Audition & Interview Requirements

Degree Page: B.M. Jazz Studies

Degree Page: B.M. Sound Recording Technology

NOTE: Applicants interested in B.M. Jazz Studies for Drum Set or Voice or the B.M. Sound Recording Technology Jazz Track must complete a pre-screen before being invited to schedule and audition and interview. Find out more about pre-screen requirements here.

Audition Requirements for Instrumental Applicants:

1. Choose one (1) song from each of the following categories:
   1. One (1) 12-bar blues, in the key and tempo of your choice, with a melody/head of your choice.
   2. One (1) jazz standard.
   3. One (1) ballad.
2. Sing the melody of one (1) of your prepared pieces. This is so we can hear your sense of pitch and tonality, not for vocal quality, style, or time feel.

Plan the rundown (arrangements) for your tunes so that the total amount of music is no more than 10 minutes.

Audition Requirements for Voice Applicants:

1. Choose one (1) song from each of the following categories:
   1. One (1) 12-bar blues, in the key and tempo of your choice, with a melody/head of your choice.
   2. One (1) jazz standard.
   3. One (1) ballad.
2. One (1) one-octave chromatic scale, ascending and descending, sung on "aah," "nah," or other similar syllable.

Performance Suggestions for Voice Applicants:

Examples of 12-bar blues that often work well for singers are Centerpiece (as performed by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross), Fine and Mellow (as performed by Billie Holiday), or Backwater Blues (as performed by Bessie Smith).

For the blues, perform the melody, improvise a solo of at least two choruses (using scat syllables), and return to the melody to end.

For the jazz standard, sing the melody, improvise once over the form (using scat syllables), and return to the melody.

The purpose of the scales exercise is to evaluate pitch accuracy and intonation, not to demonstrate tessitura.

Plan the rundown (arrangements) for your tunes so that the total amount of music is no more than 10 minutes.

Interview Requirements for All Applicants:

1. Speak with a member of our Jazz Studies faculty and ask any specific questions you may have about the Jazz Studies degree program. Approximately 10 minutes.

Additional Interview Requirements for S.R.T. Jazz Track Applicants:

1. Meet with members of the SRT faculty, practice critical listening skills, and discuss your background in audio engineering thus far. Approximately 20 minutes.

For song ideas, please see the lists below. Another good source for songs is JazzStandards.com. If you have prepared a transcription of an improvised solo (either published or self-transcribed), you are encouraged to perform that as well.