Pre-requisites for composing degree

Okay so i'm getting really curious about trying to become a music composer. What are some pre-requisites before trying to apply or jump into college with that major? I play guitar and bass guitar and I have been studying theory for about 5 years. I am trying to get into classical guitar, I don't know if programs for composing frown upon guitarists and only want pianists or what? Do you need to know piano and how to play other instruments? What are some great or not so great ways to pre-pare yourself? What are some good schools? I have been wanting to study abroad maybe in London just for a change. Anyone know about the Royal Academy of Music? If you have any answers to any or all of these questions it would be GREATLY appreciated!

Here's what you: A portfolio of compositions that you wrote, A's in theory, preferably strong skills at one or more instruments, ect...

I play both Guitar and Piano (I learnt guitar first) and I would strongly suggest learning to play Piano. It opens up how you write, It's quite difficult to write for other instruments/ensembles from the guitar.

As far as I know, the Royal Academy is highly competitive so if you want that side of music, go for it.

Good luck.

I've just finished auditioning for the royal academy of music, you will have to learn piano if you attend.

They do ask undergraduates to prepare a short piece of piano music that shows their standard of playing, in the audition.

Apart from that you're expected to be able to improvise freely on the piano around a set chord progression.

Listen / recognise / analyse 12 pieces of of music

Give an indepth analysis of a score

Sit an exam which contains questions asking you to complete a composition exercise, analyse a short score, and write an essay.

But apart from all of that, the interview itself was lovely, the teachers really wanted to engage with you as a person and a composer, and obviously are passionate about writing music and teaching music.

And despite everything they make you do, I don't think that its the most important part of the audition, they are fundamentally going to judge you on your compositions, but by doing all the tests they're making sure you would be able to cope with the program of study.

Sorry for the long post, hope its helped :S

Well, that's much more involved than what you're generally expected to do when you apply to undergraduate institutions in the U.S.

I think it is highly unlikely that your audition will involve piano playing, but you will probably need to audition on your instrument, though not all schools require this. If you have an audition, you may be given a hard time if you don't play classical guitar (unless you're applying to a jazz program). You will eventually have to show some piano proficiency to get your undergraduate degree, but you can take piano classes once in school (it doesn't hurt to start early).

Are you thinking about a conservatory setting or a more general one? You might even think about getting a general music degree rather than one with a focus on composition since you can always take classes related to composition and still apply to graduate programs in comp with a general music degree, in case that appeals to you down the road.

Other than some aptitude on an instrument, prerequisites for applying to undergrad with a music/comp major in mind may include previous study of theory and a portfolio of 2 to 4 compositions. You may have a theory exam to take as part of the admissions process (or it may simply be a placement exam), but it all depends on the school. So, if you have your heart set on a specific school, check out the school website or e-mail a teacher at the school to see what is expected of you.

Royal Academy of Music is one of the top teir music schools in the world AND the approach is different from US. The closest you approach the uber-traditional English school of musical training is St Thomas Episcopal Chuirch and their school - a ton of choral singing with intense music theory starting at a young age. So what Sofie describes - the analysis and sdcore reading is in line. in fact those are requirements to get into some grad comp departments.

In the end it is about 60% your compositions, 40% theory/familiarity with the cannon.

Black Orpheus has partly said this already, but if the Academy or equivalent institutions like the RCM, Trinity and Guildhall are not to your liking or too difficult to enter, you could of course do a Music degree at a regular university in London - I've just finished undergrad and postgrad degrees at the University of London, which rather like Oxbridge has a collegiate system with several different institutions (mine was Royal Holloway, which is actually based miles away from the centre of London, near Windsor). The course will be a less focused on a single discipline but in my view this is a good thing as you can still develop your speciality whilst getting a more rounded appreciation of the subject - you won't get 'a composition degree' but a BMus or BA. The entry requirements tend to be somewhat less stringent than for a conservatoire - I think I was asked for ABB grades at A-level (with the A in Music, of course), grade 8 on first study instrument and grade 5 theory, plus audition for an external lessons scholarship (which I didn't actually need as internal lessons are paid for and the teacher was great anyway). I would guess that the other colleges with big music departments (King's, UCL) would have similar requirements.

