This year Severino’s Piano Lessons PLUS is going to make available to all students the chance to participate in the yearly Auditions sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers (NGPT).
If you enter you will become a member of the National Fraternity of Student Musicians (NFSM). You will become a member of a group that’s over 100,000 members strong.
What is different in Guild Auditions from other auditions we have participated is that YOU determine your audition goal. Most other auditions require the memorization of 2 pieces. Guild Auditions do not absolutely require memorization, thought they (and I) recommend it. Also, you are not limited to the memory of only two pieces. You could memorize up to 20 pieces.
He is how the auditions work. If you want to involve yourself slowly you can become a Pledge Member of the National Fraternity of Student Musicians by memorizing just one composition.
A Local Member memorizes 2 or 3 compositions.
A District Member memorizes 4, 5 or 6 compositions.
A State Member memorizes 7,8 or 9 compositions.
A National Member memorizes 10 through 14 compositions.
An International Member memorizes 15 through 20 compositions.
Another element that can be added to your Guild Audition is that of mastering a Musicianship Phase. A Musicianship Phase is the mastery of a goal or task in one of the following six categories — Scales – Chords – Arpeggios – Transposition – Ear Training – Sight Reading.
In practical terms, this means that if you would memorize 3 pieces and learn a Musicianship Phase, such as Sight Reading; you would be given credit for a 4 Piece Audition, which would move you from a Local Membership to a District Membership in the National Fraternity of Student Musicians. By thinking ahead and good planning one can rather easily move to higher levels in the NFSM.
The National Guild of Piano Teachers emphasize the learning of Art Music, or Classical Music. They recommend a student prepare a balanced audition. This means if a student prepares a 4 piece audition and at the Intermediate Level of advancement, the student should perform one piece from each of the four major stylistic periods found in music history — Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern.
Since these terms may be new to you I will be providing blogs for you to read to help you understand Music History better. I will provide commentary and links so you can sample music from each period of music history. I will provide links not only to great concert music, but also to music that many piano students study as they learn the mastery of the piano. I hope to do this is such a way where you hear the connection between your Bach and Mozart Minuets and those found in Mozart’s Symphonies. I think you will be able to see that what you are playing is very much the same – only in miniature.
Beginning thinking of the goal you would like to set for yourself and we can talk about it at your next lesson.
Blogging at Piano Teacher Press 