Commercial Music at Allegro
Allegro is excited to introduce our Commercial Music program where students can explore contemporary music-making through songwriting, composition, arranging, music technology, and more.
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Commercial Music is the study and creation of music for today’s entertainment industry and media. It combines artistry with practical skills, preparing you as a musician, producer, songwriter, engineer, or composer for careers in recording, live performance, film scoring, music production, audio engineering, music business, and music technology.
Unlike traditional programs focused on classical performance, Commercial Music encourages creativity across genres and offers industry-relevant skills, collaboration, and hands-on experience with current technologies.
Whether aiming to perform, produce, compose for media, or work behind the scenes in the music industry, Commercial Music provides a pathway to turn passion into a profession. ​​
Adult Program
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Have you ever wanted to record songs, produce music, compose for media, or learn how the music industry works?
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Are you seeking a community to grow your artistic voice and develop professional skills?
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Whether you are a beginner or an experienced musician, what could your future in music be?
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Are you looking to advance your skills with DAW and notation software?
Adult students can now enroll in commercial music private lessons in one or more of
these subjects:
Composition: These lessons focus on creating original music for today’s media and entertainment industries, including film, television, video games, streaming content, and work for contemporary artists. Students develop skills in arranging, orchestration, MIDI programming, music production, and scoring techniques while cultivating their creative voice and professional workflow.
Songwriting: These lessons focus on developing the skills to write compelling, marketable songs across contemporary genres. Students explore lyric writing, melody creation, song structure, chord progressions, arranging, and demo production while learning techniques used in today’s music industry.
Music Production: These lessons teach students to create, record, edit, and produce professional-quality music using modern digital audio workstations and studio techniques. Topics may include beat production, recording, mixing, MIDI programming, sound design, arranging, and developing a polished production workflow for today’s music industry.
Music Technology and Software: These lessons introduce students to the digital tools and technologies used throughout the modern music industry. Students learn skills in DAWs, notation software, virtual instruments, audio editing, recording technology, and music production workflows while building confidence using industry-standard programs and equipment.
Youth Program
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Do you enjoy creating your own melodies, songs, or musical ideas and expressing yourself through music?
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Would you like to learn how composers and arrangers turn their ideas into music that can be performed by musicians?
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Are you curious about how music works “behind the scenes” and why certain music sounds exciting, mysterious, or powerful?
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Are you interested in exploring different styles of music, such as film scores, video game music, classical, jazz, rock, and pop?
5th-12th grade students can now enroll in commercial music private lessons in one or more of these subjects:
Composition: These lessons allow students to develop skills in creating melodies, harmonies, and rhythms by utilizing handwritten notation, music software notation, and digital audio workstation (DAW). Students will learn to transcribe and compose music of various genres while developing their unique musical voices.
Arranging & Orchestration: Learn to arrange existing music through transcription, harmony, reharmonization, and writing for a variety of instruments and ensembles. Students will use both handwritten notation and notation software to create arrangements and grooves across multiple genres, while also learning the basics of copyright, licensing, and legal distribution.
Music Theory: These lessons are an excellent supplement to vocal and instrumental study, building a strong foundation in the language and structure of music. Students gain a deeper understanding of how music works, helping them communicate, perform, create, and engage with music more confidently and meaningfully.
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Improvisation for Stringed Instruments: Stringed instruments play a unique and valuable role in worship, rock, and pop bands. For intermediate to advanced violin, viola, and cello students who are interested in playing by ear, these lessons will provide skills in reading chords, working with the Nashville number system, playing with click tracks, blending and playing in the “pocket,” and navigating scales, modes, and key signatures.
Our Teachers
Sydney West
Adult Program
Sydney West is a composer, arranger/orchestrator, music technologist, and audio engineer. She holds a Master of Arts in Music Education and a Bachelor of Music in Commercial Music with an emphasis in Film Scoring. In addition to teaching college music classes at Liberty University, Sydney writes original scores for various short films and has even created two of her own self-produced short films. Her technical skill set includes extensive experience with Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, Dorico Pro, Sibelius, and Finale, and she is a Pro Tools Certified Instructor (since August 2023). Sydney is passionate about creating music and teaching it through an approach centered on clear communication and collaboration.
Elizabeth Killmon
Youth Program
Elizabeth Killmon is a music instructor, violinist, and award-winning composer with 15+ years of music experience. She holds a Master of Arts in Music Education and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. In addition to her extensive performance experience, Elizabeth's compositional works have appeared in the popular Chinese TV drama Stories of Lion Rock Spirit (2022). In 2023, she and her co-composer, Alory, won the Liberty University Cinematic Arts Award for Best Musical Score for their work on the short film "Sam," directed by Laura Palacio. Elizabeth also loves teaching and tailors her lessons specifically toward each student so they can get the most out of their learning and musical experience!