Musical composition

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers. "Composition" is the act or practice of creating a song or other piece of music. In many cultures, including Western classical music, the act of composing may include the creation of music notation, such as a sheet music "score", which is then performed by the composer or other musicians. In popular music and traditional music, the act of composing, which is typically called songwriting, may involve the creation of a basic outline of the song, called the lead sheet, which sets out the melody, lyrics and chord progression. In classical music, orchestration is typically done by the composer, but in musical theatre and in pop music, songwriters may hire an arranger to do the orchestration. In some cases, a songwriter may not use notation at all, and instead compose the song mentally and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music.