<p>I have been playing since I was 4 (I am 17) but took a 3 years break from 14-17 (I started back up 5 months ago).</p>
<p>I am not sure how anyone can judge this but in 7th grade I played Grieg's Sonata in e minor, and the 3rd movement of the moonlight. Right now I am working on Liszt's sonata in bminor.</p>
<p>Anyway, how good is good enough to send to an ivy? I have not competed in years (although I did for a while) and I am kinda lost as to what the bar is. I was thinking of sending my Grieg sonata and Chopin's fantasie improtu. They are polished to the point where there are no wrong notes and the music has a fair amount of depth. But is it a nationally recognizable level? .... no... </p>
<p>Ehh, I’m not really a music person, but my two cents: go ahead and send it. I don’t think it would hurt you at all, only make your application better.</p>
<p>yeah, but my fear is that it will hurt. They say over and over at these college info sessions that sending something that isn’t incredible will hurt you 0.o</p>
<p>They specifically mention if you’re a “weekend pianist” it’s probably no good. :(</p>
<p>If you already worked yourself up to Level 8 or something by 7th grade, that’s a different story. But if all you can say about your playing is that it’s competent I doubt they’ll value you more highly.</p>
<p>hi there! fellow pianist here I know all of the repertoire you mentioned (because they’re pretty well known) that’s an impressive level for a 7th grader but for a senior? not really. I played fantasie impromptu when I was ll. I don’t know the grieg sonata as well but my understanding is its not much more difficult?
its funny you took a break at 14 because ive heard a lot of piano teachers say that after that age, most people dont get that much better (because they have less time and their commitment decreases, etc). thats pretty much what happened to me. I was really hardcore until around 9th grade, and I havent really improved all that much since then. I’m sending a chopin ballade (I consider that high enough level) and perhaps a bach prelude/fugue or the ravel jeux d’eau (my teacher says thats enough contrast. ravel is HARD). but the ballade recording is from 2 years ago, and in those 2 years I have not done anyting better than that. so I guess what im trying to say is, if you were really good back then, send. because most people (who dont intend to go pro) dont get all that much better</p>
<p>Really, really wrong. The bar is very high at top colleges. Don’t send a supplement unless trusted professionals assure you the offering is impressive.</p>
<p>thanks alot for the feedback. I have decided not to send anything, it is a risk that is not worth it, and I believe while it could help me just a tad, it could also hurt me alot. </p>
<p>Quote from Badgerz “They are polished to the point where there are no wrong notes and the music has a fair amount of depth. But is it a nationally recognizable level? … no…”</p>
<p>If you are at the level of “there are no wrong notes”, then, although I’m sure you’re talented,and yes,the 3d mvmt of Mondschein is impressive, but, there is a lot more to good classical music than playing with no mistakes. The admissions committee will see through that in an instant. For instance, Penn will farm out the eval of your piece to a Curtis prof, Columbia to a Juillard or MSM prof…tough isn’t the word for them.</p>
<p>Here is an ex. of kids who send in music supplements: kids from top Music school pre-college divisions, like Juillard, or Manhattan School of Music, or Curtis ( if they have one). They practice 3 -4 honest hours a day ( Sundays too)These kids have to hire an accompanist, and play 2 contrasting pieces. They go to a professional recording studio, and then edit with a pro.Typically, the whole affair costs about $500. And these pieces have been worked on by the teachers at these institutions, who themselves teach some very very gifted kids. Some of these kids go on to perform @Carnegie, or Alice Tully Hall. So, if you’re in this league, go for it…</p>
<p>^a bit of an exaggeration I think. I’m sure a lot of people below the level you mentioned send in recordings that are fairly impressive. you don’t need a professional recording studio to record a piece. my teacher is a recording engineer and he does it for me for free.</p>
<p>On most places I’ve seen you’re not even allowed to edit your pieces so there’s no point trying to achieve good quality recordings. It’s ALL about your playing skill, so editing could mislead or even cheat on the quality of the actual playing.</p>
<p>That’s only for some competitions. I’ve never seen that for music supplements. What colleges say that?</p>
<p>Hmmm… if I have the choice between either an edited or unedited one and they’re about the same quality playing-wise (sound-wise the edited is a lot better as my recording equipment isn’t that great), should I send the unedited one then? Or do they not care.</p>
<p>All prescreening tapes and recorded submissions for consideration for audition based admits for music majors as well as those for immersion programs, fellowship festivals, competitions expect the submissions to be recorded in one take, unaltered, free from enhancement, and to represent the spirit, nature, and quality of the recorded performance.</p>
<p>It’s effectively the “industry standard.”</p>
<p>The same is true of recorded supplement submissions. </p>
<p>If you feel the need to verify this, call the department and ask.</p>
<p>For clarification, it is acceptable to “splice” together two movements, or two or more works. It is not acceptable to record different measures of the same movement at different times, and splice them, giving the impression of one movement recorded clean in one take.</p>
I know all of the repertoire you mentioned (because they’re pretty well known) that’s an impressive level for a 7th grader but for a senior? not really. I played fantasie impromptu when I was ll. I don’t know the grieg sonata as well but my understanding is its not much more difficult?