I’m applying to conservatories and I’ve started to realize I don’t know how to play

[u/Patient_Lecture_7385]

I know it’s imposter syndrome getting to me but I’m really in a rut. I’m looking at the top schools in the country with oberlin being my top choice and I just feel like the competition is too strong and I’m not good enough. I’m trying to be realistic but I don’t really have a gauge of what exactly will get me into these schools. I lost a lot of my motivation to practice just because of the stress surrounding everything. My trial lessons have been really hit or miss on whether the professor has good opinions (usually depending on how much i’ve slept or warmed up) so I really have been feeling mixed on my chances. Either way at this point i’m convinced i’m horrible, won’t get in anywhere, and don’t know how to play. I’m at a loss as to what to do.

[u/Advanced_Honey_2679]

If your goal is to be a piano teacher you can pretty much reach that goal no matter what music school you go to. Heck, I know music teachers even without a degree.

Going to Oberlin does not make you materially a better teacher than say if you went to UNT. 

It’s not like some other professions where going to a top school is the difference between making it and not.

[u/local-space-patrol]

It's not about the place, it's about the relationship you think you can foster with the teacher.

As a teacher anyway, I'm more interested in exploring in a collaborative way with students, and I keep my mind open about what will be "easy" and what will take work to build up.

I imagine professors are looking for something similar. They're expecting to have to catch you up on some things. And if you were all perfect anyway (which doesn't really exist), then they wouldn't have a job with you.

[u/Efficient-Scarcity-7]

the most successful teachers in smaller cities often went to the mediocre state school in said cities. if you want to teach college or adjunct you can get a grad degree from somewhere else but even then it doesn't have to be conservatory level.

[u/FractalFunny66]

It is normal to feel this way, no matter what your field of study. But with music and the arts, please know that you will have to spend time dealing with this energy and putting it in it's place so you can continue to succeed. At this point, allow what will happen to happen. If you get into Oberlin or any other great music school, find a mentor asap -- a teacher, a peer, both -- and learn how to direct your energy to help yourself. And while you wait for the answer, try to reconnect with the joy of music by exploring your instrument in a new way, a gentle way, sing, improvise, compose, watch videos or read about artistic people's lives and the process of creativity. Actually, when will you hear back? Is your application for fall or spring of 2027?

[u/ThucydidesBC]

U gotta get to know the teachers beforehand. That helps a ton. Just reach out, be polite, ask them for a conversation. If you are lucky you can play for them.

[u/ThucydidesBC → u/ThucydidesBC]

Also, I would recommend Berlin not just for the top schools but also for the city itself. I think it‘s underrated how important your personal ldevelopment outside of music is for your artistry

[u/Defiant-Purchase-188]

Maybe consider Cincinnati conservatory and IU school of music. But the other Ohio universities ( Denison and Wittenberg and Wooster) all offer music majors too. Just as plan b

[u/aljauza]

Sounds like the solution is to warm up more and sleep more :)

[u/wiesenleger]

do you mean berlin?

generally i think its good to have a plan B, so you don't feel that you are going to make it or not.

on the other hand it is good to know why you want to do it. while probably the biggest hurdle at first the entry exam is just the beginning. if you are losing your motiviation that much it could be better for you to have piano as a hobby and enjoy it for the art itself. I have been knowing a couple of people who bowed out of the program, because they didn't enjoy the pressure.

i am not saying that everything is true. but if you think very honestly and and deeply about it and you still decide that it is the right way, you might find the necessary motivation to pull through.

i am certain you are a great piano player. but so are a lot of other people going for a piano degree in berlin. life doesnt always flow in a straight line.

[u/Patient_Lecture_7385 → u/wiesenleger]

Oberlin college and conservatory. This is my biggest passion and I don’t want to be anything else except a piano teacher in my future. I love the instrument more than anything. I am mostly losing motivation due to doubt towards myself. Thank you for your kind words and i hope this clears things up a bit

[u/onalarkonboard → u/Patient_Lecture_7385]

Oberlin. Bite the bullet and settle down to work. You can do it, but self-doubt will just get in your way, you have to power through it, and yes, sleep and eat well. I had one student who had emotional problems and I told her numerous times, “there’s no time to have doubt, you don’t have the leisure for it if you are serious. Practice.” (She had trouble getting out of herself, anyway, and centering the music rather than her experiences in studying composition), but basically, if you want to compete, you need to sleep and rest and eat and prepare, and there isn’t time for you to doubt yourself if you love the music the way you say, and even though it’s a normal feeling sometimes, working on your music when it happens is what it takes.

[u/wiesenleger → u/Patient_Lecture_7385]

well if you sure, then go for it.

i just googled OBerlin shortly and everything that came up was some monk guy from somewhen xD