Oklahoma! or Grease. Sometimes, though, the school in question wants to
use completely original music, preferably written by a local composer. It’s
an extra bonus if that composer once attended that school.The best way to get your foot in the door as a composer at your local high
school or college is to approach the music department head in person with
a selection of your own original music. Call up the school in question, set up
an appointment, and then come prepared. You’ll want to bring a portfolio of
your original written music to present at the appointment, plus a recording of
it for the music director to listen to at his or her leisure.Granted, most high schools and universities don’t have a huge budget for
paying composers for original work, but having this credit under your belt
may open doors you can’t currently imagine. Your name will be on the
printed program of the performance, and every single person attending the
performance will receive a copy of this program. If the performance is a suc-
cess, there’s a chance that schools outside of your community will want to
use your music.The trick to writing music for either a high school/college choir or musical is
that you have to take into consideration that you’re writing for kids. Talented
kids, probably, but still kids. Therefore, you want to keep the instrumentation
and vocals just easy enough for them to handle, but challenging enough for
them to feel like they’ve accomplished something. Think somewhere between
Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Operaand the music from The Muppet
Show.Make sure you copyright any work that is accepted for use in a performance.
A “poor man’s copyright” should do for this purpose — simply fold your
score into thirds, staple it closed (don’t put it in an envelope), then mail it to
yourself. If you do put it in an envelope, send it Certified Mail, Return Receipt
Requested. The post office’s dated postal mark on an unopened copy of the
score, or your signature for delivery, will hold up in most preliminary court
settings in case of copyright infringement. (For information on making a more
secure copyright, see the sidebar “Copyrighting your work” in Chapter 17.)Incidental Television Music ........................................................................
Spend any amount of time in front of a television set, and you’ll be amazed at
how much incidental filler music is used on any given program. There’s music
to accompany car chases, love scenes, deep or funny or confusing or danger-
ous or poignant moments, and so on. Even your local news programs proba-
bly use little musical segments at the beginning and end of the shows.266 Part V: The Part of Tens