Music Directors and Composers

People in this career often have these skills:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

People in this career often know a lot about:

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

People in this career often have talent in:

• Hearing Sensitivity - The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Auditory Attention - The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

People in this career often do these activities:

• Coordinate musical rehearsals or performances.
• Study details of musical compositions.
• Create musical compositions, arrangements or scores.
• Determine presentation subjects or content.
• Audition or interview potential performers or staff members.

• Select staff, team members, or performers.
• Design layout of art or product exhibits, displays, or promotional materials.
• Negotiate for services.
• Direct fundraising or financing activities.
• Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.
• Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions.
• Coordinate artistic activities.
• Coordinate logistics for productions or events.
• Study scripts to determine project requirements.

• Directors, Religious Activities and Education

• Film and Video Editors

• Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys

• Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary

• Special Effects Artists and Animators

• Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

• Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers

• Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

• Writers and Authors

• Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education