<p>Hi.
I'm a 17 year old high school senior. I want to try to major in Piano Performance (do they call it voice performance?) or maybe composing.
I can play impromptus made by myself.. and they do not sound anything like classical...
well,, I played Brahms' Paganini Variations heft 1, and tried to play La Campanella by Liszt and Petrouchka movement 1 by Stravinsky.. but failed to do so.... and also I finished many Beethoven sonata's inclduing
no 15 (moonlight 3rd) ,16,17 (tempest 1&3 ) , 21( waldstein 1) and no. 30 or 31... (mvt 1)
so basically, I want to apply either to University of MD Collegepark or Peabody.... Could I have any chance?
(I just can't apply to anywhere like Eastman or Juilliard, cuz i suck..)
(also I stopped getting lessons since like 2 years ago cuz my parents thought I had lessons for like forever (since age 6) and they thought I didnt like piano...)</p>
<p>btw, I didnt try to play any Chopin Etudes…;;</p>
<p>Smile, the first thing you need to do is to have some confidence in yourself! You need to be very passionate and dedicated to gain entry into these schools and to have success as a professional musician. The competition for these schools is fierce. Go to these school’s web sites they will have a section that clearly lays out what is expected in an audition. Then check out the schools other requirements for admittance gpa, sats, etc. It would be a piano performance degree you are seeking, voice performance or vocal performance is singing.</p>
<p>smilemask, welcome.</p>
<p>Vocal performance is training of the voice. My guess is you are contemplating a potential instrumental performance track in piano performance.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The short answer to this question is probably “NO”. I may be wrong.</p>
<p>By the way, while Juilliard might be held a notch or two above the others, realize that Peabody for all purposes can be considered on a par with Eastman. UMaryland is a different level, but still is a solid program. There standards for admissions into a performance program may be a less stringent, but “cuz I suck” won’t cut it there either.</p>
<p>I can’t speak specifically to the piano literature, as I’m not familiar with the repertoire. Others here may be better at putting it in perspective for you.</p>
<p>Let me speak to generalities. Most contemplating a performance path have had years of training, private instruction, immersion participation in summer programs, perhaps a performing arts high school or a pre-college program background. But not all do. It’s impossible to begin to assess your skill level and your chance of admission into an audition based performance program.</p>
<p>The fact that you have had some private instruction is a plus. Whether that level of training is enough to allow you to be competitive in audition based admit programs like Peabody or UMaryland is doubtful. </p>
<p>I’m of the mind you don’t know a lot about music centered admissions at the college level. I’d strongly urge you to read the following and do follow any of the imbedded links contained within.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/460187-how-many-music-voice-performance-majors-find-jobs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/460187-how-many-music-voice-performance-majors-find-jobs.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/458455-how-determine-your-childs-ability.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/458455-how-determine-your-childs-ability.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/531161-do-you-have-map.html?highlight=precollege[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/531161-do-you-have-map.html?highlight=precollege</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/537061-need-advice-about-prep-school-youth-orchestra.html?highlight=precollege[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/537061-need-advice-about-prep-school-youth-orchestra.html?highlight=precollege</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/495033-pushing-too-hard-burnout.html?highlight=precollege[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/495033-pushing-too-hard-burnout.html?highlight=precollege</a></p>
<p>I’m not trying to burst any bubbles or dash your hopes. I’m just laying out some information and realities. Do come back and post any questions about specific aspects you encounter in your reading. Plenty of folks here happy to help, advise and point you in a few directions.</p>
<p>University of Maryland is actually very good and quite competitive for piano performance.</p>
<p>If you are not confident about your chances at Juilliard and/or Eastman, I’d be caution about approaching Peabody as a target rather than a reach.</p>
<p>It is very much a top tier conservatory not unlike Juilliard or Eastman.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with your sonata list (although you will need all movements for many competitive programs), but there’s “playing” and then there is PLAYING that is worthy of conservatories. One need only take a listen to the postings of all kinds of piano repertoire being played and posted on YouTube to realize that many people think they can play different pieces, but they really…well…can’t. Or they can play well enough to entertain friends at a dinner party (maybe) but not well enough for Eastman, or even College Park.</p>
