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Percussion Audition Requirements - School of Music
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Percussion Audition Requirements

Percussion Audition Requirements

Undergraduate requirements (BM, BME)

Prospective students will be evaluated on their skills of tone production, intonation, musicality, rhythmic accuracy, technical proficiency, sight reading, and overall musical experience.

1. Prepare a solo or etude of  moderate difficulty in each of the following instrumental areas:

  • Snare Drum* (concert style)
  • Marimba or Xylophone
  • Timpani*
  • Drum Set (a demonstration of time-keeping in contrasting styles of swing, bossa nova, mambo, and 1/2-time funk shuffle, plus trading fours in up-tempo swing will suffice on drum set; a prepared solo is not required)

2. Demonstrate sight-reading ability on snare drum and marimba

Please bring one (1) copy of your audition music for the panel.

*We recommend the following selections for auditions, however, comparable alternates may be performed: Cirone: Portraits in Rhythm (Snare Drum) and Etude #1 from Hochrainer: Etudes for Timpani, Vol. 3.

On-campus audition dates can be found here. It is highly recommended that all undergraduate percussion candidates attend an on-campus audition. If you are unable to audition on-campus, please select the “recorded” audition format preference on your supplemental music form. Undergraduate applicants who would like to submit a recorded audition should follow the steps outlined here.

Graduate requirements (MM, DMA)

1. Perform one major solo in each of the following instrumental areas:

  • Snare Drum (concert style)
  • Marimba
  • Timpani
  • Multiple-Percussion (an audio recording and score of a recent solo performance will satisfy this requirement)
  • Drum Set (a demonstration of time-keeping in contrasting styles of swing, bossa nova, mambo, and 1/2-time funk shuffle, plus trading fours in up-tempo swing will suffice on drum set; a prepared solo is not required)

2. Prepare contrasting orchestral excerpts for:

  • Snare Drum (2)
  • Xylophone (2)
  • Timpani (4)

3. Demonstrate sight-reading ability on snare drum and marimba

Please bring one (1) copy of your audition music for the panel.

The School of Music will provide instruments for the on-campus audition.

Graduate applicants seeking financial aid in the form of an assistantship or fellowship must audition on-campus. Candidates who opt for a recorded audition in lieu of an on-campus audition should upload their final audition recording to the Graduate College application.

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