<p>Hey guys, I'm wondering about something yet again :).</p>
<p>As you know, Harvard offers the possibility to submit Music CDs/tapes in order to boost your application and reveal your personality a little further. I wondered: how difficult are pieces of music being submitted? Are they rather slow or are they fast, how long do they last? </p>
<p>Certainly, any sent composition has to require quite some skill, otherwise, they're not of interest. I'm just curious about the kind of pieces (previous) applicants submit since unlike Yale University, Harvard does not declare what they want to hear and what they don't (at Yale: "overall length of 20 minutes, max. 2 pieces, 1 fast, 1 slow).</p>
<p>I'm particularly interested in this because although I did not win any award for my accordion skills (probably because I did not participate in any competitions lol), I plan to hand in some records of my music. I don't want to brag or anything, but apart from the fact that people listening to me say that I'm "very gifted", I am the most skilled player in my orchestra. To measure my factual ability and to compare myself, I simply want the name of some pieces or at least some pieces of the same skill level that peopled submitted with their application. I don't want to embarrass myself, so I'd be grateful for any help, you know ;).</p>
<p>I don’t really have the answer to this, but I just wanted to add my two cents. I’m sure a lot of applicants are submitting vocal tapes or tapes on flute, trumpet, etc., but accordion is probably a more unusual instrument among applicants. That could really help you stand out, so I’d definitely submit something! Best of luck!</p>
<p>. . . assume that most students who submitted a cd probably did so because they wanted to play in one of Harvard’s orchestra’s or bands – think strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Therefore, before going to the effort of making and submitting a cd, you should research if there is any demand for an accordion player at Harvard.</p>
<p>However, whether I am needed as an accordion player or not is not crucial:
I love playing it and I’d say that I am a passionate player, but it’s not something
that I want to focus my studies on. To clarify: I do not want to major in Arts or something, and I do not expect an accordion to be needed anywhere, even though it’d be nice combined with a violin and a bass.</p>
<p>To aleader: I think you might have a point there, accordion players are probably really a rare sight :). I’ll try to make the best out of it, thanks for your optimism!</p>
<p>My son is a singer and he submitted a 10 minute CD with three songs that he felt were representative of his skills. I think about 10 minutes is the most you should submit and, IIRC, Harvard wanted to receive CDs, not tapes. Your CD would be reviewed by someone in the music department, if it is an issue, to assess your skills. It’s an unusual EC, but I can’t recall any performance that I have seen with one, although I certainly have not seen them all!</p>
<p>Make sure you spent some time assessing whether or not your recording is truly worth consideration. As stated on the Harvard Admissions website, you must only submit recordings if you are unusually gifted. Yale goes even further to say that recordings that do not demonstrate an unusual level of skill may prove detrimental to your application.</p>
<p>Yup, felixfelicis, this is why I need something/someone to compare to. Without any comparison, I can not guess where I am, and this is why I asked for some pieces of music, just to be able to estimate expected skill levels. You hit the nail right on the head.</p>
<p>Haha, nice suggestion, but you have to distinguish between a bayan, which is a button accordion as you can see, and a key accordion. Those are not the same :)</p>
<p>Agree with Dwight. I doubt the majority of the 35,000 submit CDs. Bottom line, submitting a CD will help your application, assuming you are very proficient/talented. It’s a supplement, so don’t freak out if you can’t play an instrument! :)</p>
<p>CDs this year were due on 1/1, so are you submitting for the class of 2016?</p>
<p>This illustrates an important point though: not many people are familiar with the accordion (even a serious musician like me) so it’s hard for us to give any recommendations. In general, musicians at Harvard (and Yale) are conservatory-level. Many have been accepted to or transferred from Juilliard, Eastman, and similarly prestigious music schools. Many have performed at famous or semi-famous symphony halls. Many have won state or national-level honors. In other words, Harvard is flooded with musical talent and it takes some pretty extreme ability to stand out.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you play accordion, and I’m not sure how many accordion submissions there are every year … you’d probably stand out already from that aspect so, I’m really not sure.</p>
<p>When my daughter submitted a CD, she identified the 3 minutes that she felt represented her best work, in an enclosed note. Admissions is busy enough.</p>
<p>I’m just presuming that those who submitted CD’s are usually high in caliber for performance.</p>
<p>Me, I submitted three recordings (graduate level pieces). One is a very long, melancholy song (by Bach, Ciaconne), the first mvt of it (even though I memorized the whole thing). Another was Mozart Concert No. 5 (wasn’t too hard for me, but showing variety in my piece) and this was a moderate tempo. And last was Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate, having a lot of technical/fast areas.</p>
<p>Accordion is so cool. and yelopen thanks for the link, I’m so amazed. That’s one of my favourite concertos and I find that so entertaining and awesome.</p>
<p>The people who will be reviewing your supplemental recording will be educated in the field of music, so don’t worry too much about the pieces. Obviously put some diversity in it; I for one played Bach and Bartok, and I may have put paganini as well, I forget, but they will be able to tell your level from whatever you play.</p>