<p>What people here will likely tell you (and Violadad already mentioned it) is that you will need to have someone with professional status independently assess your talent and ability. I am concerned that you haven’t had lessons in two years, because even if you were progressing, you cannot “teach yourself” at the level one must be for conservatory. You need a teacher to help you choose repertoire and prepare for auditions, because you will be competing against other students who have this “advantage”.</p>
<p>No one here can assess your ability or your chances, but if you are serious about applying to conservatories, you need a teacher pronto, to be working on serious and varied repertoire, and an appraisal of your chances.</p>
<p>There are many less competitive music programs offering piano degrees. I would consider both Peabody or UMCP to very competitive, however.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not sure I agree with this statement about UMDCP. You all may recall…DS applied to NEC, Peabody, UNT, Hartt, Duquesne, BU and was accepted to all of these with significant performance based merit aid. He was NOT accepted to UMDCP. The year he applied, there was only ONE opening in that studio. So…I don’t think UMDCP is less stringent. And their facility is drop dead fabulous which adds to this.</p>
<p>If you (OP) think you suck…you need to change that tune a bit (sorry for the pun). One thing about performance majors is they have to have confidence.</p>
<p>I’m not denigrating UMaryland CP. It’s a fine program. And notice I said “MAY be less stringent…”</p>
<p>There are many variables: number of openings, strength (or weakness) of the audition pool, change in faculty that can heavy influence the process.</p>
<p>OP, have you done any accompanying?</p>
<p>Smilemask-</p>
<p>I totally agree with the others, you should try and find a piano instructor/teacher, preferably someone who teaches in a high level program or has high level students, to get an assesment. Without that, there is really no way to know what your level is, take it from me. I can sort of speak from my own experiences with my son, who is a passionate violinist. Several years ago, he had been working with local teachers, was in a local youth symphony,and to my wife and I sounded really, really good, and to others, even people who had musical training, including someone with a PHd from Yale in music (not in S’s instrument, I will add), all thought he was great, ready for carnegie hall, etc…and that illusion came up short when he in effect moved to the next level, with a teacher who teaches at Juilliard, and we started realizing the difference as someone else said, of ‘playing’ a piece and ‘PLAYING’ a piece. It is a lot more then being able to play the piece and have it be recognizable, there are all kinds of elements, many of them quite subtle,that unless you or the person listening are trained to hear, you won’t but people auditioning will.With my son, it was almost like starting over, learning to crawl again…</p>
<p>In my son’s case, he had been studying with local teachers, and the last one before he moved ‘up’ is a principal in a relatively high level orchestra, and even she didn’t seem to pick up what my son was lacking (or maybe she did and didn’t care, I don’t know). If my son had continued with teachers like that, and tried to get into a competitive conservatory, he probably would have failed.</p>
<p>The piano is not unlike the violin world from everything I know. Because it is a soloists instrument, it tends to attract a lot of people trying to play it, and given the global competition from places like China where piano is incredibly popular (as is violin), it has raised the bar a great deal.To give you an idea, this past year for entrance into Juilliard’s pre college piano program, they had something like 130 kids apply (roughly 35% of that was from overseas, mostly China or Korea), auditioned 40 and accepted maybe 10, and conservatories are no easier.</p>
<p>I think you also need to figure out, if you really think you may want to play the piano, on what it is you want to do. Classical piano performance is only one track, there also could be studying piano leaning towards jazz or ‘contemporary’ music. The real key is to figure out what you want to do and if going into piano performance is really ‘it’. As the threads violadad posted are going to show, getting into performance is very difficult (though nothing in music seems to be ‘easy’), and to go into that takes a lot of dedication and perserverence which generally takes being totally committed, which means ‘being sure’</p>
<p>Likewise, you mention composition, have you done any work with music theory or tried to compose? Do you know anything about it? Though it is probably different then performance in that it seems,from what I have read on here, that going in on composition it is more about potential then past experience, since most people entering college probably have little experience with composing. If you are seriously thinking about it, you may want to try reading some books on music theory and/or composition to try and get an idea of what it is about and what you face if you really want to go down that path. </p>
<p>Peabody is a competitive program, up there with many of the other top tier conservatories,and I suspect you will find that even the ‘next’ tier down might be incredibly competitive. And as a lot of other threads on here have said, with people accomplished on the piano auditons are a crapshoot, depends on open slots,who they are auditioning against and so forth. </p>
