Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Am I being realistic?

Im a senior in high school and for last year I was set on going to berklee to study guitar(I have already been accepted).....well some things happened that i wont go into detail about but basically I fell in love with the piano and decided to put my energy and time into it.Well basically is there enough time for me to get up to par to study at university level..about a year....i am ready to really give everything to it, I usually have about 9 hours a day i can practice on week days and weekends I will just practice all day....I took theory classes a while ago using a piano,pretty much every thing i had on guitar transfered to the piano pretty well so im not completely new.. im just looking for some motivation or a reality check...thanks for replys

it's going to be tough for you. you have to see if you can get audition pieces done within one year. if you just started playing piano, i'm not sure you'd have enough time to accomplish that.

(1)It's surprising, at times, how much technique transfers over from one instrument to another.

(2)Don't practice so much you injure your hands. I think pianists may be more prone to this than other instrumentalists, but I've heard of acoustic string instrument players (e.g., David Grisman) being sidelined for a while with overuse problems.

(3)You might talk to the Berklee people about this.

I already developed carpal tunnel a while ago from playing guitar too much but i got some accupuncture and do a stretching routine after every hour of playing so that got fixed up...also what should i be focusing on ......i have ALOTT of time to practice just dont know what to....

berklee? or Berkeley in California?

Piano at Berklee or somewhere else?

Probably not at Berklee....I would like to gain some more expeirience before spending that kind of money,,,,could anyone recommend some decent schools that arent ridicoulously expensive???and that might actually accept me

Everyone likes to be optimistic and sugar coat things so as not to break any youngling's heart on here but allow me to be the sole voice of dissent then and tell you that NO are you not being anywhere near realistic although I suppose anything is possible. But from my own experience, I just don't see it being possible for you to become a advanced pianist in 1 years time.

However, give some more information, 1 years time do you mean that you plan to study as PIANO PERFORMANCE MAJOR in FALL OF 2007? Because that would PROBABLY mean (I'm assuming) that you would have to audition sometime in spring or at latest summer of 2007 which would mean you have far less than a year's time but rather only months. So tell us more about the situation, also depending upon the school and its standards in the music dept I think it might be possible to learn some pieces for an audition in a years time such as a Bach invention, a Mozart sonata movement, a chopin nocturne, etc all of these have relatively easy pieces that I just mentioned and can be learned by beginners but it depends like I said what the standard is of the music program you are attempting to apply to, obviously if it's a music conservatory you stand no chance whatsoever but if it's a normal liberal arts school or whatnot you may stand some chance I don't know for sure.

And if you are REALLY REALLY sure abuot this and have your heart set on it and truly think you can devote that ridiculous amount of time to practicing that you claim you can, then get immediately to your scales, all major and minor possibly get a piano teacher, get HANON or similar finger dexterity exercise book, and assuming you know how to read sheet music start working on some Clementi sonatinas, Bach invention in C major, Bach prelude in C major from wwell tempered clavier book 1, things of this nature, and in the time you're NOT practicing start reading piano theory books about technique and start asking as many questions as possible on pianoworld and posting multitudes of topics and make sure you practice everything super slow at first.

My plan is to study at a relatively "lower" school for a year or so and transfer to a more prestigous school if I feel im good enough.....as for practicing I have no problem with disiplined practice for very long periods and I have already learned all my music theory from 4 years in my high school jazz band(which Is really helping).I really would like to learn ONLY Chopin as he is the reason for my craziness and swithing from guitar...

Anything is possible, I guess, but ...

I think you are being totally unrealistic. If you are planning to be a piano major, do you really think that any school will find a spot for you among the (possibly) hundreds of applicants who have spent their young years practicing and playing the piano, and who have developed not only advanced technique but also familiarity with and the ability to play piano music of all periods?

Furthermore, you may have nine hours a day to practice, but every serious piano student knows that (practically) no one can practice efficiently for that length of time each day. You may have the physical stamina to put in nine hours a day - and risk serious injury doing so - but a lot of that time will be wasted time. I would hazard a guess that you don't really understand what time and effort are required to become a sufficiently good pianist to be accepted as a piano major at the university level.

You would undoubtedly have to display some level of technical achievement but also the ability to play Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern music as well. How do you hope to develop those requisites in less than a year, given that applications would have to be in by the winter of the year before you enter?

I'm with Requiem Aeternum on this one; I don't think you are being at all realistic.

That said: anything is possible, I guess, but ...

Regards,

No, you are not being realistic. Don't get false hope from the "anything is possible" comments. From a purely physical perspective you simply won't be good enough after only one year.

Your statement which I quoted above indicates that you are also not realistically mentally ready/committed to this. If you "only" want to learn Chopin, then being a piano major is probably not your calling.

