A headscratcher...son Viohazard wants to study composition at a fairly demanding university. Entrance requirements (in 2 years time) are harmony/theory (at least G. 8 level), solfege/aural, and piano audition (G.8 level). He's already busy with this preparation.

He has just lost his violin teacher (moved away). His solfege teacher recommended that he simply abandon violin for 2 years until after he enters university. But as a singer, it's possible that the teacher doesn't realize the implications of 3 years without lessons on violin (very few lessons since taking G.8 a year ago, so Viohazard has already lost ground).

Viohazard is very torn - wants to improve his violin, but reluctant to ignore a teacher's advice. Thinks that occasional lessons might be enough...but he is aware that he has only started on major repertoire, and that he has big holes in his technique.

How much guidance do other players/teachers think is needed to keep making progress at post-G. 8 level, especially on violin?

What level do composition students/composers like to keep their first instrument performance skills at?


Background:

Composition teacher's view is that performance is important, as long as Viohazard remembers that harmony homework comes first .

Viohazard is adamant that violin is what he loves playing best. Violin and piano are also the only ones of Viohazard's instruments offered at his intended university.

He started piano a year ago, now somewhere round G. 4-5??? He practices very intensively about 30 mins a day, and that seems to keep him progressing steadily.

He's about to take G.8 in classical guitar and will cut back on guitar thereafter. He plays a little tenor sax in school band (health issues mean this will never be a first instrument for him). Enjoys playing tenor recorder for school ensembles too.

Now in senior high school, homework and exam load building up...

It's good that Viohazard has experience playing several instruments. First-hand knowledge on different instruments will no doubt help his composition.

Here's what I think:
- Drop guitar after Grade 8; play for fun if he has the time.
- Keep up with the violin; perhaps go for a lesson once every 2 to 3 weeks. Learn as many advanced pieces as possible to further his technique and musicality. In the future, he may have perform his own compositions.
- Learn as much piano as possible. Solid keyboard skills are essential for studies in theory and composition. Start learning the audition pieces early.
- If Viohazard has already attained a thorough knowledge of Grade 5 theory, then it shouldn't take him two years of lessons to get to Grade 8 theory, provided that he does his homework carefully. Besides doing harmony, perhaps he could do a little bit of solfege/aural during his theory/composition lessons now.
- Not sure what summer vacation is like in Japan, perhaps he could pursue more intense studies in harmony in the summer. During the school year, he could then alternate between piano, violin, and theory/composition lessons.

Thanks for the response. I think he's most afraid of ending up with no "first instrument" that he can perform at a good/expert level - doesn't want to be a "paper driver" composer.

Is maintaining a somewhat dubious G.8 level on violin a reasonable goal for a composition major, or should he really be trying to cover major repertoire and perfect basic technique over the next couple of years?

I'm sure his composition teacher has plans for plenty of counterpoint over summer vacation (He's just finishing basic harmony now).

She is teaching or has taught at the university he's interested in, so she does know what level he needs to prepare for (I showed her a G.8 theory paper in Japanese - she said that level would see him into most universities, but the local one will need a much higher level...some precocious brats are strolling through Challan before they even enter the university). Basically, guitar needs to go in order to make time for theory homework.

She works with the solfege teacher, who teaches him solfege/aural separately. Between them, they are very down to earth, dedicated teachers, but neither are strings players.

P.S. Piano audition is sightreading, major sonata, and Well-tempered Klavier - not within his reach yet.

I'm a second year uni student specialising in composition and while I have lessons once in a while my practical skills have suffered a bit - though not as much as they might, considering how much ensemble playing I'm doing.
Your son may well end up playing for hours a week in orchestras/quartets etc. so while virtuosic technique might not improve, stamina, sight reading and ensemble will all benefit immensely.

May I ask which uni he is aiming for?

Thanks for the "on the ground" report!

The university son is aiming for is this one - geographically close, but musically at a rather high elevation from our lowlands! The composition intake is only 15 students per year, including kids from specialist music high schools all over the country plus every serious wannabe who can still get to the exams and auditions on two sticks, so only a tiny handful of kids from general high schools make it in every year...he may have to make new plans closer to the time, but for now, it's all systems go.

His composition teacher told him tonight that if he works hard on harmony for a couple of months, and promises not to get too carried away with violin, she will put him in touch with a teacher later in the summer. I'm starting to get the impression that non-piano-major composition students are rare.

If you don't mind, what have been the biggest surprises and the biggest gains for you in studying composition at university? Anything that you now wish you'd done before you started university ?

The most unexpected thing was probably realising just how little contemporary music I knew - before going to uni I hadn't heard anything later than Webern. Since coming to York I've been exposed to a tremendous amount of music that I had idea existed. I've just finished a module on Pendereki, Lutoslawski and Kurtag and it's totally changed my compositional vocabulary. Before that we studied electronic music from Stockhausen through to Aphex Twin with much the same effect.

The only thing I would have done more, especially if the entrance requirements include submitting scores, is listen to as much music of the last 40 years as possible - not least so that his submitted pieces show understanding of contemporary idioms, but also so that he knows what he's talking about in an interview.

I'm curious what sort of harmony is required for the course? only that for mine, classical harmony has very little worth - we've spent the last week or so learning how to construct symmetrical twelve-note chords, before that was micropolyphony a la Ligeti.

What sort of music does your son compose? Do you know much about the musical tastes of the department/university?

