Stage Music

This lesson is part of the Style & Compositional Techniques category.

Objectives

• Students will be familiar with the compositional processes involved in writing music for theatrical productions
• Students will be able to write a melody which underscores a short theatrical scene

Resources

Listening or Videos

• Kenrick, "How Broadway Musicals Are Made"
• 12tone:
  • “Cats: My Favorite Trainwreck”
  • “Understanding Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

Class Activities

• Discussion of the mechanics and compositional challenges of scoring film and video
• Analysis of a recorded opera or musical theatre scene
• Identifying techniques unique to opera or musical theatre

Assignments

• Analysis of music from opera or musical theatre
• Creating a compositional plan for a short theatrical scene
• Tracking the use of a specific motif through an opera or musical

Files

• Opera Terminology Matching ( Word | Pages | PDF )
• Identifying Types of Songs in Musical Theater ( Word | Pages | PDF )