My internet psychoanalytic powers tell me that you are an intense, passionate person who may be just a tad burnt out on guitar because you are overdoing it. You're already good enough on Guitar to matriculate to Berklee. So take a break, indulge your new interest and explore piano/Chopin. But not for 9 hours a day, though. Go make a few friends, go out on a date, live life a bit. Then in the Spring after a nice breather and battery recharge you can reevaluate whether guitar is something you want to continue with.

Is this a serious comment? Have you taken a look at any school's audition requirements? No matter how small the school they will require an audition of contrasting styles. You will have to play a work by Bach, and at the minimum it will have to be a 2 part Invention. You will need the first movement of a Classical Sonata (Mozart, Beethoven or Haydn), and finally a Romantic work and there you can play Chopin.

I don't believe you really understand the committment it is to be a piano major in college. I would stick with guitar if I were you and try to find some Chopin Transcriptions to play on the Guitar, and maybe at Berkley you can get piano lessons as an elective. Berkley is a good school, I wouldn't give that up for some unrealistic dream that I perceive you are not all that serious about. (the only playing Chopin comment really sold this opinion for me).

apianonne:

deadmean is not talking about Berkley, but about Berklee. I do wonder, however, if he really knows what he wants or where to get it, given the following (From Berklee's website) :

"Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music is the world's largest independent music college and the premier institution for the study of contemporary music. The college's 3,800 students and 460 faculty members interact in an environment designed to provide the most complete learning experience possible, including all of the opportunities and challenges presented by a career in the contemporary music industry.

Using Berklee's extensive facilities, located in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, students develop musical competencies in such areas as composition, performance and recording/production , and also learn to make the informed business decisions necessary to career success.

Since the college's inception, one of its primary goals has been to foster international understanding through the medium of contemporary music. Young musicians come to Berklee from every corner of the earth to study music, and as a result, Berklee is a uniquely international college. Of all U.S. colleges and universities, Berklee has the largest percentage of undergraduate students from outside the U.S.—26 percent—representing more than 70 countries.

I am not intending to be unkind, but this is probably the most rational thing you've said so far. You really need to wake up and take a serious reality check.

Regards,

roflmao excellent posts Bruce.

Deadmen you DO realize that for a college audition for piano performance you are required to play at the LEAST 4 different composers from 4 different eras and sometimes 5? That will mean you must play one BAROQUE work (i.e. Bach), one CLASSICAL work (i.e. Mozart or Beethoven), one ROMANTIC work (i.e. Chopin) and one MODERN work (i.e. Prokofiev, Barber, etc).

Start at Berklee in guitar, take all the piano courses you can, and see if you can transfer programs, if you still want to.

I have to enter my opinion here, too. No, Requiem, you are not the only voice of dissent. I agree with you.

I went to a highly thought-of university and got my bachelor and masters degrees in piano performance. That being said: even though I was MORE THAN qualified (after having studied piano for 12 years - since the age of 6) I still had to work my tail off! And I came in there knowing all the major and minor scales plus the required repertoire from all 4 periods of music.

Deadman: just know that you will NOT be allowed to learn and focus only on Chopin. I hope you weren't serious when you said that. There's no school worth it's salt that would let you do that. If you're so enthralled with Chopin then by all means, find a qualified teacher and go for it.

Competition at music schools in this day and age is highly competitive - almost unrealistic at times. I talked a few weeks ago with a friend of mine who is highly involved with the music dept. at USC and the requirements for being accepted there are going to be upgraded - A LOT! This is just a sign of the times.

I like your enthusiasm but I think you need to have a reality check. Why not go to some student recitals at the local universities and see what is demanded? Then take a long, hard look at what you REALLY need to do.

(you can ALWAYS study Chopin without a degree)

I just realized you have not yet told us what your level of playing is at the piano. Can you sight read music? Have you ever played a Beethoven sonata or a Bach prelude and Fugue? Do you know all of your scales and etudes?

I noticed you said "university level", which implies not a conservatoroy, but an acutal music dept. of a college. The problem with these types of questions - and they come up a lot here - is we are just sitting on the other side of the computer screen, we don't know your personality or your playing. From what it sounds like, I would say you have no chance of getting into a great CONSERVATORY this year, or probably the next few years. But if you do work hard, and depending on the level of your playing right now, which none of us actually know, I would dare say that it is quite possible that by next year, if you really work, you could prepare an audition program for a university music dept...and thus would complete your dream of studying piano at the university level.

If you have lots of natural talent, organizational skills and the motivation, then you can switch to piano.

My recommendation would be to find a piano professor at any college (even a community college) near you. Take a few lessons and see how it goes. Any local prof could give you advice on schools.

You couldn't exclusively play Chopin as an undergrad, but you could probably become a Chopin specialist in grad school. It wouldn't be easy, but it's possible.

I had to pick between 2 instruments, and it was not easy. I could have majored in either, but ultimately I had to pick the one I couldn't live without. I still play the other for fun, though. There are many paths for you. Good luck finding the right one!