Complete the audition card here. A link to sign-up for your time will be provided upon completing the card.

Instrumental jazz ensemble auditions will be live, in person. The live auditions will be held on Sunday, August 22 from noon-6PM. Sign-ups for audition time slots will be posted soon. To be fair to all, auditions will be done “blind”, behind a screen, so that the ensemble directors will not know who is playing. Be sure not to speak to the directors to maintain anonymity. If you have any questions after reading the instructions below, contact jazz director Mike Titlebaum at mtitlebaum@ithaca.edu.

All necessary downloads for the auditions are available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jpbxzed6ic9exwn/AACgxnrqZ9tNEpm8Mp-DIoZqa?dl=0

For drummers: Download the PDF “Drum Set Audition Piece - Too Many Things.PDF”. In addition to playing this piece at the audition, you will be asked to demonstrate several other styles for a few bars from the following list (probably trading 4s with an imaginary soloist, and using brushes on at least one):

• Slow, medium and fast swing
• Samba
• Bossa
• 3/4 Swing
• An asymmetrical meter, such as 5/4 or 7/4

For everyone auditioning other than drummers: The audition piece is “Now, Out of Here.” You’ll audition along with the play-along recording. You might notice that the chord progression to “Now, Out of Here” closely resembles the Johnny Green standard “Out of Nowhere.” To help prepare the tune and learn the style, you can study and practice along with the MP3 called “NOW, OUT OF HERE - Playalong practice recording with Mike playing melody.mp3”.

For all wind/brass players: Download the sheet music PDF transposed for your instrument (PDFs of several transpositions are available), and the play-along called “NOW, OUT OF HERE - Playalong recording for audition - For all horn players.mp3.” When you audition, you’ll play three choruses along with the mp3: One chorus of the written melody, one chorus of improvised solo, and one final chorus of the written melody. If you do not yet improvise, you can stop after the first chorus of melody.

Additional note for saxophone/woodwind doublers: If you play flute or clarinet, download the transposed versions for those instruments. During the audition, you’ll re-start the play-along for each instrument you play. There is no need to improvise solos on more than one instrument.

For guitarists/pianists/vibes players: Download the sheet music PDF “NOW, OUT OF HERE - Sheet Music for Treble Clef Concert Key” and the play-along called “NOW, OUT OF HERE - Playalong recording for audition - For piano guitar and vibes.mp3.” When you audition, you’ll play three choruses along with the mp3: One chorus of the written melody, one chorus of improvised solo, and one final chorus of the “comping” the chords behind Mike’s melody.

For bassists: Download the sheet music PDF “NOW, OUT OF HERE - Sheet Music for bass” and the play-along called “NOW, OUT OF HERE - Playalong recording for audition - For bassists.mp3.” When you audition, you’ll play three choruses along with the mp3: One chorus of the written melody, one chorus of improvised solo, and one final chorus of walking the chords behind Mike’s melody.