Music Audition Requirements

For Majors, Non-Majors, and Scholarships

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arrange an audition
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audition requirements

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Quick Contacts

email the dept. of theatre and music

email the music program

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email the Box Office or call
(312)996-2939

UIC Department of Theatre and Music
College of Architecture and the Arts
EPASW Bldg. 1040 W. Harrison St. MC-255
Chicago, IL 60607
phone 312-996-2977 | fax 312-996-0954

2012 Music Audition Schedule

Arranging an Audition

Please note that applications to the Performance Major or Jazz Studies Major
are NOT complete without an audition.

Contact:

Audition Committee
Tel: +1(312)996-5307
Fax: +1(312)996-0954
Email: Auditions Coordinator

Location:

Auditions will be conducted in room L060 of
the Education, Performing Arts, and Social Work (EPASW) Building,
1040 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL, (312) 996-8746.

Audition Requirements

Voice:

• 6 minutes prepared solo literature
  (from contrasting art songs, arias, lieder, etc.)
• Bring 3 copies of your music for the committee and accompanist
• Vocalizing for range, color, and flexibility
• Sight Reading

Woodwinds:

• At least 6 minutes prepared solo literature. Bring 2 additional copies of your music for the committee
• Major Scales: F, B-flat, E-flat, G, D, A; two or three octaves as possible
• Chromatic Scale: 3 octave range, saxes to high F
• Sight Reading

Brass:

• At least 6 minutes prepared solo literature. Bring 2 additional copies of your music for the committee
• Major Scales: F, B-flat, G, D; two octaves where possible
• Chromatic Scale, two octave range
• Sight Reading

Classical Guitar:

• Scales, with position shifts:
  C major, 2 octaves
  G major, 3 octaves
  E major, 3 octaves
  
• Technique Studies: Choose one of the following: any of the 25 Progressive Studies
  by Matteo Carcassi, or any of the 20 Studies, Segovia edition by Fernando Sor

Piano:

• All major and minor scales in 4 octaves as well as arpeggios
• Prelude and Fugue by Bach
• A fast movement from a classical sonata (Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven)
• A 19th century romantic piece or a 20th century selection
• All selections by memory

Percussion:

• At least 2 minutes prepared snare drum solo
• Bring 2 additional copies of your music for the committee
• One minute prepared timpani and/or two to three minutes prepared mallet solo
• Jazz drummers should also bring 2-3 minutes of prepared drum set music as well
• Sight reading

Strings:

• At least 6 minutes of prepared solo work, preferably music from two contrasting movements
• Major scales through three flats and three sharps
• Sight reading
  
  

Call the office of the UIC audition office for more information,
audition dates or to make an appointment at (312) 996-8746.

____________________________________________________________________________

Jazz Studies Audition Criteria

For more information on jazz requirements,
contact Prof. Zvonimir Tot, Jazz Studies, at ztot@uic.edu

General Requirements:

• Ability to improvise in the jazz idiom
• Basic knowledge of jazz harmony and chord/scale relationships,
  as applicable to your instrument
  
• Basic music literacy
  

Specific Requirements:

Jazz voice

• Sight-sing a melody in the jazz idiom
  
• Jazz standard: theme and (optional) scat-improvisation
  (Example: Autumn Leaves, Just Friends)
  
• Jazz ballad (Example: Misty, Polkadots and Moonbeams)
  
  (Also see general requirements above.)
  

Jazz woodwinds and brass:

• Major scales: F, Bb, Eb, G, D, A; Two or three octaves as possible
• Chromatic scale: Two or three octaves as possible, saxes to high F
• Sight-read a melody in the jazz idiom
• Jazz blues: theme, improvisation (Example: Blue Monk, Tenor Madness)
  
• Jazz standard: theme, improvisation (Example: Autumn Leaves, Just Friends)
  
• Jazz ballad: theme, improvisation (Example: Misty, Polkadots and Moonbeams)
  
  (Also see general requirements above.)
  

Jazz guitar:

• Major scales: F, Bb, Eb, G, D, A; Two octaves (as possible) in at least two positions
• Sight-read a melody in the jazz idiom
• Be familiar with basic jazz chords (Freddie Green style)
• Sight-read a chord chart in the jazz idiom
• Jazz blues: theme, improvisation, accompaniment (Example: Blue Monk, Tenor Madness)
• Jazz standard: theme, improvisation, accompaniment (Example: Autumn Leaves, Just Friends)
• Optional: Solo arrangement of a jazz ballad (Example: Misty, Polkadots and Moonbeams)
  
  (Also see general requirements above.)

Jazz piano:

• Working knowledge of jazz chords and voicings
  
• Major and minor (natural, harmonic, melodic) scales up to 4 sharps and 4 flats,
  preferably with two hands through four octaves
  
• Chromatic scale, preferably with two hands
  
• Sight-read a melody in the jazz idiom
  
• Sight-read a chord chart in the jazz idiom
  
• Jazz blues: theme, improvisation, accompaniment (Example: Blue Monk, Tenor Madness)
  
• Jazz standard: theme, improvisation, accompaniment (Example: Autumn Leaves, Just Friends)
  
• Optional: Solo arrangement of a jazz ballad (Example: Misty, Polkadots and Moonbeams)
  
  (Also see general requirements above.)

Jazz double bass and bass guitar:

• Major Scales: F, Bb, Eb, G, D, A; Two octaves minimum
  
• Sight-read a melody in the jazz idiom
  
• Improvise a walking bass line over given chord changes
  
• Jazz blues: theme, walking bass, improvisation (Example: Blue Monk, Tenor Madness)
  
• Jazz standard: : theme, walking bass, improvisation (Example: Autumn Leaves, Just
  Friends)
  
• Jazz ballad: Theme, accompaniment, improvisation (Example: Misty, Polkadots and Moonbeams)
  
  (Also see general requirements above.)

Jazz drums:

• Sight-read a drum set part in the jazz idiom
• Grooves: jazz ballad, medium swing, fast swing, jazz waltz, funk, samba, bossa nova
• “Trade 4s” and “trade 8s” with the band
• Be able to play five jazz standards from memory
• Improvise a drum solo in the jazz idiom
  
  (Also see general requirements above.)

Music Ensemble Auditions

If you are interested in any of our music ensembles, you must audition. More information can be found here. The following information is only for those students interested in audition for majoring in vocal, Instrumental and Performance tracks.

Additional information: UIC Choirs, Concert Band, String Ensemble, Pep Band, Jazz Ensemble