Subjects Taught
Techniques for composing music (concert music, jazz music, film and television music, music for video games, and "popular" music);
Writing effective melodies;
Creating, varying, and developing motives and themes;
Composing effective accompaniments, etc.
Subjects related directly to composing music:
Music theory
Melody
Harmony
Rhythm
Counterpoint (modal, tonal, and post-tonal)
Figured bass and partimento
Texture
Form
Orchestration
Articulation
Dynamics
Styles of music
Setting words to music (for concert music);
Songwriting
Jazz music:
Jazz harmony
Jazz theory
Jazz arranging (for jazz ensembles as well as for the piano)
Jazz improvisation
Jazz piano
Music notation (hand-written and computer-notated). Because of Dr. Pelusi’s extensive experience as a professional music copyist, he can guide you in preparing professional-looking scores, parts, and lead sheets through the use of music notation software programs;
Neo-tonal music;
Non-tonal music;
Set theory;
Serial music;
Twelve-tone music;
Twelve-tone serial music;
Music analysis (Schenkerian analysis as well as other approaches to analyzing music);
Rehearsal strategies;
Music entrepreneurship: how to develop a career in music.
