what are the expectations at a competition?

[allchopin]

I am thinking about entering the texas chopin competition coming up in December 2003 - i dont know if im good enough though. What are the expectations one should have of onesself before they decide to enter? I mean, how many times are you 'allowed' to mess up before you just shouldnt enter? (i probably miss about 15 notes in my etudes....)

[xenon]

Expectations depends on the competition.  Expectation can be:
-Must be performed by memory (or disqualification)
-Played in a music competition before
etc...
One must also dress apropriately, and show common curtesy to other performers (if it is festival-type).  Such as, unwrapping candy wrappers, or talking, or walking around during a performance is unacceptable.

As for readiness, some competitions (an exams) may disqualify you under certain circumstances.  You should just practice hard, take it slow, drill the hard parts, and work it up to speed.  Don't forget, musicality is also very important.  Once, i had memory lapse in one competition, but because of the superior musical quality, I still placed in second.  

For readiness, try to get i copy of The Royal Conservatory of Music Syllabus.  It will give you many pointers (under the Performer's ARCT section).  I don't know where in this world you live, and if the RCM is in your location (it's Canada based), but if you can find a copy of any syllabus (RCM recommended, as it is a well known conservatorys), it'll help you.

Good luck!

[dreamaurora]

Hi, allchopin. Expectations of competitions differ a lot depending on the prestige of the competitions. Very famous competitions such as Van Cliburn or Queen Elizabeth obviously requires very established level of playing, and you need to even have a good track record of recital and performances to even qualify for the audition.

But generally, to at least perform at a level of worth competition at city , state , or national level, you should have fairly enough experience performing at smaller scale performances and competitions.

To succeed at a competition, you need to be very musical in your performance, and that means you must be technically very secure to allow maximum music making. You mention that you make a lot of mistakes in your Chopin etudes ( 15 is a lot ). It seems that you are still struggling with the technical portion of the etudes. There should be zero mistakes when you perform, one or two wrong notes may be permissible as long it does not impede the musical flow. Do note that you have to take note of performance condition. If you play 15 wrong notes during your normal practice schedules, guaranteed you will at least make double the wrong notes during actual performance, owing to nervousness. The judges will be very irritated by wrong notes, so my advice to you is to take the pieces you are already very comfortable with and perform those instead. And of course, the best person to consult about whether you are ready or not is your piano teacher , I can't really tell your level of playing by just a few blocks of texts in this forum.

[Ktari]

Heehee, 15 notes doesn't sound THAT bad to me (as long as they aren't the 15 same notes!) depending on the piece (like an etude? i know i wouldn't notice, with all those other notes going on) and personally, I feel like I play better at competitions than during practice -I think you should go for it. especially at only a state level, they aren't gonna jump on you too much for it (unless they're 15 important notes, like melody notes)

anyway, try it! so what if you're not "good enough" to win? why can't you just compete anyway, try to get some experience in it, you could see other people's skills, and really when it comes down to it, just go for it and be musical -if people want technical perfection they listen to recordings

[xenon]

Competitions are good experience, and the adjudicators give you really good pointers and advice, that is, the good ones.  They can get you used to the performing experience and can help you develope a more comfortable feel for public performance.  However, if the admission fee is high, and you feel that you are not ready, it is advisable to not enter.  But, if the price is right, and you feel good, and would really like to take part in this, go for it!

Good luck.

[allchopin]

thanks for the insight- i would say that im good, but im definitely not good enough to win (i think) because i get soo nervous playing even in front of my best friend.  But i still want to do it (despite the 100 dollar entry) just for fun and whatever else.  I think this competition is pretty big (not as much so as cliburn)- its for amateur pianists like 16-25.  just how worried are the judges about wrong notes? I can handle musicality, im good that that (i hope), but the notes are the deciding factor. I have no teacher to consult, so its up to you guys!  

[dreamaurora]

I see that you are one of those another self-taught pianists. Well, you will be at a great disadvantage at competition level, as you have no formal training of music. You may think that you "play well", but do note that other people will be judging your playing, not you or your friends, and these are mostly academic people who already have extensive performance and teaching experiences. My teacher does judge role for competitions for time to time for national level, and he said as soon as a pianist make an obvious wrong note that impede the musical flow, that pianist is off his book. As I mentioned, small unnoticeable mistakes are okay, but one obvious mistake, you are gone.

As far as I know, all the competition winners have the best teachers they could get in town and they would have taken up to one year to prepare their competition repertoire. You will be at a great disadvantage here as the age group is 16-25, which indicates college level playing group, so you can expect to see a big bunch of college level students entering the competitions, who will be obviously better trained and more experienced than you, not to mention having best teachers in town.

Do yourself a favour and get the best teacher you can get, and try for next year or smaller competitions. With a good teacher, you will be surprised at how better the music you can make, and one thing, never ever be satisfied with your playing, music making is a time-consuming endevaour demanding the utmost perfection from your mind and soul. With a good teacher, I'm sure your defiinition of "playing well" will increase much more  

[allchopin]

heh not exactly what i wanted to hear, but im sure you would know (really).  I dont want to get a teacher right now because i dont want to spend the money- in fact, im thinking about teaching.  im going to see how far i can get though, and just see what happens (check out the other post on this- 'how far can you go without being taught?').  Im really scared about the one-note-and-youre-out thing though..... that seems harsh. Doesnt anyone ever mess up at contests??

[Ktari]

pfft! I "mess up" at contests and (surprisingly =P) still win. if you are self-taught, you might not have some of the additionally knowledge a teacher can add (it's true, most competitors have very good teachers, like the top teachers in the area) but i still encourage you to try. btw, do you have any recordings of your music we could listen to? i'd like to hear you play ^^

[allchopin]

well i dont think i can. how would i post an mp3?

[Ktari]

Heh, to be honest, I'm not really sure... if you had something on CD, you could use Realplayer to convert it into an mp3, then upload it somewhere... o.O er..

[eddie92099]

I suggest you read Charles Rosen's chapter on competitions and conservatories in his new book Piano Notes - there are some interesting stories regarding competition juries and just how subjective the whole thing is!
Ed