Going back to school ?...

[BuyBuy]

Hello everyone.

I am a piano teacher in Florida. Now I think I am a pretty good teacher in general, but with no degree (I moved right before passing my 6th grade conservatoire degree, and then right before my 8th grade professional certificate in Europe, so...). My playing is OK but I am nowhere near the level of professional concert pianists (I can tackle, let's say, most Beethoven sonatas decently, but I takes me a while to learn them and I don't usually get the polish of a concert performance level - which means I always have a couple of messy spots and some wrong notes). I lack techical proficiency - not much time to practice.

I was considering maybe going to college to get a bachelor or even masters degree in piano. I think it would help me to boost my technical abilitites (and with that, my confidence in performing, which is not very high) and the college degree would earn me some respect among students and teachers. Now, considering that my level is not the best and that I can not go practicing 6 hours a day, do you think it would be reasonable ?

If any of you is or has been in college for piano performance, could you give me an idea of what I should expect ? Regarding how much practice is required in average, how many pieces you're supposed to learn in each semester, what type of repertoire you're playing for each degree and so forth... Thanks.

[tomclear]

 Curious as to your decision:
 I was in the same boat last year, except I was even older. I've been teaching
music in private schools for 7 years, and piano for even longer, but with no degree.
I thought I'd go back for the same reasons you state.
 Well, the state of Oregon thought differently: I was prepared for not a lot of encouragement, but I was frankly discouraged from doing so.  One music prof said,
"our graduates don't end up at schools as nice as you're at now.  Why do this?"
 I've decided to move to California, play like crazy, study with the best people I can find, and "keep my day job," i.e., teaching, even without a degree!
Best wishes.

[thierry13]

I would say try doing bach prelude and fugue, try some chopin etudes, and if you're brave, try Liszt etudes.

[Bob]

I would say 4+ hours of practice per day for a performance major.

You can do a piano performance degree along with piano pedagogy. 

A few recitals during your last year.

Lots of accompanying, esp if you are on scholarship.

And all the other classes -- the general education ones, the music ones,  all the extra stuff you have to do to complete the degree.  See if you can proficiency out of anything, esp with certification from somewhere else.