Reddit reviews The String Quartets of Beethoven

>It starts in one month.

Good luck! Do you have any idea on what the program looks like? Core requirements, etc.?

When I started my Bachelor's in comp, we had to submit a composition portfolio and do an interview with faculty. On what basis were you admitted? Which requirements did you pass? Also, most programs have a placement exam. This sort of thing. If you don't pass, you'll likely have to take a course or two to get you up to where you need to be. No big deal. You should welcome the opportunity to fill any gaps you may have.

>How would you suggest warming up for this? How should I go about teaching myself the basics of composition?

The first time I interviewed for my undergrad composition program, I was rejected. Plainly, my portfolio sucked and I didn't know what I was doing. I asked the interviewer what I could do about that and he gave me a list of graduate students whom I could contact. Over the summer, I paid a guy for a few sessions and he helped me to strengthen my portfolio. Those lessons were an essential step for me to get into that program, and they furnished me with concepts that I still find relevant 6 years later.

While you can teach yourself, I think you'll go farther faster with a teacher. Make sure to mention what your goals are, and that you are taking lessons to prepare for academic study.

>What are the things everyone knows?

Everybody knows different things, and different departments emphasize different repertoire. What do you know? You have a jazz background, so I assume you know what a 12-bar blues and an AABA head are. You probably don't know what a double exposition sonata form is. Emphasize the things that you do know, work on the things you don't know.

I spent last summer studying for a music history exam. By far, the most useful resources were the following:

http://www.amazon.com/The-History-of-Classical-Music/dp/B0000546YW/

http://www.amazon.com/The-History-of-Opera/dp/B0000546Z1/

The above audiobooks are very general and pretty short. This might be your best bet for "catching up," since nobody is going to quiz you on minutia, like Mozart's least favorite instrument (the flute!).

Robert Greenberg has several music history seminars available through The Teaching Company that I am enjoying:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Chamber-Music-of-Mozart/dp/B00DTNWAYE/

http://www.amazon.com/The-String-Quartets-of-Beethoven/dp/B00DTO68TG/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Symphonies-of-Beethoven/dp/B00DTO4LKY/

>How do I not look completely ignorant?

Be fastidious. Do your homework and make your education worthwhile. Be a mover. Volunteer to help at concerts and events through your school, become friends with performers (buy them a lunch every now and then; this works wonders), perform on other composers' works, hang out with your professors outside of class, and try to stay interested in something outside of music so that you have another life to draw inspiration from. This can be anything from golf to neurobiology to your daily fart journal. What you know does not matter as much as what you do.

>I was doing a jazz degree prior to this, so I've got a fair understanding of music, but writing anything more than lead sheets seems sorta foreign to me.

Have you done any ensemble writing? I'd say that if you are writing lead sheets, you have a good foundation already. The challenge for you is going to be learning to expand upon your ideas. However, consider that you have a unique perspective: many people in that program will not have jazz experience. Perhaps you can capitalize ton that.