I know that piano is usually required for Vocal Performance majors (at least from the curricula we’ve looked at). My D has limited piano skills. Took lessons off and on for about a year but we had trouble fitting lessons in time wise between travel to school, homework, voice lessons etc.
Will she be in the minority as far as having minimal piano skills? How challenging is the curriculum for Keyboard? I’m tempted to see about getting her lessons throughout the summer in order to relieve some of the stress it could incur if the course is rigorous. I would rather send her with strong basics so it’s one less thing she has to worry about and spend time on.
If anyone has experience or words of wisdom they can share I would appreciate it. Since summer vocal programs seem to be a no go this year, we think piano could be helpful.
Speaking of summer programs, does anyone know of any that are holding in person sessions? She received a generous scholarship last year and couldn’t use it. They’ve extended it through 2022 but, I believe she has to use this year bc it is for high school aged students. BUTI/WNO arent options bc she already attended and it has to be a program you haven’t attended previously. She did an online version of a camp last year, and while it was nice, it def lacks the personal/social aspect of what draws her to summer programs.
My D is in the same situation, but I’d throw theory in the mix as a weakness too! I play(ed) the piano and am super judgmental about this, as I imagine the rest of the students in any music school will be with respect to the singers. My D is well-trained for an 18-year-old singer but still just a baby musically speaking compared to the rest of the music world. I think this is the case for a lot of singers (perhaps especially sopranos, who can fake a melody in choir).
I would love to hear from experienced vocal performance students/parents about this. My D has been planning to get piano and theory lessons before freshman year too, but occasionally she wavers on this, thinking she’ll be fine in remedial piano and theory at college.
I think my D is going skip summer programs this year unless the program she was planning to do last summer in Italy ends up happening in person, which seems highly unlikely. She’s not at all inclined to do an online program this year.
We were in the same situation (not a singer though) and found a piano teacher who geared teaching to theory as well as playing. Then she also took a theory class at a conservatory prep I think that it really reduced stress upon entering undergrad.
p.s. for singers - also languages. Yesterday I overheard my D’s voice teacher telling her that her diction in a French song she was picking back up after a long break sounded plausibly French-ish, if you don’t speak French, lol. My D is planning to work on her Italian/German/French over the summer - possibly an online course, although I have a feeling that she’ll decide that binge-watching Skom (sp??) in those languages is sufficient.
My D only passed out of piano 1 in her evaluation. That means she could find the keys and play a bit…mainly with her right hand. She had taken lessons from her grandma…very basically. I remember worrying about this slightly…but piano was never a big deal. My D had a tendency to “dump” any worry on me…and I remember very little about piano. Yes, she had to take 3 semesters of piano. I think in the end she was Ok with it. It’s a low credit, low stake class. It may have been P/F. I would not worry about it. If someone wants to work on it, fine. If not, no big deal. Diction will be a bigger deal as it is more important to getting roles. Piano is just a basic requirement.
Side note: during the pandemic, she has actually been working on her piano skills on her own! First time she has shown initiative on her own to accompany herself.
Edit: after re-reading your questions. Your kid will NOT become a piano player! Mine didn’t and she still passed out. I did hear her play with BOTH hands one spring break. She has natural musicality. It sounded good…basic…right. That’s all that was required. I don’t think it was a “hard” piece…just learning and accomplishing the basic of piano playing.
Lots of singers have minimal piano skills and she will be fine starting music school without much experience there. That said, any prior knowledge she does have will make particularly that first semester a little easier, in both piano and theory. My son had an extensive piano background but stopped lessons early in high school. We got him lessons the summer before he started college with an eye towards passing the piano proficiency exam. We found out what was required and targeted those things. If you have your daughter take summer lessons, look at what kind of proficiency the music schools want. It’s more along the lines of scales, sight reading, chords, simple accompaniment, playing from a four part choral score, as I recall. Not so much playing little sonatinas in the manner of typical beginner piano lessons. A good teacher can help her build the skills and practice techniques to pass the proficiency tests and also work with her on theory to get a head start there.
Again I don’t know about singing but wanted to clarify that our goals with piano were not to make a player out of the kid, but more musicianship/theory, and to reduce stress. We were fine with any remedial classes and were not even worried about placement, which turned out to be fine. We were just lucky to find just the right teacher who understood what was needed. It depends on the kid but for mine, entering a high stress environment was eased by the basic piano she did in junior and some of senior year.
Do not sweat diction, languages or keyboard skills right now. This will all be part of their undergraduate curriculum. If she is bored this summer, sure, have her practice some piano. But she will not be in the minority if she is remedial at the keyboard or has bad French pronunciation. Maybe if they work really hard they can place out of a theory or keyboard class, but if they don’t place out of it they will just take it along with the rest of their classmates who aren’t as skilled. Best advice for summer before college??? HAVE FUN!
I am a conservatory trained pianist and was very worried about my D, a singer, not having any theory and only a little piano, however, after pretty lengthy discussions with teachers at schools like Steinhart, they’re expecting kids with all levels of training and their goal is to teach. When I asked in her Junior year if we should be focusing more on theory we were told not to worry.
My D took lessons for 10 years and once she got to the conservatory she found all the other singers basically couldn’t play piano. Part of the classes require piano so don’t worry your kid will be struggling with all the other singers who don’t know how to play. As for music theory most kids going in also do not have any music theory background. At the conservatory my D attends all kids have to take music theory no matter how advanced so again everyone is one the same playing field.
Phew! Thanks for all the responses! They have def eased some worry.
She def knows the keys and can read music and play with both hands (not well). She’s in AP.music theory now, so I’m thinking she won’t enter in a deficit.
Her plan IS to have fun this summer. Her BF is leaving forthe Air Force Academy in June , soon after graduation, and she’s already sad so just trying to find some things to keep her mind busy, while being productive.
I think you’re right about Sopranos in the choir setting!
It sounds like she will be more than fine. Hope she can indeed have a fun summer. We are all in need of that and before starting school, sounds like a priority, especially with BF leaving.
My daughter has a BM vocal performance and is currently working on her MM. Given her experience, I wouldn’t worry too much about lack of theory, piano, diction, etc. as they will all have to be taken in college. Some people will pass out of the piano requirements but every program that I’ve seen will make the students start with the first year theory, aural skills and sight singing courses even with a 5 on the AP theory test. They want to make sure that the students have all of these important skills before attempting the next level of courses.
My D is well-trained for an 18-year-old singer but still just a baby musically speaking compared to the rest of the music world. I think this is the case for a lot of singers (perhaps especially sopranos, who can fake a melody in choir).
so just trying to find some things to keep her mind busy, while being productive.