Robert Estrin - piano expert

How to get into a Music School

Tips to get into a Music School

What's the best way to get into a music school? In this video, Robert gives you easy and actionable tips to help you get accepted to a music school.

Released on April 30, 2014

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DISCLAIMER: The views and the opinions expressed in this video are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Virtual Sheet Music and its employees.

Video Transcription

Hi, I'm Robert Estrin here at virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com. We have a viewer question. Richard asks, "How do you get into a music school?" Well, this is an excellent question and I wish it was an easy process but we're gonna cover this today. Well, if you wanna get into a music school, you really need to plan far ahead because it takes years of study to get into some of the better schools. Now, there might be options for you. Even if you've started late, you're really itching to get into music and you wanna further your studies, perhaps a community college would welcome you without any auditions or anything or a minimal amount of advancement. But to get into a serious music conservatory, it takes years of preparation. Generally speaking, for example, as a pianist, do I need to be a piano major? You need to have at least one prelude and fugue from book one or book two of Johann Sebastian Bach, with a couple of exceptions of some of the easier preludes and fugues. You need a classical era sonata of Mozart Haydn or Beethoven. Once again, there's a couple of easier Mozart and Beethoven sonatas that are not permitted and then you need at least one or two contrasting works from the 19th or 20th century. Right there, that's a formidable line of repertoire. You need also to know all your major, minor scales, and arpeggios.

So this is not something you can just prepare for quickly. You could not possibly prepare to get into a music school for an audition for a top school with just a year's worth of work. It would take many years, but as I said one successful strategy is to start at the community college while you advance and then transfer to a more advanced school. When choosing the school, choose a school that you can find a specific person for your specialty. So, if you're a singer you want to find a school that has a singer to study with, the teachers there who you respect and really wanna study with. Or if you're a conductor you would wanna find a school that has a specific conductor because the private teacher ultimately is the most important aspect of whatever school you go to. Thanks for the great question and bring them on in because you'll see answers to them at featured videos here at livingpianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com. Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin.
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Comments, Questions, Requests:

Dave O'Brien * VSM MEMBER * on April 30, 2014 @12:14 pm PST
Robert, I love all your comments. It's a good service you're doing. It was evident from both of your messages today that one or both cameras were very close to your face, which results in a bit of foreshortening. I'm from the "old school" of photography, which used a 90 mm "portrait" lens with 35 mm film. My suggestion - back up both cameras to about twice their present distance, and use a mild telephoto setting. If sound level is a problem, use a third mike or camera even closer than the present one. Result -- you'll look a bit better, and your sound balance can be better as well.
reply
Robert - host, on May 1, 2014 @1:13 pm PST
In a perfect world that is exactly what we would do. However, we are often cramped in a sea of pianos with little room to walk much less capture from a distant camera with a telephoto lens! Thanks for the keen observation.
Dave O'Brien * VSM MEMBER * on May 1, 2014 @6:03 pm PST
I figured. And, well, we try. We all do. Thanks.
Dave
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