Actually, he was just griping that he is so, so busy with harmony and instrument practice that he doesn't have time to compose any more! Even his teacher tells him not to worry about composing for now, just stuff as much theory into his head as he can. .

It bothers him that he can trace the influence of what he's heard in his music, but I expect that's quite normal...apart from classical music and minimalism, he's been interested in Arab music for a long time, and of course fairly interested in traditional Japanese music. He used to be interested in film music, don't know if that's still the case.



That sounds familiar. Son is interested but it's actually quite hard to keep up to date if you are not "in the loop".

The university is heavily into contemporary French composers, and a boy he bumped into at the attached high school confirmed that.



That also sounds about right - the entrance exams are maniacal, there are about 3 rounds of elimination, with things like 5 hours of fugue composition. But once you're in, it's avant-garde/postmodern from Day 1. Son's teacher says he needs to have classical composition solidly built so he can have more fun tearing it down again...

Currently doing harmony, about to move into counterpoint, and then will work on fugue. And if he has lots of time, the standard approach here would be to start on Challan's 380 Basses et Chants Donnees.

Its not essential to have a comprehensive knowledge of the scene, but worth learning some key people/pieces. If they're big on french music I would start with Boulez, Grisey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8UiPc2FwY) and Tristan Murail. Also worth listening to some Ligeti, who was the founder (pretty much) of the 'other' contemporary european tradition.

Nothing wrong with having discreet influences in music - nearly all music is part of a continuum.

A great place to listen to more obscure music is on Naxos Online - http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/home.asp - it's not free but is very very useful. Also Spotify, but I don't know if that's available in Japan?

Ooh, heard of Boulez and Ligeti, but not of Grisey or Murail. Thanks for those.

I had been thinking of getting a Naxos sub once his guitar exam was out of the way, and may do so in summer, when he's finished the first book of harmony theory.

Spotify...I get a nice little message saying "Why we are not available in your country..."! But we do use last.fm

I knew a lad (now old and grey and living in Perth, Australia) who went to university in York. Actually, I remember hearing a lot about student life, but not very much about the university!

*Ahem*

Might I ask why he should drop guitar?

Have a look at Leo Brouwer and Berlioz as examples of composers.....

Cheers,

Matt.

Brouwer is one of his favourite composers...and as the G.8 exam selection proves, Paganini's writing for guitar is very fine too, (and at least as far as this listener is concerned, more appealing than much of his writing for violin).

"Cut back" to once-monthly or irregular lessons rather than drop, because...

* he needs to shorten his fingernails as he gets into higher grade piano work in preparation for auditions and exam sightreaading (piano teacher has patiently worked around "exam-length" fingernails!). In the end, he'll probably use keyboard mostly and keep his nails a bit longer for guitar. His guitar teacher seems to like a slightly longer nail length than some other guitarists.

* sheer lack of time. This is the biggie - something's got to give, and most composition candidates have only piano to contend with!

* while he enjoys guitar and the ensemble and other performance opportunities that come with it, violin comes first with him.

* his intended university only offers tuition in orchestral instruments (and some Japanese traditional instruments). That's their problem, no reflection on guitar.

Actually, I think that having several years of classical guitar has made son's late start on piano much easier. It's a pity that guitar isn't given more recognition as an alternative harmony instrument for composition students. What it lacks in range, it gains in "blendability", not to mention portability.

I'm studying composition at a conservatoire and it feels like my grade 8 in theory is almost useless.

I hear what you're saying...can you tell me whether theory grades (or school courses in theory) were a requirement for entering courses? And are theory requirements quite demanding, or more like "basic theory"?

The situation here is that whether or not you're going to use classical theory, you can't pass the entrance exams without it...

I think it's beneficial to have attained Grade 8 standard in theory before embarking on a degree course in composition. Although what you learn (mostly tonal harmony and counterpoint, some analysis and reading of complex scores) may not have any direct influence over your composition studies, many of the skills are transferrable. I mean, if you can't write an attractive single-line melody or can't write a good two-part contrapuntal piece, you probably won't have much success studying composition. I'm thinking of parameters such as choice of register, instrumentation, interaction between different parts, pacing of materials, the way to approach and leave the climax, etc. Also, analytical technique from theory studies is extremely useful. Without it, you can't critique your own work or new music by other composers effectively.

Actually no, you are right. I take back what I said. The harmony does help and also in grade 8 theory you have to know a lot about different instruments of the orchestra such as range and transposition which is very important for composition. No we didn't have to have G8 theory to get in, in fact I was one of the only ones who had. As others have said though, he should manage G8 theory in 2 years.
Also keeping up with playing is something I'm finding very difficult. Before I went I was trying to decide between doing composition and doing oboe and I'm still not sure I made the right choice. If he's a violinist though he's likely to be wanted in the orchestra.

Sorry that wasn't particularly helpful. I was just thinking allowed really.

Thinking aloud makes very interesting reading, thanks!

OD, I wil get Viohazard to read your comments. I don't think he starts "officially" learning analysis until university. He's been reading along, but between school exams and prep for guitar exam, and theory homework, hasn't had time to comment.

His composition teacher is keeping up a cracking pace, and she keeps saying that "just enough" theory might be good enough for an exam, but is no goal for a composer!

Oboecop, your comments and doubts sound very similar to things that Viohazard says - he's always had an interest in composition, but what finally decided him was the feeling that studying composition would "complete" his music in a way that sticking with performance only wouldn't. However, the problem of maintaining technique and repertoire in performance is a big issue.