# Question about applying for graduate schools in musical composition?



## Dany98 (Jun 24, 2015)

I'm going to be applying for a graduate school in musical composition in a couple months, and I have a couple questions regarding what they expect of me. It seems that they only accept the best students. My main issue is that the music program at my university lacks a lot of the training for composers. They only taught us the common practice period theory. I took a composition class, but there was no actual teaching involved and I struggled to produce music. We were just given assignments to compose. No one knew what to do. All the pieces I composed were clusters of a bunch of different ideas haphazardously pasted together. There is no composition BA in my university. Only a BA in music and a BM, which focuses on performance. We didn't learn ANYTHING about 20th century harmony. I had to get Persichetti's book and learn it all myself. I also bought Schoenberg's book on composition and learned about form by myself. I did take a post-tonal theory class, but I doubt I'll use things like set theory, and strict 12-tone methods in my compositions. What I'm most interested in is stuff like Hindemith, Shostakovich, Jose Pablo Moncayo, Ravel, Holst, Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos, etc. My question is will they still accept me even if my compositions aren't that sophisticated? I got highest honors in my major and A's in all my theory classes. Right now I'm thinking of USC, UCB, and maybe CSUF or CSULB. What are my best chances? I have all the tools and understanding of the technical side of music, but I lack the creative part. Part of it is my responsibility, but without any teachers for guidance, I can only achieve so much.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

There's no way to know "_what are your best chances_?"

With that said, you must give it a shot. Send your best pieces to as many of them as you can and wait and see. It isn't always important that you have a undergrad degree in comp or that you studied comp formally. If the selection committee feels you have enough talent they'll take you. It's possible that they'll take you conditionally, perhaps taking a semester or two of undergrad courses in subjects you never took or did not have enough of. That happened to me for my first semester going for a master's in comp at Eastman. At the end of the first semester I proved to them that I did well in their classes and then was formally accepted into the program.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Good luck to you. Your chances are 50-50, "Yes" or "No".

I had the same experience in my undergrad years at the University of Oregon. I learned traditional theory in high school. I expected to learn modern theory in college. They couldn't/wouldn't teach me. I had to learn it outside of the School of Music. I finally found Messiaen's Modes of Limited Transposition, (look it up on Google/Wikipedia) and I was able to create pieces that everyone liked. I got my degree, but just barely!


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