<p>I would like to write down a few words about preparing for music composition. Of course, your mileage will vary. Your child is not the same as mine, and so forth. So these are my opinions, no more and no less. I am writing this from the point of view of addressing the student.</p>
<p>I assume you are VERY interested in music composition. Obsessed maybe. Performance matters less to you although you are a performer. That's what you'll need to go further.</p>
<p>So, first things first: you need a private teacher. Your high school will not provide sufficient history or theory. You can find a teacher either by asking around or by calling the nearest music dept. at a university.</p>
<p>Second, you need to build a background in solfege, pitch recognition and all the other rudiments of musicianship. Get this where you can --- most music schools will offer this. The earlier you start the better.</p>
<p>Third, learn piano. Even if you play another instrument, you need piano as a tool. Start as early as you can.</p>
<p>Fourth, go to summer programs. Not only will they provide cohorts in crime, they will expose you to music that you don't know. You'll learn valuable skills. I'll write more on this.</p>
<p>Five, listen to whatever you can. Use your local library to get recordings. Read scores while listening. Don't just listen to what you like, try to listen to everything you can get to your ears.</p>
<p>I'll writeup another post on summer programs from my perspective.</p>
<p>I realize this is a bit of an older thread, but I felt like resurrecting this simply because all of the information is pretty spot on, and I would personally advise this for any high school student interested in applying to a composition program at any school.</p>
<p>I would like to clarify the third (and the second) thought with some of my own: it is very recommendable that a prospective composer learn piano and take up solfege, but I also suggest learning the fundamentals of score reading as well. It’s not an easy skill to develop but it’s a necessity to be able to process multiple staves in different clefs and transpositions at once. For someone who wants to enter an undergraduate composition program, I recommend mastering three-staff score reading (four-staff if you’re up for a real challenge). Material I recommend for learning score reading:
[ul]
[li][Preparatory</a> Exercises in Score Reading (Vorbereitende Ubungen im Partiturlesen): R.O. Morris,Howard Ferguson: 9780193214750: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Preparatory-Exercises-Reading-Vorbereitende-Partiturlesen/dp/019321475X]Preparatory”>http://www.amazon.com/Preparatory-Exercises-Reading-Vorbereitende-Partiturlesen/dp/019321475X) an exhaustive book that goes up to five staves (in multiple transpositions)[/li][li][Score-Reading</a> Exercises](<a href=“http://www.sfcmtheory.com/score_reading/score_reading.htm]Score-Reading”>Score-Reading Exercises) at the website of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, of varying difficulty[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>It’s best to learn score reading from a teacher. If you find an ear training teacher, ask them if they also teach score reading.</p>