I’ve been playing piano for a loooong time and I am very dedicated to it. I’ve taken abrsm grade 8. I’ve also played in Carnegie hall, nj music teachers association 5 year award, etc…
As a rising junior, I’m thinking about sending in a tape recording of my pieces. Is this necessary? How much will it help in admissions? If yes, are there any pieces in particular that I need to choose from? How many songs should be on the CD (my friend prepared 3 for yale)?
Thanks!
<p>you can send CD's to yale....would to turn that it with your app. i have no idea..srry</p>
<p>well.. i don't think its really necessary unless you're going to like major in it in college?</p>
<p>don't listen to that person up there^. it IS pretty necessary if you are borderline of getting in or not. i say you choose one piece from each time period (baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary). i've seen many people do 4 songs. but i guess 3 or 5 would be fine too. i highly recommend you to send your recordings. they will definitely help you. good luck.</p>
<p>bump........</p>
<p>I've a 15 min recording of myself playing prokofiev's 1st concerto (with orchestra) that I'm probably going to send to the schools I'm applying to. </p>
<p><--- economics major</p>
<p>Cornell says this:
The evaluation of musical accomplishment among applicants to Cornell attempts to identify candidates with a distinguishing excellence in music. Such accomplishment suggests a student able to concentrate on difficult long-term goals and to achieve them. These recordings are used for university admissions purposes only, rather than to the music major, and do not replace live auditions for ensembles or lessons at Cornell.</p>
<p>Cassette tape or compact disc recordings should demonstrate the applicant's abilities on his or her primary instrument(s) or as a singer. Recordings should thus audibly feature the individual applicant, not sections or ensembles of which the applicant is among the members. Recordings should be no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, and the selections should show varied aspects of the performer's abilities. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of their technical abilities and musicality.</p>
<p>Recordings must be labelled with the following information:</p>
<pre><code>* Name
* Social Security Number
* College of application (e.g. Arts and Sciences)
* Instrument(s)
* Works included on the recording
</code></pre>
<p>Gxing,
When DD applied to colleges 2 yrs ago, she submitted a tape of her piano performance as well...for 3 time periods. She studied piano since the age of 5 and capped off at level 9 of CA Music Teachers' Assoc. Prior to college visit, Dir of Performance emailed and eventually met with her. So, I guess they do take everything into consideration. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks archermom and Hepcat1ofone!</p>
<p>Archermom, does it matter what major I choose? Should I send a CD recording anyway? It seems to me like your daughter was pursuing a career in music. I plan to major in economics.</p>
<p>YES it is necessary. You have a well developed talent and schools want to see that. I sent in a tape of two pieces I performed in contrasting styles (Beethoven's Appasionata Sonata and Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso) to all the schools I applied. It can only help your application. I would suggest choosing the pieces that best represent your abilities and also the ones you perform the best. I'm not a music major but I sent in a tape to show that I spent my time on something other than academics.</p>
<p>umm. . .I have been playing the piano for eight years, but I was never really involved with it. . .will I give the colleges a wrong impression if I send in my recording? 1. I am not very good 2. I have no intention of studying music 3. will it sound like i am trying to artificially impress them?</p>
<p>I don't think there's anything wrong with "artificially impressing" them. haha.</p>
<p>ehh fewfdsag, I wouldn't send it in if it's not a good quality recording. I think I read somewhere (might have been yale, and I imagine it will be the same for most schools) where they mention they send it to the related department in their school for evaluation. It's not like some punk death metal listening adcom is going to be listening to it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think I read somewhere (might have been yale, and I imagine it will be the same for most schools) where they mention they send it to the related department in their school for evaluation. It's not like some punk death metal listening adcom is going to be listening to it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, I think this is true for all schools. Wellesley's head of music performance e-mailed me about my tape, so the music department are the ones who review your tape. Then they evaluate it and send their evaluation to adcom (I believe).</p>
<p>what did you guys use to record? I've been playing piano for 12 years now but yeah.. uhm i've used my computer to record myself once but the quality was quite bad.</p>
<p>I am not so sure that sending CD's to yale is such a good idea. I sent them the Dr. Dre cd when I applied and I didn't get in, so I am pretty that they don't want you to send them cds. I decided that I would give them a call but my battle rap over the phone didn't seem to impress them anymore then the cd, so to sum it up, no, don't send them a cd, have they ever sent you anything nice?</p>
<p>edit- I thought it would be important to send a Dr.Dre cd because I wanted to do pre med.</p>
<p>Stealth, I really don't think sending CDs can hurt your application. Maybe you were just unlucky.</p>
<p>so save me, I'm probably going to record at a professional studio.</p>
<p>I still haven't heard a clearcut answer to this question: Should I send in a CD regardless of what field I'm majoring in?</p>
<p>^I think so. I'm sending in 2 Chopin pieces, but I can't get the spot at a prof. recording studio. Should I just tape it at home?</p>
<p>The quality will not be very good.</p>
<p>A lot of churches have the capability to make decent piano recordings with their sound equipment. Their pianos are usually in tune, too. Check with your church or one in your community to see if the minister of music could help with your recording. That is how my daughter made her piano recording for her application. It wasn't top quality, but it sounded much better than anything we could have produced in our home.</p>
<p>You could ask your piano teacher to see if he/she either a) Has a recording studio (although you would probably know this by now) or b) Can recommend a place to record it.</p>