<p>In any event, the first step would be to decide if you really want to try and enter this world, get an evaluation to see where you are, and then make decisions on if this is something you really want to do. I wish you luck.</p>
<p>Just wanted to say that perhaps students entering college as music majors may have little composition experience, in some cases, but composition applicants at conservatories have often had quite a bit of experience, sometimes not over many years, but in depth during a few years.</p>
<p>In order to apply to a conservatory for composition, students need a portfolio of 3-4 compositions, preferably (but not always) performed by musicians, rather than MIDI. The portfolio should contain scores (from Finale or Sibelius, but also sometimes handwritten) as well as CD’s. </p>
<p>Many students have won state or national awards or even BMI or ASCAP awards, that kind of thing, and many have attended conservatory prep programs, arts schools, and summer programs. But certainly not all.</p>
<p>Potential is measured by what has already been achieved- in terms of the music itself. There is really no other way to measure potential. Just as auditions mean everything for instrumentalists, the portfolio is everything for the composer, in terms of admissions.</p>
<p>The admissions folks might hear potential in terms of a person having an individual “voice” that comes through in the music, for instance, which is a wonderful thing. Technical competence can be taught, but artistic vision cannot. SO maybe that is what was meant here by “potential.” Also, composers can improve into their 90’s (Elliot Carter is 100!) so there is a lot of time to develop potential!</p>
<p>If you want to get into school like UMD or Peabody, you’re going to need a solid program.</p>
<p>Generally, what schools are expecting are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Bach work with a Fugue (any Prelude and Fugue will do)</li>
<li>Complete Beethoven sonata</li>
<li>A substantial Romantic work</li>
<li>Any 20th century or impressionistic work
Some school also require an etude of Chopin or comparable difficulty.</li>
</ol>
<p>Note that these all must be MEMORIZED.</p>
<p>With auditions starting in January (some are as late as March), do you think you could pull together such a program in such a short amount of time?</p>
<p>Everything that -Allmusic- said is correct.</p>
<p>If you want to get into a college for music, my suggestion is to look at a smaller school and apply for music education. The fact that you have little confidence in yourself and that you haven’t had a teacher in two years mean that you probably won’t get anywhere as a performance major… or even getting into college as a performance major in the first place. It’s just way too competitive. But I think it’s very possible that you can get somewhere as a music educator at your state university. Right now what you should be doing-- actually, what you should have already done a few months ago-- is looking into requirements for different universities. They all tend to want one major piece from each era, but some requirements are a little different. For example, some schools will let you play a Scarlatti sonata but other schools strictly want a Bach piece.</p>
<p>ovanova, I have a question regarding your recommendation for smilemask10 where you used the term “music educator”. You wrote “…I think it’s very possible that you can get somewhere as a music educator at your state university.” Were you recommending that smilemask10 attend state university and get an undergraduate degree in music education (which leads to a credential for a career teaching children in elementary, middle school or high school level in public school system)? I think that is what you meant, but the way you said it, it sounded like a degree in music ed might lead to a job in a university. </p>
<p>I think it is important for people going into music education to have sincere interest in teaching children in a public school setting. I would also add that while music ed programs may be less competitive for admission overall than performance programs, some of them are quite competitive.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s what I meant. Excuse my poor wording.</p>
<p>Rigaudon hits the nail. There’s nothing worse for a kid who is just starting out, than having a teacher who is a failed performer and is only teaching as a back-up.</p>
<p>Music education leads towards a career teaching band, choir, and music appcreciation in high school and middle school. It is a very very very different pathway compared to music performance, or higher education teaching. It can be a very satisfying and rewarding career option - but ONLY if the person is completely dedicated to teaching children, not if the person views teaching as a back-up, or as a stepping-stone to a performing career.</p>
<p>That’s a good point. I always had the feeling that my orchestra teacher is simply teaching students as a backup. He is a braggart and is overly concerned with his image. He is, of course, a pretty bad teacher.</p>
<p>With that said, let’s not dismiss the possibility that OP would love to teach music. 
I’m only throwing it out there it in the case that he has not considered it as a career option.</p>