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Music Directors & Composers

Also called: Choir Director, Conductor, Music Composer, Music Director

Where in the military? In the military: see titles from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, or Navy.

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What they do:
Conduct, direct, plan, and lead instrumental or vocal performances by musical artists or groups, such as orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs; or create original works of music.
On the job, you would:
  • Use gestures to shape the music being played, communicating desired tempo, phrasing, tone, color, pitch, volume, and other performance aspects.
  • Direct groups at rehearsals and live or recorded performances to achieve desired effects such as tonal and harmonic balance dynamics, rhythm, and tempo.
  • Study scores to learn the music in detail, and to develop interpretations.

Knowledge

Arts and Humanities
  • music, dance, visual arts, drama, or sculpture
  • English language
Education and Training
  • teaching and course design
Engineering and Technology
  • computers and electronics
Business
  • customer service

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • talking to others
People and Technology Systems
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Abilities

Verbal
  • read and understand what is written
  • communicate by speaking
Ideas and Logic
  • come up with lots of ideas
  • create new and original ideas
Hearing and Speech
  • tell the difference between sounds
  • pay attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds
Memory
  • remember words, numbers, pictures, or steps

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Attention to Detail
  • Initiative
  • Cooperation
  • Independence

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Presentation software
  • MediaShout
  • Microsoft PowerPoint Hot Technology
Music or sound editing software
  • Audacity
  • ZynAddSubFX
Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel Hot Technology

Education

Education: (rated 4 of 5)
master's degree or
bachelor's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

Find Training Find Certifications Apprenticeship.gov

Job Outlook

Average Outlook
New job opportunities are likely in the future.
Salary
$49,130
$24,440
$123,800
Check out my state Local Salary Info Find Jobs

Explore More

See more details at O*NET OnLine about music directors and composers.