Film scoring programs are designed to educate students interested in composing music for films, television programs, and video games.
This type of music is categorized into three groups:
Diegetic music is heard by characters in the depicted scenes and might include a concert in the background of dialogue.
Non-diegetic music is unheard by the film’s characters and is often referred to as the “underscore.”
Imagine creepy music playing in a horror film as a character slowly creeps down a darkly lit stairwell – that’s non-diegetic music.
Songs make up the third category and can blend both diegetic and non-diegetic music.
In addition to scoring music for media productions, composers are responsible for various duties like maintaining a film budget, hiring musicians, identifying points in the script where music should be present, and overseeing the recording process.
The role is highly collaborative, where the composer works alongside various members of the cast and production crew.
The United States is home to several superb collegiate programs for film scoring.
Sometimes, these majors are referred to as New Media, Media Composition, or Commercial & Media Writing, but they all represent the same field. The need for talented composers will grow as media technology continues to evolve.
Below, we highlight ten of the best film-scoring schools in the nation – students who graduate from one of these schools are destined to excel in fast-paced, multifaceted careers in today’s music industry.
Berklee College of Music
Students pursuing a BM in Film Scoring at Berklee harness the skills to compose projects for TV and movie producers and video game developers.
Berklee alumni like Ramin Djawadi and Jessica Rae Huber have achieved widespread critical acclaim in the music industry.
Djawadi scored music for the hit HBO television series Game of Thrones, and Huber created scores for The Walking Dead and other popular television shows.
Within four years, undergraduates develop a portfolio consisting of a short film score, a TV series main title theme, and an original composition recording.
Additionally, students grow expertise in stylizing music, conducting to a metronome, editing track recordings, and applying marketing techniques to develop concepts.
The curriculum prompts students to investigate the dynamic between film and music and potential careers within the industry.
Undergraduates can take advantage of opportunities to score basic film cues in this one-semester course.
The Berklee Valencia study abroad program in Spain connects Berklee students with world-renowned artists and immerses them in experiential learning opportunities.
By producing and performing works for the student concert series at Lago de Conciertos and other Spanish nightclubs, study-abroad participants have a chance to gain global exposure.
New York University
Attending music school in New York City places ambitious students at the locus of film-scoring innovation.
NYU provides countless opportunities for undergraduates to refine their skills and build their networks on- and off- campus.
Hybrid recording sessions challenge students to write for top recording artists; simultaneously, they learn how to produce their own sessions and work with new live and digital recording instruments.
Challenges like the NYU Film Scoring Competition inspire students to submit scores for animated films generated by NYU Tisch animation students, and the NYU Symphony performs the winners’ pieces.
The program even has its own student-led festival – Pulsing & Shaking – which occurs each February.
The festival aims to introduce the public to new musical concepts and genres while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration within the campus and the New York community.
NYU film scoring alumni have worked behind the scenes of famous works like The Departed, Riverdale, and The X-Files.
Recently, screen-scoring alumnus Jacob Yoffee was tapped to compose the reboot of The Wonder Years, while Jessie Montgomery was named the Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University
Peabody’s BM in Music for New Media is a relatively new program that seeks to expose students to cutting-edge technologies and exciting connections across film, television, and video games.
By the end of four years, students will have completed a capstone project in collaboration with other Johns Hopkins departments.
Examples include creating music therapy techniques for stroke victims alongside medical students or programming new software with engineering undergraduates.
Courses are led by pioneering faculty like Thomas Dolby, who co-wrote and produced the first platinum-selling rap album and whose partners include greats like Stevie Wonder and David Bowie.
Emmy-nominated composer Chris Kennedy is another esteemed faculty member who has scored music for series featured on National Geographic, PBS, and the Discovery Channel.
The New Media Seminar is a crown jewel of the degree track, inviting music industry leaders to present their research and work to students within Peabody College.
In these sessions, undergraduates gain insight into the real-world applications of an education focused on music technology, composition hardware tools, and entrepreneurship.
Eastman School of Music
The Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media was founded in 2016 by Emmy Award-winning composer Jeff Beal and singer Joan Beal.
Its Masters in Media Composition curriculum merges the study of traditional and modern technology, preparing students for exciting positions in an ever-evolving music, TV, and film industry.
Acceptance to the Institute is highly competitive, and those who enroll will have access to exceptional opportunities like the sophomore year Spring Break excursion to Los Angeles, a fully-funded trip that exposes them to the daily grind of composers, orchestrators, and studio executives.
Students can expect to take a broad range of acoustic production, counterpoint, and conducting classes.
In courses like Video Game Scoring, students gain hands-on experience with tools like Reaper and Logic Pro X while working within authentic video game and virtual reality contexts.
On any given day, they will compose recording sessions and live performances, collaborate on interdisciplinary projects with members of the humanities and other departments, and partner with outside organizations to organize community events.
