Hello! We are continuing our orchestration theme for the month of July. I have posted a demonstration and project in the Musicianship Workshop for Gold-level members, focusing on string textures. If you've ever wanted to work on your ability to write for orchestra or other instrumental ensembles, this is a great opportunity, and it's not too late to join us!

Mastering MuseScore

If you are interested in getting the most out of the world's most popular music notation software, join our community with a Mastering MuseScore membership for the most comprehensive training & expert support available!

MuseScore Café

This week in the MuseScore Café with Marc Sabatella, I demonstrate how to work with individual instrument parts generated from a full score. We'll look at the process of creating the parts, editing them, formatting them, and printing or exporting them.

Tip of the Week

MuseScore Studio can warn you if any notes in your score are too high or low for the instruments that are assigned. There is one type of warning for notes that are considered unplayable even by professionals, and another for notes that are considered playable by skilled musicians but might be difficult for those less experienced. In this video post, I demonstrate how these warnings work and how to customize them if desired.

Musicianship

If you are serious about learning music - theory, composition, improvisation, and more - become a Gold-level member and receive access to all of our music courses and workshops, as well as exclusive benefits like my weekly Office Hours, in addition to our acclaimed Mastering MuseScore resources.

Music Master Class

This week in the Music Master Class with Marc Sabatella, we discuss orchestrating for strings and check out projects and other music submitted by Gold-level members.

In Theory

In order to write for orchestra, you need to know the ranges of the different instruments. While there is no one definitive set of limits, I have compiled a chart giving my own recommendations based on personal experience plus the collective wisdom of arranging textbooks, trusted websites, and the usable pitch range information built into MuseScore Studio. In this video post, I present the chart and give some additional comments you may find useful.