Audition Guidelines

Please demonstrate three different pieces of work representing a variety of experience and skill with music technologies. The applicant must clearly articulate their role(s) in each work and by what means they employed music technology. Essential demonstration items would include exhibiting competency with a fully featured digital audio workstation software, understanding basic concepts of mixing audio, work methods for digital and analog audio, and the ability to articulate standard functions of audio hardware. Experience with related fields of engineering and technology, one or more acoustic instruments, music theory, and/or composition is also to the advantage of the applicant. A student pursuing applied music technology as a performance medium will take private music technology lessons and serve performance, creative, and/or production roles with appropriate department ensembles.

• Perform one piece of your choosing. You are encouraged to select a song from a solo or ensemble competition list; however, you are welcome to sing a piece not on a competition list so long as music is available for the faculty to see during the audition.
• You may sing unaccompanied, with self-accompaniment, or with an accompanist provided by the department. Request for an accompanist should be made when filling out the program application.
• Sing one of the following songs in the key of your choosing:
  • America, the Beautiful, Down in the Valley, Home on the Range, Scarborough Fair, or This Land Is Your Land
• Perform a major scale in 1 octave.
• Sight sing 1-2 examples.

• Perform one piece of your choosing for your instrument. This should be from a solo or ensemble competition list, or should be emblematic of your instrument if it is a non-symphonic instrument such as guitar. For examples of appropriate music, please visit the Indiana State School Music Association for a listing of Group I solos. The list of Group I vocal solos are on the Indiana State School Music Association Solo and Ensemble Manuals page.  

• Sing one of the following songs in the key of your choosing:
  • America, the Beautiful, Down in the Valley, Home on the Range, Scarborough Fair, or This Land Is Your Land
• Perform major scales in 1-2 octaves.
• Sight read 1-2 examples on the primary instrument.

• Note for percussionists: We can have a drum set and/or a marimba/vibraphone available for you to perform on for the audition. Percussionists are asked to specify if they will need a drum set and/or mallet percussion provided for the audition in the program application.

  Note for guitarists: Examples from any of the following collections (or equivalent) would be appropriate audition material:

  • Royal Conservatory of Music Guitar Repertoire Series, Grade 2 or above
  • 100 Graded Classical Guitar Studies – Fredrick Noad
  • Classical Studies for Pick Style Guitar – William Leavitt
  • Jazz Songbook – William Leavitt
  • Maiden Voyage, Volume 54 – Jamey Aebersold
  • Killer Joe, Volume 70 – Jamey Aebersold
  • Barry Galbraith Guitar Solos, Volume 1 and 2

  If you have any further guitar-related questions please contact: John Alvarado, Senior Lecturer of Guitar (joalvara@iu.edu). 

Demonstrate 1) two or three contrasting pieces of repertoire for your instrument, 2) major/minor scales, 3) sight reading as requested (provided at the audition).

Students are encouraged to choose repertoire that best represents their experience, skill level, and artistic range. It is also to the advantage of an applicant to include a brief demonstration of experience/interest with music technologies.

If you are auditioning on the following, please note:

Percussion:
For a percussion audition, you will want to perform a couple of music selections that demonstrate your percussive abilities. That could be a snare drum solo, mallet selection, drum set styles or world percussion demonstrations, or anything that highlights your skill on percussion instruments emphasizing your musicianship. It would be beneficial to present selections of contrasting styles. There is a possibility you would be asked to sight-read. We can have a drum set and/or a marimba/vibraphone available for you to perform on for the audition. Note that in the application  percussionists are asked to specify if they will need a 1) drum set and/or 2) mallet percussion provided for the audition.

Guitar:
All students should be prepared to demonstrate the following: 1) perform two contrasting pieces of repertoire, 2) perform major scales in 1-2 octaves, 3. Demonstrate site reading abilities (provided at the audition.  Students are encouraged to choose repertoire that best represents their skill level and artistic range. While we do not require specific repertoire or dictate required genres, we do encourage students to select pieces that are focus specifically on guitar skills. (i.e. not simply strumming chords to accompany a song.)  Our most successful students have tended to audition on either classical or jazz pieces. These tend to demonstrate an ability to read standard notation and handle the music that you will be expected to work with at the college level. Some suitable examples are as follows (students are free to choose something from any other style as well, but are encouraged to select examples that demonstrate an equal level of technique/musicianship regardless of the style chosen).  Examples from any of the following collections (or equivalent) would be appropriate audition material: 1) Royal Conservatory of Music Guitar Repertoire Series, Grade 2 or above, 2) 100 Graded Classical Guitar Studies – Fredrick Noad, 3) Classical Studies for Pick Style Guitar – William Leavitt, 4) Jazz Songbook – William Leavitt, 5) Maiden Voyage, Volume 54 – Jamey Aebersold, 6) Killer Joe, Volume 70 – Jamey Aebersold, 7) Barry Galbraith Guitar Solos, Volume 1 and 2.  If you have any further guitar-related questions please contact: John Alvarado, Senior Lecturer of Guitar (joalvara@iu.edu).