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Tuesday, April 22. 2008
[News] [PR 3] 4/22/08 NEW DIPLOMA PROGRAM MODULES ANNOUNCED BY US SCHOOL OF COMMERCIAL MUSIC
The new modular structure makes possible comprehensive customizable
program choices.
NEWARK, Delaware - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - USSCM announced today several new
Diploma Program Modules. According to the USSCM catalog, the
descriptions of the modules are:
Performance & Improvisation (P&I) Module 4 microsemesters: In the
USSCM Performance & Improvisation Program, you will acquire a firm
foundation in such essential areas of music as:
Eartraining, the skill to know and musically name what it is you are
hearing. Harmony, the skill to recognize the harmonic sequences and
practices associated with historical musical styles. Notation, the
art of clearly writing music which will be played by yourself and
others. Arranging, the art and skill of creating modern charts for
performance by small groups or as overdubs. Instrumental Technique,
the art of rapidly acquiring skill on your primary and secondary
instruments. Improvisation, the art of real-time composition on your
primary and secondary instruments. Ensemble Training, the essential
experience of playing with other great professional musicians through
the exclusive USSCM Faculty Minus One(tm) process. Repertory, the
experience of exposure to and immersion in a wide variety of commercial
musical styles. (design your program now)
"Continue your program by choosing up to six other professional areas:
The core categories of study in each of the subsequent modules remain
the same (Eartraining, Harmony, etc.), but with increasing
sophistication; to these are added the relevant module materials for a
well-rounded program.
Schillinger System of Musical Composition ("Schillinger") Module 4
microsemesters: The world-famous Schillinger System is the advanced
tool for music analysis and generation that has been used very
successfully by such songwriters as George Gershwin, such improvisors
as Howard Roberts and a great many Hollywood film composers; for
example, it was the Schillinger System that Gershwin used to compose "I
Got Rhythm," and which HR used to develop the vocabulary of his
well-known solo style.
USSCM has modernized the Schillinger System for today's composers and
improvisors who wish to have a special professional edge in their
understanding of melodic and rhythmic development (which is perhaps the
most important shaping force in music). In the Schillinger Program,
USSCM brings the Schillinger System up to date; within the SSMC Module,
students also cover and compare such esoteric systems as JS Bach's
System of Chordscales, the George Russell Lydian Chromatic Concept,
Bill Leavitt's Melodic Chordscale System, Charlie Parker's System of
Jazz Improvisation, and several other useful approaches. To elect
Schillinger, you should have a working fluency with the subjects
covered in Melody/Songwriting/Linear Counterpoint and be prepared to
rapidly realize your work and record it as MP3 audio files.
Concentrations which require Arranging / Orchestration or Media Scoring
also require Schillinger. It should be noted that SSMC is a helpful
tool; not a major concentration.
Because every professional musician is a small business, the
Schillinger Module now includes music business courses such as
economics, financial management and investments, as they apply to the
music business. The Schillinger Module is the most appropriate one to
incorporate business studies, because its study stimulates the
mathematical functions of the brain.
Advanced Improvisation (AI) Module 4 microsemesters: In Performance &
Improvisation, we have laid the technical and stylistic groundwork
which includes Standards, Duke/Miles, Classics/Ballads, Latin/Bossa.
Advanced Improvisation continues, with the development of skills for
further important styles: Blues, Bebop, Fusion, Modern Jazz, etc.
Stylistic repertoire is continued appropriately in all the other
modules. While building repertoire, we continue the subject structure
outlined in Performance & Improvisation above, but the content becomes
increasingly advanced, covering all sorts of improvisational approaches
and theories applicable to modern commercial music.
Melody, Songwriting & Linear Counterpoint (MSLC) Module 4
microsemesters: To elect MSLC, you should have a working fluency with
Commercial Music Eartraining, Harmony, Notation, MP3 Recording
Techniques, a substantial Performance Repertory of important Commercial
Music styles, experience with Performance & Improvisation in Ensemble
settings and familiarity with the fundamentals of Arranging, all of
which are features of the USSCM P&I Module.
as you build upon your P&I foundation, in the MSLC Module you will
acquire powerful techniques of melodic and thematic analysis with which
to explore a substantial but focused library of important music.
Equipped with new analytical skills and musical conditioning, you will
then turn to linguistic analysis and apply it to both rapid song
composition and real-time improvisation.
Finally, as an essential component of the development of a personal
style, you will explore the balance between the vertical and linear
aspects of music through the creation of a wide range of projects from
modern 'chorales' to contemporary 'fugues'. In the MSLC Module, not
only songwriters and composers, but also guitarists and keyboardists
will benefit from a full elaboration of these techniques on their
primary and secondary instruments.
Business courses included in the SongWriting Module include Selling and
Sales, which are essential professional tunesmith activities.
Arranging / Orchestration (A/O) Module (prerequisite: Schillinger
System Module) 4 microsemesters: Students who elect A/O should have a
working fluency with the concepts of the MSLC and SSMC Modules. In the
USSCM A/O Program, you will acquire dexterity in your creative use of
the mechanics of ensemble expression within various musical settings
and production situations.
