Ensemble Courses

This course provides non-performance majors and developing musicians with a foundation in ensemble interaction, listening, and musical awareness. Students will learn to hear and understand the function of instruments in an ensemble, recognize structural and harmonic frameworks in repertoire, and apply responsive listening skills while playing collaboratively.

Through guided listening, analysis, and the playing of selected songs across core stylistic genres (roots, R&B, jazz, rock, etc.), students will internalize how musical roles, feel, and forms interact in ensemble settings. The course culminates in a collaborative in-class performance demonstrating growth in awareness, function, and communication.

ENCF-121 provides non-performance majors and developing musicians with an introduction to ensemble interaction through the lens of American Roots music, encompassing blues, folk, gospel, and country traditions. Students will explore how time feel, harmony, and song form have evolved from these foundations and how they continue to shape contemporary music.

Through guided listening, analysis, and collaborative rehearsal, students will develop awareness of musical roles, stylistic authenticity, and real-time communication. The course culminates in an in-class performance of selected repertoire demonstrating ensemble awareness and stylistic understanding.

ENCF-122 provides non-performance majors and developing musicians with foundational ensemble skills in the rhythm and blues idiom. Through guided listening, analysis, and performance of classic and modern R&B repertoire, students will learn to identify stylistic grooves, harmonic frameworks, vocal textures, and the expressive interaction characteristic of this tradition.

Students will explore groove construction, 12/8 and 4/4 time-feels, call-and-response phrasing, dynamics, and modulation within ensemble settings. Emphasis is placed on developing ensemble awareness and stylistic authenticity rather than technical virtuosity. The course culminates in an in-class performance demonstrating collaborative groove, balance, and stylistic comprehension.

This course introduces students to the essential musical language and ensemble practices of jazz performance. Students will develop core listening, interaction, and improvisational skills by studying swing rhythm, jazz harmony, and form through analysis and performance of classic repertoire. Topics will include the 12-bar blues, ii-V-I progressions, rhythm changes, swing feel, and modal playing. Emphasis is placed on listening, feel, and communication within the group—understanding how phrasing, space, and groove contribute to a cohesive ensemble sound. The course culminates in an in-class performance that demonstrates ensemble awareness, stylistic understanding, and personal expression within the jazz idiom.

The Berklee Symphonic Winds ensemble is open to all members of the campus community who are interested in performing music for winds, brass, and percussion. The ensemble’s repertoire will consist of both contemporary works and masterworks written specifically for the wind band, as well as transcriptions of pieces from other media, both popular and classical. Secondary instrument performers are encouraged to participate.

A recording orchestra of 37 musicians, the Film Scoring Studio Orchestra will integrate and improve orchestral performance skills in an actual Hollywood-style scoring stage setting. A collaboration between the Ensemble, Music Production and Engineering, and Film Scoring departments, the orchestra will meet in Studio 1 of the 160 Massachusetts Avenue building. Each week the ensemble will play music composed by professional film composers or Berklee Film Scoring students, and be recorded by Berklee students in related MP&E classes. Through participation in film scoring sessions in a state-of-the-art scoring stage venue, students will improve their overall efficiency of sight-reading, technique, rhythm (including click track competency), intonation, articulation, style orientation, and ensemble-centered production (listening/response sensitivity).   

The Contemporary Orchestra is designed to feature Berklee's student performers, composers, and conductors through the use of standard repertoire, film, multimedia, and sound. Works of major 20th century composers, as well as Berklee students and faculty, are programmed. Student performers gain experience in orchestral auditions and have the opportunity to be featured as soloists. This ensemble meets two times per week; the second weekly meeting is used for workshops.

Note: students who have previously taken this course can enroll directly without written approval of course instructor.