<p>For my high school junior pianist son, judging his level is still pretty difficult in spite of the competitions, adjudications, and summer music programs he has done. Even his university music professor teacher says that it's hard to judge even though my son competed at a recent MTNA divisional competition. His teacher has been surprised how some other students he knows (not just piano) have not gotten past prescreenings at music conservatories. There is also the issue of how much time and effort people put into prescreening recordings. If I had to do it over, I would have had my son practice a formal recording process for at least one piece a year. He is very good in concert, but we have few skills when it comes to recording. It sounds like that would be easy to fix, but what is good in concert isn't necessarily good enough for a recording.</p>
<p>So, have others tried to get third party feedback for their prescreening recordings? How was that done? Most adjudication comments are based on live performances and seem to be relative and not too critical. Even if you do well in competitions, you may not do as well with a recording. My son has gotten past live auditions to get to a state honors recital for the last four years, but it seems like recording requires different skills and a different level of expectations.</p>
<p>There seems to be two questions. For a given level, how much do your peers work on getting a perfect prescreening recording, and second, what level is good enough for different instruments and schools. Does anyone find YouTube videos that are believable?</p>
<p>I think you’re going to have to hear from pianists and their parents on this one.</p>
<p>On woodwinds, it is pretty clear where one stands, at least with the reed instruments. Because it takes some time to learn and perfect (if ever) many technical aspects of the instrument, most high school age wind players cannot yet play the more difficult pieces in the repertoire. On oboe, for example, most high school age oboe players cannot confidently play through the Strauss oboe concerto, circle breathing throughout with total control. Those who can know who they are, and you can find them at the Juilliard and Curtis auditions.</p>
<p>Interesting. I don’t know of any clear technical cutoff skills for the piano, but there are clear levels of the repertoire. At competitions, one often looks at the selections others are playing, but that doesn’t mean that they can pull it off. Then there is the issue of whether pianists spend all of their time on a few pieces just for competitions. Chopin etudes might provide a clue, but I don’t know of any that pianists use to show superior technical skill. They are all difficult in different ways. Pianists may argue over the technical difficulty level of etudes and Beethoven sonatas, but musicality often means so much more.</p>
<p>At the top end, many pianists have extraordinary technical skills, so musicality then becomes the key. Some seem to avoid Bach in competitions because there is always one judge who won’t like what you do. We remember hearing one judge commenting to another after our son played Debussy’s “Jardins sous la pluie” that he didn’t know what to think about that. (Not in a nice way.) Ouch! It was technically very good, however. Some judges seem to look for technically correct, interpretation neutral performances. </p>
<p>Speaking of subjectivity, NEC gives this clearly conflicting statement. It doesn’t matter, but it does.</p>
<p>“The specific repertory chosen is a significant representation of the applicant. Although pianists are not accepted or rejected on the basis of the pieces they choose to play, the music a pianist chooses to perform is a statement of artistic identity.”</p>
<p>It seems that pieces go in and out of vogue in the piano world. Some you clearly know enough to avoid, but for others, you never know. At Interlochen last summer, three students were working on the first movement of Beethoven sonata Op. 10, No. 3. Someone once said that if you can find a seven year old playing the piece on YouTube, you need to avoid that piece. Right now, my son is trying to finalize his decision of what pieces he wants to play for his college audition. The way it’s going, he will never decide.</p>
<p>I am a parent of a pianist who is in the middle of auditions right now and will try to answer your question: </p>
<p>How much do you work on getting a perfect prescreening recording?</p>
<p>My D’s prescreening recordings were not perfect, but good enough to get into the second round. She recorded in three different venues: at home on a video on recorder, at her teacher’s house using a professional videographer, and at a conservatory with their recording studio staff and gear. In the last two cases her teacher was present and he gave his opinion on which take to use. She recorded in two two-hour sessions at the conservatory, one two-hour session at the teacher’s house, and one session at home. She used an assortment of these recordings to send out to each school. So that’s how much time and effort was spent on the prescreenings.</p>
<p>What level is good enough? I am not sure what this question means, and don’t know if I could tell you if I did.</p>
<p>On piece selection, now is the time to get those pieces chosen, if you haven’t already. Your son’s teacher should be directing/assisting in this search. The teacher often has a good idea on which pieces should be avoided.</p>
<p>If you have more specific questions, you are welcome to p.m. me.</p>
<p>Thank you for the recording information. We are in the process of getting his repertoire selected. He has performed enough pieces to meet typical requirements (except for the full sonata), but he always likes to move on to new pieces.</p>