns

Jerry Gates (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Develop your writing and arranging skills for smaller bands and larger ensembles and learn techniques that
can be applied to both live instrumentation or sequenced/sampled sounds.

Arranging: Advanced Horn Writing

Jerry Gates (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Take your arranging abilities to the next level of development by studying more advanced techniques for
voicing chords, orchestration, articulations, and background lines.

Arranging: Woodwinds and Strings

Jerry Gates (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Gain a practical, real-world understanding of the sound and personality of woodwind and string instruments,
and learn how to properly apply them to songs, arrangements, and compositions.

Orchestration 1
Ben Newhouse (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Learn to write and apply traditional orchestration techniques to both sampled performances and live orchestral
performances.

Orchestration 2: Writing Techniques for Full Orchestra

Ben Newhouse (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Learn advanced orchestration strategies and approaches to writing for full orchestra, including both a live
orchestra and sampled MIDI mockups.

+ 3 Elective Courses ↓

Recommended Electives

Please contact our Continuing Education Registrar to request elective substitutions.

Arranging: Contemporary Styles

Dan Moretti (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Learn to create your own original grooves by analyzing, writing, sequencing and recording the rhythms and
styles that have influenced western contemporary music.

Music Notation Using Finale

Jonathan Feist (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Create great-looking music quickly and easily with the powerful Finale music notation software, and learn
techniques to maximize speed, control, and accuracy.

Music Notation Using Sibelius

Tom Rudolph (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Learn to create lead sheets, choral and instrumental scores, drum maps and guitar notation, and explore many
other ways to use Sibelius for your own personal and professional needs.

Film Scoring 101

Donald Wilkins (12 Weeks, 3 credits)
Create original music to accompany a visual medium by learning fundamental to more advanced film scoring
techniques.
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Introduction to Game Audio

Jeanine Cowen (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Gain a solid foundation of sound production and engineering skills that will prepare you to work at a game
development company or as a freelance game audio professional.

Contemporary Vocal Arranging

Bill Elliott, Sharon Broadley-Martin (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Master the concepts of vocal writing and arranging — from basic to more advanced—and learn to write vocal
charts in a number of contemporary styles, including jazz, folk, pop, and R&B.

Arranging 1: Rhythm Section

Suzanne Dean (12 weeks, 3 credits)
Essential learning for anyone interested in arranging music for a band, Arranging 1: Rhythm Section explores
all aspects of writing and arranging for the rhythm section.

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