Arranging and Orchestration Technique Dictionary

Taking existing music and deciding who plays what. Instrument ranges, doublings, voicings, transposition and the craft of scoring for an ensemble.

5 sections, 94 terms planned

• 🎻
  Instrument Ranges
  22 terms

  Practical ranges, registers, transposing instruments, written and sounding pitch

• 🎨
  Timbre and Doubling
  18 terms

  Doubling, unison colour, blend, contrast, orchestral families

• ⚖️
  Voicing and Balance
  20 terms

  Close and open voicing, spacing, pyramid balance, divisi writing

• 🎼
  Score Layout
  16 terms

  Score order, part extraction, cues, rehearsal marks

• 🎭
  Idiomatic Writing
  18 terms

  Playable figures, bowings, breath marks, page turns, ensemble idiom

This encyclopedia is being written. In the meantime, explore the violin technique dictionary, which is complete with 230 defined terms, browse the rest of the music dictionary, or use our free practice tools.