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For all va band/orch..

You have to place 1-2 in your district band. or 1st in regional orchestra.

low f to Bb on the top of the staff chromatic. and all scales withing the range limit of that or better.

-brag- no. 4 in the state

Doug

This is what I had to do the 2 years i was in all-state band here in Utah:

Tuba: Rubank Advanced Method for Eb and Bbb Bass, vol. 1
1. Chromatic Scale-Low G to G3 using legato quarter notes ascending and descending. Quarter note=120.
2. Pg. 30 - No. 6 Begin at repeat sign in the third line and play to the end. eighth note=144
3. Pg. 32 - No 13 First three lines plus 1 note Quarter note=108
4. Pg. 40 - No 27 Play first 4 lines Quarter note=102
5. Pg. 56 - No. 30 Quarter note=108

My first year I was 2nd Chair and my second year I was 1st chair!!

Oh, and if your interested, here is what last years audition material was (the concert was in October of last year)

http://www.oremhighschool.com/staff/ohsmusic/tuba.pdf

MA central district: Legato etudes for tuba (john shoemaker), scales, sight reading

MA all state: Air and Bourree (bach/bell), scales, sight reading

finally cracked all state this year!

Texas has up to 4 "levels" in the all-state selection process. In my district (comprised of nearby schools) auditions they chose 5 players to advance to the region auditions (comprised of multiple districts), the top 4 region members qualify to audition for 'area' auditions (comprised of multiple regions), and finally, the top 4 from area make state. They usually choose 3 complete etudes (at least one lyrical, and one very technical) from the Blazhevich or Kopprasch books. To rank the state members for ensemble/orchestra placement they have excerpts from band/orchestra pieces (basically what they'll be playing for the concert).

okay, back in the day (cripes, I am not THAT old), when I was in All State in MN (both years) These were the requirements: Play the etude that they gave you, play the scales Bb maj, g minor, F major, d minor, Eb major, c minor, C major, a minor, G major, e minor. Plus a special little chromatic. all scales at half note=100. I still have the "lucky" scale sheet I used. I think that we may have had to play a prepared piece as well, either for the prelim. audition or chair audition. I dont recall. Audition process was initially at a nearby university.... gosh its getting to be a while ago... I think I might have blocked that part of my life out of my mind partially.

I got in both years, the first year I got in, auditioned for my chair, flopped horribly and got stuck seventh out of seven. Second year I did fine and came in second chair. The third chair girl that year had been in it the previous year and she said "wow, so you must have practiced and gotten a lot better." I said, "no, I sucked up my audition last year, plus the guy didnt like me" Its true. The dude that was doing the low brass that year seemed very opposed to me for some reason. I really dont think I improved THAT much in one year, but you never know.


Here's the bottom line..... I don't think it really matters much how "hard" the material is that the audition requires. Those judges can tell if you are able to play or not, regardless of scale or etude difficulty. Plus it helps to have a standard etude that everyone plays.

In SC it is a little different...

There are 3 level, Junior (7th and 8th grades), Clinic (9th & 10th), and Senior (11th and 12th).

The audition requirements are the same for region and state bands.
8 tubas and 4 alternates are selected for each of the 5 region bands
The top 4 from each region audition for the all state band
8 tubas are taken with 2 alternates.

The auditions are on a point system, with a max of 200 points.
There are two judges. Their scores are combined to make up to 200.

These are the senior requirements
15 points- all 12 maj. scales (E-Bb 2 octaves) played in under 2 minutes
5 points- Chromatic from low E to high Bb, minimum tempo: quarter=120, must play eighths/triplet eighths
30 points- Etude:40 Advanced Studies for B-Flat Bass / Page 15, #15, Stop on line 6, Last note of measure 5, Quarter Note = 96.
30 points- Sightreading: 2 15 point examples
5 points- Terms: answer 5 fandomly selected terms out of list of 150
15 points: Tone

I get so nervous auditioning for these things. This year, my trembling leg was shaking my tuba, which caused me to miss the first note of the etude .
I would have been 4th chair if I hadn't missed the term Sordino. How often do tubas need mutes anyway?! Anyway, I got 6th chair and had a blast. We played lots of songs w/ sweet tuba parts. Our first song, Exaltate by Sam. Hazo had a phrase that went up to Eb above the staff! How often do you see that in concert band music?! The 1st chair guy made 3rd chair in the BOA national honor band, and the 7th chair guy (who, buy the way, has a HIRSBRUNNER) made into the national honor band, and the guy who was last chair Clinic band the year before this also made BOA national honor band.

My only advice is to try. I used to tell my students that you are not a loser if you give it your best shot (win, lose or draw). Also, the experience of the audition is worth a great deal.

Know your major and minor scales as well as the arpeggios, and know them to the point that they are automatic. This will help in sight reading (in any group, at any level). Practice the basics, over and over. Play musically (that always gets the attention of the audition committee).

best of luck!
Mark

My only advice is to try. I used to tell my students that you are not a loser if you give it your best shot (win, lose or draw). Also, the experience of the audition is worth a great deal

He is right, even if you don't think you will make it you should try anyway. Anything can happen...

yeah deffinatly try out, when i did western regional i didn't even think i'de make it in, i made 1st chair.

oh and a question, how does one prepare for sight reading?

In Arkansas, they choose exercises from the "24 Artistic Studies for Tuba" and the "2nd Book of Practical Studies" 3 scales (2 major and one minor) and an extremely challenging sight-reading piece. Now they all ways pick at least one hard etude. They would pick sections from 3 of the 5 prepared etudes. For some reason one of the major scales would be Gb every year I auditioned. I've heard that other states have much tougher material for auditions. Anyway...I hope that helped.

Arkansas All-State Symphonic Band: 2002-2004

The SC senior sightreading is horrible. One example, around 15 measures, is in a simple meter, like 4/4 or 3/4. The other will be in compound with changes. I remember in one part of the sight reading examples last year started in 4/4, then 3/4, then 9/8 (2 + 2 + 2 + 3), then 6/8, then back to 4/4 with triplits. They try to make you mess up. They can throw just about any rhythm and key signiture at you. There is a set of sight reading books that you can buy that is similar to the exercises they make us read in SC. The best way to practice sightreading is to sightread, a lot. Try using strategies and set patterns to make it easier, like 1. look at time sig. 2. look at key sig. (identify if maj. or minor usually by looking @ last note) 3. look for changes in two. 4. look for accidentals 5. look for difficult rhythms, etc

Many years ago in Pennsylvania the process was like this: You auditioned for District Band by playing an assigned solo, a chromatic scale (2-1/2 octaves as I recall) and any major scale they asked you to play. Plus there was some sight reading.

If you made District, when you got to the festival everyone was re-auditioned to order the section. These auditions were based on playing any passages from the festival repertiore they asked for (this served to motivate the kids to practice the stuff before they arrived). Based upon this ordering of the section, the top one or two made it to Regional Band.

The same process then occurred at the Regional festival. And the top one or two would make All-State for the following year. I actually made it as a sophomore going into my junior year, but not as a junior going into my senior year (gee, 20 years later that still disappoints me - I was playing so well as a senior I thought).

I think PA has since changed and the All-State festival is in the same year as the District and Regionals.

Louis