mdolevskilewismdolevskilewis Meri Dolevski-Lewis
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16 essential tips on preparing for college music auditions

Published on 07 Aug 2012 | Comments | 301 views
  1. You are NEVER permitted to play your parts from any band or orchestra as part of your audition
  2. Take private lessons from a teacher who can play and perform professional-level repertoire, AS WELL as teach them successfully
  3. Listen to professional recordings of the pieces you plan to use for your audition.
  4. You are required to have completed at least Advanced Music Rudiments, and some schools require or prefer you to at least know Basic Harmony.
  5. Take piano lessons to at least an upper intermediate level (completing at least a Level 6 piano exam) and you will likely not have to do piano skills classes in your first and second years, which gives you additional practice time or may allow you to take a course that would otherwise conflict with the piano skills courses.
  6. Solo pieces often have a required minimum level, for most programs except Performance, wind instruments, this is generally Level 8 RCM, strings and piano call for Level 9 minimum, and Performance programs require Level 10 minimum repertoire.
  7. Many auditions require a sonata or concerto, though in certain cases (especially wind instruments, where some sonatinas are longer than sonatas, compare the Malcolm Arnold Clarinet Sonatina with the Brahms F minor Sonata) may be acceptable, but check with the teachers there.
  8. Wind instruments usually expect 2-3 pieces, strings and piano are usually 4-6 pieces, plus etudies (studies) for auditions.
  9. Audio, and preferably video, recordings are part of a significant number of scholarship auditions. So get over your fear of recording your playing!
  10. Get a professional accompanist, and have at least 4 rehearsals with them before the audition.
  11. Get professional quality photos done of you and your instrument.
  12. If auditioning at a school in a different time zone than your home, give yourself up to one week before the audition day and time to get or body adjusted, especially if you are a singer or wind instrumentalist.
  13. Get plenty of performing experience outside of school. Just being in school band and orchestras will not be enough, both in breadth of experience and level of musicianship required.
  14. Take an exam or two with some of the music you are planning to perform at your audition approximately 3-6 months before you do your auditions. They will give you additional experience performing in potentially stressful situations, as well as giving you a head start in preparing for the requirements, which in many ways are quite similar.
  15. Get a copy of the syllabus for the instruments you plan to audition on for the major examining boards in your area, which will be useful in three ways: to check your current level of pieces with what is required, to understand the minimum level of difficulty of audition pieces, and to explore pieces to consider for the audition.
  16. Get a teacher who has technological resources and knows how to use them, or has easy access to a person who knows how to do audio, video, production art, and photography.


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