David Zhong

Professor Zugnoni
UWP-001Y
5 June 2019

American College of Musicians/ National Guild of Piano Teachers

The American College of Musicians/ National Guild of Piano Teachers is a nonprofit

organization and an examination board of piano teachers and students.(1)(4) It was founded in
1929 by musical instructor and pianist Dr. Irl Allison.(1)(3) The guild provides auditions in which
a student under the guidance of a teacher would prepare a repertoire approved by the guild,
and perform the repertoire in yearly organized playing centers.(1) The first auditions were local
scale and took place in one center in Texas.(3) Since its establishment in 1929, the guild has
expanded its operations internationally to over 850 audition centers with thousands of members
participating in its programs.(1) The guild is one of the most influential piano organizations.(5)

Official Logo of the Guild(1)

Contents
History
List of Student Programs
List of Student Awards
List of Teacher Membership and Awards
Impact in Music
Competitors and Alternative Organizations
References

History
The American College of Musicians/ National Guild of Piano Teachers was founded in 1929 by
musical instructor and Pianist Dr. Irl Allison.(3) Dr. Allison was born on April 8 1896 to Van
Buren and Mollie Allison.(3) After studying in Columbia University, he worked in several colleges
and universities as a music instructor and a dean of music in several colleges including at
Hardin-Simmons University.(3) While as dean of music at Hardin-Simmons University, he
founded the National Guild of Piano Teachers and held the first audition there in 1929. (3) He
founded this organization because he wanted to encourage better teaching and self-
improvement.

In 1933, Dr. Allison moved the guild headquarters from Texas to New York to try to
expand the guild. He spent the next 8 years promoting his organization and setting up
infrastructure to hold yearly auditions across the United States. (3)

Irl Allison(right) in his 30s(3)

List of Student Programs

The National Guild of Piano Teachers offers many programs for participating students. These
programs have a wide range and a wide difficulty level.

1.Memorized Programs

“Students of all levels may perform anywhere from one to 20 pieces.” (1) These pieces would
have to be approved by the guild or come from various booklets from the guild. These
memorized programs are the standard programs offered by the guild and are very flexible. The
usual program has 7 memorized pieces and a 3-part music theory test. Achieving this baseline
would give the student “national” status. (1)

2.Hobbyist

Unmemorized programs- “students of all levels may perform anywhere from one to eight
pieces.” (1) These pieces would be performed for a judge during an audition without memorizing
the pieces. (1)

3.Jazz Programs

“Students of all levels may perform anywhere from one to 20 pieces memorized, or one to eight
pieces unmemorized” (1) The students must perform pieces approved by the guild beforehand.
(1)
4.Special Medal Programs

Sonatina, Sonata, Early Bach, Advanced Bach- These programs consist of memorizing 10
appropriate types of music pieces that would then be judged on the quality of the performance.
A typical program of this type would be memorizing 10 Sonata pieces (a piano piece with a
specific type of composition style). (1)

5.Diploma Programs

High School, Collegiate, and Young Artist- These diploma programs are for more committed
students and would require many years of doing memorized programs. These programs also
have a capstone audition in which the student would have to perform many more pieces than
usual and pass a thorough music theory exam. (1)

List of Student Awards

1.Scholarships- would be awarded to high school seniors that would study music in
conservatories. Candidacy would depend on completing the high school program, recipient of
the Paderewski Gold Medal, and on the overall marks received. (1)

2.Special Medals- a plaque awarded for successfully completing a Sonatina, Sonata, Early
Bach, Advanced Bach program (1)

3.Paderewski Gold Medal- awarded for 10 years of participation in memorized programs in with
“National” status (1)

Teacher Membership

In the National Guild of Piano Teacher, teacher membership depends on the student’s
performance in the yearly audition. If the students under the teacher achieve a certain threshold
of marks, then the teacher is automatically granted guild membership. However, the
membership is not permanent and must be renewed annually by submitting 5 student report
cards that meet the threshold grades. (1)

Teacher Awards

1.ACM Certification- “highest honor for teachers based on student achievement” (1) Certification
is awarded when a teacher has successfully guided at least 25 students in 5 years and 5
students a year and must submit student report cards that have enough merit. Certification must
be renewed annually, or the teacher will lose the certification. Certified teacher receives extra
benefits not given to regular members. (1)

2.Guild Syllabus- members of the guild receive a copy of the guild syllabus, which has very
detailed information about requirements of the various programs of the guild. The syllabus is
meant for teachers to better prepare their students for their respective programs. (1)
3.Teacher membership- piano teachers can apply to become a member of the guild by applying
to headquarters. Requirements for membership are few and only require the teacher to be at
least 18 years old. (1)

Impact in Music

From its beginnings as a local audition with only 48 participants (many of whom are Allison’s
own students) the guild grew to over 100000 members internationally with over 850 centers that
hold the annual auditions. (4) As the guild grew, so did its influence. A good number of piano
teachers are guild members. “70% belong to MTNA, almost 75% to ISMTA with 30% certified,
and 38% National Guild members.” (5) These numbers are from 1982, so the number of
teachers that are in the National Guild members is probably different now. (1)(6)

Dr.Irl Allison(1)

Alternatives to The National Guild of Piano Teachers

The most popular alternatives to The National Guild of Piano Teachers include organizations
such as the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), The RCM (Royal
conservatory of Music) and AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board). The most well-known
and respected organization of them all is the ABRSM, which is more developed than the
National Guild and covers a diverse range of instruments such as violin, clarinet, flute,
saxophone, as well as piano. (2)
 Works Cited

1.“American College of Musicians.” American College of Musicians, www.pianoguild.com/.

2.Daniel, Ryan---Julia Bowden. “The Intermediate Piano Stage.” British Journal of Music
Education, July 2013,
www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-music-education/article/intermediate-piano-
stage-exploring-teacher-perspectives-and-insights/9A17F9CD88E8123AB51D7968673272FB.
3.H., Craig. “ALLISON, IRL, SR.” The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical
Association (TSHA), 9 June 2010, tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fal61.
4.“National Piano Guild Auditions.” Hopkins Piano, 4 June 2018, hopkinspiano.com/piano-guild/.
5.Sanders, Karen. “A Profile of Piano Teachers.” PreQuest, 1 Apr. 1982, search.proquest.com/.
6.Uszler, Marienne. “The Independent Music Teacher: Practice and Preperation.” Taylor and
Francis Online, 9 July 2010,
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10632913.1996.9935062?casa_token=XqDcJ-
0RmnUAAAAA%3Aw1c2DWAw-
8xsXUFpjfiEYl07pZFuLIlhnW52wTnaNz10Pe06y2zID1YEsxUqmu4h_gCetq7_3Jbt&.