You will acquire the techniques of Jazz Composition, Arranging for
Large Ensembles, Writing for Strings and Principles of Orchestration.
Projects include writing and realizing scores of various size ensembles
and studio orchestras.
Media Scoring (MS) Module (prerequisites: Schillinger System (S) and
Arranging/Orchestration (Ork)) 4 microsemesters: USSCM students who
elect Media Scoring will have achieved, as a prerequisite, the subjects
covered in P&I, MSLC, SSMC, A/0 and, as an important byproduct of their
studies, a practical understanding of the recording and overdubbing
process. In the MS Program, you will take your skills to the next level
as you learn how to synchronize musical recordings to visual media such
as film, video, etc. You will accomplish projects in several important
Commercial Music forms and styles, including Jingles (the art of
musical merchandising), Commercials (the art of audiovisual
persuasion), Trailers (coming attractions) and Filmscores (the art of
enhancing the audience's emotional experience of a movie).
By artfully blending the skills of the arranger, composer, performer
and engineer, today's film, video and CD-ROM composers are specialists
who command good salaries and have interesting work in the fastest
growing area of the music business. Multimedia composers are found
everywhere the visual and aural arts meet.
Music Production & Engineering (MPE) Module 4 microsemesters: For
maximum flexibility, the MP&E module may be added to any USSCM program,
or taken right after P&I.
USSCM's philosophy is to train musicians first and engineers second,
because engineers who are musicians understand the needs of clients and
the intricacies of the medium much better than those who don't play.
Secondly, USSCM aims for its students to understand the underlying
principles of the sciences of vibration, acoustics and electronics so
that they can make informed purchase decisions and acquire the skills
to use music technology despite changes in the technological terrain
which always progress with time. Thirdly, Production & Engineering
students are given business studies unique to the
recording/distribution business which are not covered as business
studies in the Schillinger program.
About the US School of Commercial Music First founded in 1915, US
School of Commercial Music continues a rich tradition as the oldest,
most trusted name in distance music learning. Beginning in 1995, USSCM
was the first institution to offer a college-level commercial music
Diploma Program via online technology. Today, USSCM offers Diploma
Programs in every major category of commercial music, as well as unique
proprietary Certificate Courses with content unobtainable elsewhere.
Recognizing that each music student has unique needs, USSCM's
Matriculate(TM) online technology gives students the unparalleled
flexibility to design the exact program they need by sequencing seven
basic areas called "Modules": Performance & Improvisation, Schillinger
System/LineWriting/Music Business, Advanced Improvisation,
Melody/SongWriting & Linear Counterpoint, Arranging & Orchestration,
Media Composition & Scoring and Music Production & Engineering. Each
Module consists of 4 microsemesters of concentrated studies.
At the start of each microsemester, US School of Commercial Music
students receive a large package of customized materials covering all
their study subjects. Projects are recorded and returned to the college
via the internet for rapid feedback. According to Professor Amaral of
USSCM, "Choice and flexibility are great reasons to choose USSCM for
your commercial music education." He continued, "USSCM has an approach
unlike any other: · It mixes proprietary materials with the best of
published materials, which are evaluated and upgraded twice yearly. ·
There are no distracting non-music 'academic' subjects, such as English
or History. · There is no internal competition for resources between a
'bricks and mortar operation' versus 'online' · USSCM has only one
agenda: a student's rapid progress on a "microsemester" pace, rather
than keeping him or her in a too-lengthy "semester" program. · Students
work in all four rhythm section instrumental areas each microsemester.
· Students record homework in each subject. · Feedback about homework
is greatly facilitated by online communication and often seems
immediate. · USSCM tuition is realistic, with generous scholarships and
discounts. · USSCM programs offer students a level of choice and
customization very difficult to achieve and manage with a 'classroom'
model of course delivery."
US School of Commercial Music is the most economical way to acquire the
knowledge and skills a commercial musician needs to compete and
'collect a paycheck' in today's noisy musical environment. USSCM
students save considerable money by studying at home, anywhere in the
world, and they may actually get a better education than at typical
'bricks and mortar' schools. While there is no substitute for working
with fellow students shoulder to shoulder, student peers are seldom
professionals. In comparison with many other schools and other
approaches to commercial music study, USSCM exposes each student to a
higher quality of music information, better accompaniments and
professional presentations, because it upgrades materials on a
semi-annual basis, with the primary requirement that it be the best
information and most effective presentation available. By rising above
the typical noise in music education, USSCM saves its students time,
money and energy.
At www.usschoolofmusic.com, prospective students may read about course
offerings, initiate inquiries, design their program, determine tuition
costs, scholarship elgibility, financing options and aid, fill out and
submit their application, print their learning agreement for faxing,
and much more. Also from the college homepage, students, alumni and
industry professionals may access several useful resources: Music
Industry News, USSCM News, MI Jobs, USSCM Forum and USSCM Internet
Radio.
For more information, please contact US School of Commercial Music
www.usschoolofmusic.com info@usschoolofmusic.com 617-666-4839
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"Master Music At Home(TM)"
Professor John Amaral, Director
US School of Commercial Music
617-666-4839
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