The Guild invites full membership from people engaged (wholly or casually) in any facet of the music arranging, orchestrating and copying professions.
Applications for full membership require the successful completion of a competence test in at least one of the Guild's categories: (1) Arranger, (2) Copyist, (3) Electronic arranger. All tests are assessed by the Guild's National Executive.
Certificate of Merit membership is an additional category specifically designed for student members. Alternatively, membership as a Friend of MAGA Inc. is open to any individual or organisation seeking closer contact with the Guild's goals, present and future agenda and activities.
Further information and application forms are detailed below.
An Arranger is one who creatively adapts the composer’s ideas for performance, by instruments and/or voices. Arranging is the art the art of preparing, adapting, paraphrasing, developing, altering or adding to, the structure of a musical composition.
The applicant shall be asked to submit one or more fully arranged score(s) of their choosing, which must meet these criteria:
Scores must be arranged for the instrumentation of a minimum of NINE (9) players. For instance: Concert Band, Wind Band, Jazz Ensemble (5 frontline and 4 rhythm section), Big Band SATB choir with ensemble, Chamber Orchestra or Full Orchestra for a minimum of 32 bars.
A transposed score shall be prepared with instrumental parts denoted in their respective keys, to show that the applicant is familiar with the particular instrument keys and safe working range of the instruments and transposition.
For more details, see the application kit.
Download the Membership Application Kit.
The test includes categories for rock/jazz/pop copying and orchestral copying (either by hand or computer typesetting). The necessary test scores are included in the Membership Application Kit.
Download the Membership Application Kit
The test consists of a minimum of 60 seconds of finished musical work presented solely in audio format (cassette or CD). No written or computer-generated score need accompany this application
Download the Membership Application Kit
The Certificate is awarded to persons who successfully undergo the Guild's general admissions criteria and the payment of a special discounted membership fee (partially refundable, if Entry Test is not passed).
As a pre-qualification, successful applicants will have their membership fee deducted from their Full Membership entry fees, should they choose to take this as a later option. Successful applicants will not have to "re-sit" the entry requirements when they choose to "upgrade" to Full Membership within the Certificate's validation period but will be required to submit recent examples of their work for review/approval by the Board.
The Certificate of Merit has a valid and finite 3-year active period (gauged upon a normal tertiary student course length).
This is an ideal opportunity for the music student to enhance their qualifications within the professional industry.
Download the Certificate of Merit Membership Form