Bachelor of Music: Jazz Studies
Audition Requirements 2022-2023
- Live Auditions: When participating in a live audition, you will complete your Audition, Theory Placement Test, and participate in interviews (if required by your program) on your audition day. We highly encourage this option.
- Recorded Auditions: Students who choose to submit a recorded audition must complete a Zoom Sightreading test, Zoom Theory Placement Test, and Zoom interviews (if required by your program). The department will contact you to schedule these sessions after your application is approved. Students will not be considered for admission until these steps are completed.
1) One Prepared Jazz Standard
Requirements: All instrumentalist should prepare one jazz tune from the standard jazz lexicon. The tune should showcase the student playing a chorus of the melody and an improvised solo.
*Live Auditions: Students will perform with live rhythm section.
*Submitted Video Audition: Applicants must use a backing track as accompaniment to the selected jazz standard. There are many free and paid backing track options available by internet search.
This list, yet not exhaustive, provides acceptable jazz standards of varying degrees of difficulty: Autumn Leaves, On Green Dolphin Street, All the Things You Are, Take the A Train, Song for My Father, So What or Impressions, All Blues, Billie's Bounce, Billie's Bounce, Au Privave, Sandu, Blues for Alice, Blue Monk, Isotope, Straight No Chaser, Tenor Madness Confirmation, Donna Lee, Moment's Notice, Stable Mates, Oleo, Anthropology, In Walked Bud, Yes or No, A Night in Tunisia, Bouncin' With Bud.
Additional Requirement for Drummers: Please announce each style before you play.
Demonstrate following examples:
- (approx. 20 or 30 sec. length)
- Swing (slow, medium, fast)
- Bossa nova
- Latin
- Contemporary pop styles
- Jazz waltz time
- Straight time
2) Sightreading
Those who choose to audition in person will be required to sightread during their audition.
Those who submit an audition video will be contacted by the audition committee to set up an interview where sightreading will be conducted over Zoom.