college audition advice

Charlie Goodman · Post by **Charlie Goodman** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:27 pm

I'm about to start arranging my college music school auditions. I was wondering what other people have played or are playing at their own auditions for undergrad, how they did where, what certain schools' auditions are like. Particularly useful would be any information about University of Michigan (is Fortissimosca around here anymore?)

Dylan King · Post by **Dylan King** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 10:51 am

Back in 1992 when I auditioned for college I played the Hindemith Sonata. I was playing on a CC and it played down great with my experience at the time. I got into all ten schools, with scholarships offered by most of them.

One thing that helped was having a great accompanist for the audition. I hired Roberta Garten for that purpose and she was fantastic. This was especially important considering the high degree of technical proficiency the Hindemith piano part requires.

Play something that you sound great on. Don't try to tackle a piece that may be technically too difficult for you. Sound and musicianship is so much more important to a college panel than good technique.

kontrabass · Post by **kontrabass** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 3:26 pm

Amen to that. I would further submit that, for a freshman audition anyway (and even for any audition in general, to a degree), when presented with two candidates, the winning candidate will be the one who shows the most musical sensitivity/intelligence and capacity for communication, if the two are matched technically or even if the other candidate has superior technical ability. Technique can be taught, musicianship is much harder. [/b]

Tubaman485 · Post by **Tubaman485** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:55 am

I know the big thing that helped me was I started getting lessons with the prof a year before my audition. Its harder for them to say no to someone they know rather than someone who just shows up and plays.

JB

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:40 am

MellowSmokeMan wrote:Play something that you sound great on. Don't try to tackle a piece that may be technically too difficult for you. Sound and musicianship is so much more important to a college panel than good technique.

cc_tuba_guy wrote:Whatever you do, don't go in there trying to blow them away with how high/ low/ or loud you can play. Just play MUSICALLY!

kontrabass wrote:when presented with two candidates, the winning candidate will be the one who shows the most musical sensitivity/intelligence and capacity for communication, if the two are matched technically or even if the other candidate has superior technical ability. Technique can be taught, musicianship is much harder.

Amen again. You're going there to learn, but all the preliminaries are to demonstrate you have the apptitude to learn. You don't have to show them that you already know how to play everything on the tuba, just that you have some musical sense, and the ability/capacity to learn more. To my way of thinking, you should be well prepared, to show that you are taking this seriously, and not for granted. I took up tuba in my junior year of college, and my audition for my teacher was two etudes. I have no idea why he even accepted me, but thank god he did! Do what you CAN, WELL, and BE MUSICAL (in my opinion, anyway)

Charlie Goodman · Post by **Charlie Goodman** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:45 pm

Thanks, Bloke... those other suggestions were starting to sound a bit like work.

Biggs · Post by **Biggs** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:18 am

In addition to demonstrating contrasting styles, I recommend 2-3 orchestral excerpts (they can be short) to show you're familiar with the repertoire, etc.

Quicksilvertuba · Post by **Quicksilvertuba** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 11:35 am

Whenever you do get accepted to a school, really listen to your gut feeling. I was accepted to Texas Tech (barely), UNT, and Universtiy of Texas @ Arlington. I believe most people know that UNT is a GIANT music school. At first I was very hyped when I heard Don Little had accepted me, but after listening to my gut feeling and thinking about it, I realized that I felt more comfortable with Ed Jones and the campus at UTA. UTA's music school doesn't compare much with UNT's, but I felt better knowing that I had a chance to make it in the top bands and a lot closer contact with the tuba instructor. So when you think about Michigan realize ALL the factors, not just what's on the surface; and most of all just find what fits you best. Remember that you will be taking more than just music classes there. Everyone's audition advice here is right on, but the biggest advice I can give you is to be confident. My audtions went from horrible (Texas Tech) to great (UTA). Once I realized that they wanted me to do good instead of just looking at them as judges, it got a lot better. Also, you should play your audition stuff for as many people as you can (family, band director, friends etc...) Once I felt comfortable playing my music in front of anyone, I started to do really good at my auditions. Best of luck.

Charlie Goodman · Post by **Charlie Goodman** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:43 pm

Quicksilvertuba wrote:Whenever you do get accepted to a school, really listen to your gut feeling. I was accepted to Texas Tech (barely), UNT, and Universtiy of Texas @ Arlington. I believe most people know that UNT is a GIANT music school. At first I was very hyped when I heard Don Little had accepted me, but after listening to my gut feeling and thinking about it, I realized that I felt more comfortable with Ed Jones and the campus at UTA. UTA's music school doesn't compare much with UNT's, but I felt better knowing that I had a chance to make it in the top bands and a lot closer contact with the tuba instructor. So when you think about Michigan realize ALL the factors, not just what's on the surface; and most of all just find what fits you best. Remember that you will be taking more than just music classes there. Everyone's audition advice here is right on, but the biggest advice I can give you is to be confident. My audtions went from horrible (Texas Tech) to great (UTA). Once I realized that they wanted me to do good instead of just looking at them as judges, it got a lot better. Also, you should play your audition stuff for as many people as you can (family, band director, friends etc...) Once I felt comfortable playing my music in front of anyone, I started to do really good at my auditions. Best of luck.

About the "not just the music classes there" comment: that's the main reason Michigan is my first choice.

Quicksilvertuba · Post by **Quicksilvertuba** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:11 am

well, I live in Texas so I really don't have a clue about michigan except for the fact that it is one of the best tuba schools for a someone to go to. All you have to do is look at the Falcone results from the past years and most of the winners have the instructor "Fritz Kaenzig". Sorry for the ignorance on my part.