Playing Any Song in Any Key?

[Wade MacMorrighan]

Hey guys, I am a new music student taking my Fundamentals in Music courses at a 2 year community college. However, a friend of mine who's taking her proper First Year Music Theory class says that one of the most frequent assignments that they are given is to take a random song that they then must memorize in less than 24 hours (along with whatever other classes and assignments they might have to prepare), which they must play back, perfectly, any random section of the song in any random key that is commanded of them from the instructor. Like most assignments, it's a pass or fail assignment, and there are MANY of these assignments throughout the course of the semester. Does anyone know of any practices or exercises that I could run through, myself, this Summer to try and get a handle on doing what will be expected of me next year? What worries me is memorization, because it takes me a while to memorize a song simply for my piano recitals, as I am still an intermediate/ advanced beginner. What I found so unusual about this particular music school is that unless one comes in with some serious piano chops, success is less and less likely. I was speaking with a fellow music student who had a friend from High School who was accepted into Juilliard. So, one night, they were talking and comparing notes, only to find that they were doing exactly the same things! Anyhoo....any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Jerome]

Hey guys, I am a new music student taking my Fundamentals in Music courses at a 2 year community college. However, a friend of mine who's taking her proper First Year Music Theory class says that one of the most frequent assignments that they are given is to take a random song that they then must memorize in less than 24 hours (along with whatever other classes and assignments they might have to prepare), which they must play back, perfectly, any random section of the song in any random key that is commanded of them from the instructor. Like most assignments, it's a pass or fail assignment, and there are MANY of these assignments throughout the course of the semester. Does anyone know of any practices or exercises that I could run through, myself, this Summer to try and get a handle on doing what will be expected of me next year? What worries me is memorization, because it takes me a while to memorize a song simply for my piano recitals, as I am still an intermediate/ advanced beginner. What I found so unusual about this particular music school is that unless one comes in with some serious piano chops, success is less and less likely. I was speaking with a fellow music student who had a friend from High School who was accepted into Juilliard. So, one night, they were talking and comparing notes, only to find that they were doing exactly the same things! Anyhoo....any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Seems like a tall order to me - and pretty pointless as well. They're taking the fun out of music. I would have thought it more important to be able to interpret the piece meaningfully rather than boucing around from key to key. There's more value in learning to play 5 different songs in one key than 1 song in 5 different keys.