University of Miami Frost School of Music
The Hollywood Reporter recently named the Frost School of Music to its list of the Top 25 Music Schools for Film and TV – this is the fifth consecutive year the school has been featured on the list.
Students at Frost will benefit from the teaching of outstanding faculty members like Carlos Rafael Rivera, an Emmy Award-winning composer.
He has scored projects for Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit and performed guitar alongside The Who.
Rivera shares that the program seeks both self-confident and open-minded students, and he boasts of the program’s “no silos” approach to interdisciplinary education.
Students must keep a minimum GPA of 2.70 to remain in the MPSD major.
By the time they graduate, they will have developed an impressive skill set in media scoring, a deep understanding of the music industry, the ability to create and implement a complex business plan, and a portfolio showcasing their breadth and depth of experience.
California State University, Northridge
CSU Northridge offers a BM in two concentrations: Composition and Commercial & Media Writing. Both programs require an audition and culminate in a 45-minute recital.
The Commercial & Media Writing option focuses primarily on scoring, with most work completed in orchestration and instrumental composition.
Applicants must have earned a B or higher in MUS 221 to gain acceptance into the degree track.
Various music scholarships like the Igor Paltsev ‘10 Memorial Scholarship are available for undergraduates pursuing a degree in Commercial & Media Writing.
This particular award stipulates a 3.0 minimum GPA, and preference is given to students whose portfolios include 2-3 exceptional composition pieces.
One of the most appealing draws to CSU Northridge is Five of Five Entertainment. This student-run label connects talented performers with local venues and equips artists with the professional recording equipment they need to be successful.
The label also operates a student marketing team responsible for music promotion, brand development, data analysis, and merchandising.
Columbia College
Columbia College offers a 2-year MFA in Music Composition for the Screen. In the final semester, graduate students complete a five-week capstone project in Los Angeles.
Here, they intern with an expert composer based on their specific niche and lead a recording session of their thesis project accompanied by a live orchestra in a legitimate recording studio.
Rather than assigning piecemeal projects to students, Columbia’s MFA builds its curriculum around scoring full-length works. Students manage films, TV shows, video games, and other multimedia projects.
Columbia alumni proceed to work on exciting projects backed by networks like ABC, Universal Studios, and PBS.
For example, ‘19 alumnus Epson Wu co-scored works for the Netflix hit TV series Bridgerton in his studio, while ‘15 alumna Jesi Nelson received a 2017 Daytime Emmy nomination for Best Score for her contributions to Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures.
San Francisco State University
SF State’s School of Cinema has been featured among The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 25 Film Schools for the last nine years.
Students collaborate with everyone from string quartets and live orchestras to cinema students and graduate student directors.
Highlights of the degree track include a brand new renovated Electronic Music Studio with the most up-to-date monitors, surround sound, and synthesizers.
Undergraduates learn under the direction of award-winning mentors like Steven Horowitz, whose original score for the film Super Size Me was nominated for an Academy Award.
He was also an audio director for Nickelodeon Digital and a collaborator behind 26 original albums.
Program alumni experience similar acclaim – recent alumnus Aaron Drake has produced scores for Netflix, Showtime, and ABC.
He recently scored for Robin’s Wish, a documentary chronicling Robin Williams’ life and challenges living with Lewy body dementia.
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Students may score as many as 20 short films in a single year, covering a range of genres like documentaries, animations, and narrative fiction.
Alumni like John W. Chapman have been nominated for their contributions – Chapman, in particular, worked as the music scoring mixer for The Simpsons.
In the first year of the MFA program, graduate students meet weekly with a faculty mentor to develop their skills, explore the post-production sequence, and learn how to collaborate with a film crew.
Students present projects to their peers every week to garner constructive criticism.
Additionally, they will compose original scores for productions put on by third-year undergraduate students.
In year two, students develop several 90-second main-title cues within diverse genres. They also gain experience scoring for video games and creating a thesis project.
By the end of the program, students will be prepared to work as composers on popular TV series like Survivor and Nashville or major motion pictures like Iron Man and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Biola University Conservatory of Music
Biola University’s Conservatory of Music seeks to develop concert and film composers in a setting of talented individuals committed to a Christian lifestyle.
The BM in Music Composition is bolstered by a passionate faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, and various scholarship packages.
In the Composing for New Media concentration, undergraduates compose scores for film, TV, and video games.
Attending a school close to Hollywood provides abundant opportunities for professional networking and collaboration with community organizations.
The Conservatory of Music also runs the Biola University High School Composition Competition for high school juniors and seniors.
Those who submit classical scores are eligible for a minimum $5,000 scholarship to attend Biola as a composition major.
One of Biola’s most accomplished alumni is Judith Hill, a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter who has competed on The Voice and toured with John Legend and Elton John, among other globally recognized artists.
She also performed lead vocals for Michael Jackson’s memorial service, which nearly 1 billion people viewed.