Surrey University (Guildford) is another good department, in fact they are more geared towards commercial music and recording technology.

One thing I will say, which has been mentioned already, is that pretty much everywhere will require you to play a classical instrument to a certain standard (usually grade 5/6 minimum, often higher) as an entry requirement, and thus pop guitar/bass would be unlikely to fulfil this criteria. This would not be much of a problem if you actually got in as you could elect not to do performance altogther after the first year, especially as you would go for a composition pathway. However pretty much everywhere has a fixed syllabus for the first year, and you would have to take a performance exam to pass the module.

Bear in mind that whilst the fees for international students are still pretty massive compared to those for Home/EU students (although our wonderful Conservative government is doing its utmost to help us spend the rest of our lives in crippling debt) they are generally less at a university than at a conservatoire.

Thank you guys so much for all the info! I got a piano playing friend who taught me some fingering an piano layout and I know a lot of music theory so it transfered over fairly well. I actually played a song by Phish by ear, it was cool. But I am hoping to start classical guitar soon. For a portfolio do I need to record songs I have made with guitar? I think Royal Academy of Music is out of my league but any good schools to suggest in the US? West coast preferably, thanks all who answered!

Yea, it's imperative to known how play the piano. All composers know how to do.

I would have to agree with most of what's been said about piano playing. I didn't have a lick of piano playing experience, nor do I call myself an experienced pianist, but I can play piano enough to write music.

Ha, ok. So, I can move around pretty well on piano, but everything was with the intention of applying it to composition. I view it as actually limiting oneself as a composer not knowing piano. Getting even deeper into the weeds is learning more complex chord changes to fuel your compositions.

From a jazz piano playing perspective (alliteration much?), being able to comfortably move around the piano is, indeed, imperative.

The best thing to do, whatever your chosen major might look like, is to browse through the requirements for various different schools. I'm not familiar with the UK at all, but it looks like it's a LOT different than what is asked of undergraduates in the US (although admittedly the program I'm in is not really a top-notch one). Piano is not going to make or break you, but knowing piano is definitely going to help you and it will make you a lot more competitive in the music world. My piano skills are not great, but they're better than nothing, and it is important to at least be roughly able to plunk a few things out, both compositionally in terms of conceiving chords and stuff, but also in terms of general musicality, depending on what your eventual goals are as a career. Also, it sounds like you have a good theory background, but just keep it up - theory is also very useful to composing, in my opinion, and you will never regret knowing too much about music, nor can you really ever get to that point, I think.

I go to Ithaca College for Composition in Ithaca, NY. For my "audition" I had an interview with the composition staff. It had a few different parts to it. Here's what it was:

1. They want to see what kind of person you are.
   1. How passionate you are.
   2. Your reasons for wanting to become a composer.
   3. Your musical influences.
   4. Your personality. (Tip here: Humility is a wonderful thing for composers to have. There are some composers here on YC–won't say who, but if you hang out here enough, it's obvious–who are–I'm just gonna say it–very pretentious. Don't let them give you the idea that that's normal. You should be proud of your work, and you shouldn't be so self-deprecating that you lose all self-confidence. But being pretentious or arrogant about your work or your knowledge or anything is NOT GOOD! Especially in a business that is so built on connections and being kind. When people see you being humble and kind, they will often think to themselves, "Wow, he's so humble and kind!" :D )
   5. What do you like to compose?
   6. What got you started in composing?
   7. Other things like this.

[*]They will want to see what work you've done thus far.

