Arranging: Woodwinds and Strings—the most advanced arranging course offered by Berkleemusic—provides a simple, straightforward, and in-depth approach to this high level material. Throughout the course you'll gain a true understanding of the sound and personality of woodwind and string instruments, and learn how to apply them in a variety of commercial music settings, such as television and film.

Each lesson focuses on the fundamental properties of a particular instrument or group of instruments—its extreme range, practical or useable range, and inherent idiosyncrasies. You'll then apply this information to actual songs, arrangements, and compositions. You'll explore topics such as unison doubling of woodwinds, conceptual and dramatic approaches to composition, combining woodwinds and strings, string harmonics in a jazz/pop context, and the effect of strings and woodwinds on brass instruments. Instruments covered within the course include flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and acoustic bass.

This course emphasizes the practical, real-world application of the concepts covered and, to that end, provides interviews with industry writers and comprehensive information working with clients, conducting research for projects, addressng economic issues regarding instrument choices, analyzing scores, and scheduling studios and players.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Orchestrate and compose music for various contemporary woodwind and string instruments
Arrange or compose music for small and large string sections
Analyze orchestral scores and understand their nomenclature
Understand common orchestration techniques used in songs, music beds, jingles, web sites, and films
Decipher instructions given by a client regarding visual media assignments in television and film
Have a better understanding of dramatic composition