1. For my interview, they asked for two contrasting pieces that I had composed of any length and for any instrumentation.
2. They asked for the scores of each and recordings if available. (Tip here: Recordings go a long way, especially in vocal music. They're sometimes difficult to arrange logistically, but recording your pieces will make them sound a LOT better. I, however, just had MIDIs of mine, which were ok. But it would've been a lot better if I'd had legit recordings. At least bring some decent MIDIs. At the very least, some crappy ones.)
3. They will listen to recordings of the pieces then ask you questions about them, usually listening to one and then talking about it before proceeding to the next. Examples of things they might ask include:

   [*]They will want to know what your musical background is as far as knowledge is. E.g.:

   1. How's your theory? (Tip Here: They may ask you to take a theory exam when you audition. This is not part of the interview, but may be administered the same day. For me, I only took a theory placement exam at my orientation once I had been accepted. You shouldn't have to worry though. Those are usually pretty easy. By "pretty easy" I mean "Identify if the passage written is a major or minor scale," or "Identify the tonic of this melodic passage." These are things you can learn on the wonderful musictheory.net if your theory ain't great.
   2. Can you play any instruments?
   3. Do you sing?
   4. How's your sight reading? (Tip here: There may also be a sight singing exam, but these are often optional. Still, if it is required, dont worry about it too much. They don't expect you to do amazing. This will also most likely not be administered during the interview.

   [*]How do you normally do academically? Can you handle the non-music portion of your education?[*]Piano improv.

   1. Sit at the piano and make up a melody. (Tip here: You don't have to be a Kyle Landry here. They basically ask you to sit at the piano and play around. I'd prepare for this portion of the "audition" by doing just that: sit at the piano for a good hour and just play around. Often times our fingers can fall into certain patterns that make everything we do sound the same. That's okay. It's normal. Just be aware of it and try to spin things in different directions as you practice. Maybe try a deceptive cadence this time–if you don't know what that is, check out musictheory.net. Maybe add a seventh or a ninth to your chord and see how it sounds. Try to figure out how to play the melody of your favorite song, or maybe the theme to your favorite movie or video game. Then try to figure out the chords. One tip my comp interviewer gave me after I was done was to sit at the piano, and just put my hands down anywhere, and then try to build something out of that. These are all great ways to practice piano improv. Oh! And play in different keys, too. You dont have to be fluent in B-major or anything, but if your interviewer says, "Ok, now play something in F-minor,"–as he did to me–then you should be able to know that F-minor has four flats and that it's dominant chord is C-Major/Minor–again, check out musictheory.net if you didn't get that. You don't need to be a wonderful pianist though. At Ithaca, you DO need to pass a rigorous piano exam in order to get your Comp degree. But that's at the end of your junior year, after three years of piano lessons. Usually, THEY are expected to teach YOU piano. Still, as I said, it's really good to know the basics.)

   That's pretty much it. That was my "audition" for Ithaca, so yours will probably be a bit different. I mean who knows, you may not even talk about any of those things. You and your interviewer may go off on a tangent talking about soccer or geology or ceiling fans. For me, we talked for a good ten minutes on the power of harmony and how great IV chords and v chords sound. (I think we actually went a little over our allotted time because of that, lol) But that's good if that happens, because it shows you really click with the people and the professors there, which is really really important if you intend on studying something as personal as writing your music with them.

   So anyway, hopefully this has helped you out.

   Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions. :D

   --Miggy Torres

What would you have done differently? (Tip here: This is a GREAT one to think about as a composer. It really caught me off guard when I was asked, and I really had to think. As I said before, humility is really important, especially in a question like this. Maybe you would've liked to improve a transition in a certain area to connect some ideas better. Maybe you'd liked to have orchestrated a section better if only you knew how. Maybe you would've reworked an entire section! Who knows? The point is "if you can already compose a perfect song, then why do you need our school for?") What is your favorite part? Line? Melody? Harmony? They may offer constructive criticism about the piece. (Tip here: If they criticize your piece and ask you what you think of the criticism, really think about it. Don't take offense to the criticism, but more importantly, really think about it. They're just composition teachers who are looking at your piece for the first time. They don't know everything about the piece. If they suggest something and there's a good reason for you to disagree with them, don't just roll over and say, "Sure," because you wanna score points with them. Being humble doesn't mean agreeing with everyone and not being confident. Confidently and respectfully disagreeing–if it's about something you're sure about, or even pretty sure about—can show them that you've put real thought into the piece you've written.) What inspired the piece? Which part was the most difficult to write? Which part was the easiest? Other more specific questions about the choices you made in the piece.