Undergraduate Audition Requirements

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Music Audition Requirements

We’re excited to see your skills! Please review the audition requirements for each area carefully.

While auditions are only 20 minutes long, we want to learn more about you during the process. Be prepared to share a bit about yourself and why you wish to pursue a music degree. We’ll also set aside time to answer your questions or connect you with faculty who can help.

Jump to a section:

Voice

  1. Singing two songs from memory that showcase your voice at its best. We recommend selecting contrasting styles to demonstrate your versatility. You may choose from various genres, including but not limited to: art songs, folk songs, hymns, arias, musical theatre, and gospel. You can sing in English or another language for one or both of your selections.
  2. Vocalizing to help us determine your vocal range and quality
  3. Explorations in how you understand written music and tonal memory

A pianist will be available to accompany you during the audition. Please email your audition music in advance to Dr. Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah at kploeger@ewu.edu.

Winds/Brass

  1. Scales
    • Major: Prepare all
    • Minor: Prepare four
  2. Solo/concerto/sonata/etude
    • Demonstrate technique and execution
    • Demonstrate lyrical playing
  3. Sight reading
  4. Showcase another facet of your playing you feel represents you well

For more information, please reach out to Dr. Don Goodwin at dgoodwin@ewu.edu.

Percussion

  1. Keyboard mallets
    • Major scales
    • A short solo excerpt or etude
  2. Timpani
    • Demonstrate tuning technique
    • A short solo excerpt or etude
  3. Snare drum
    • A short solo excerpt or etude in either concert or rudimental style
  4. Drum set
    • Demonstrate your versatility by playing a variety of styles (swing, bossa nova, funk, waltz, rock, etc.)
  5. Sight reading

For more information, please reach out to Dr. Michael Waldrop at mwaldrop@ewu.edu.

Strings

  1. One movement from a standard classical sonata or concerto

  2. One movement of unaccompanied Bach or a similar etude

  3. Three octave scales, up to 3 sharps/flats

  4. Sight reading

An accompanist is recommended but not required. For more information, please reach out to Dr. John Marshall at jsmarshall@ewu.edu.

Guitar

  1. Scales
    • Two octaves in any key (i–m), both major and minor
  2. Two memorized pieces in contrasting styles from the standard repertoire. Some examples include (but are not limited to):
    • Studies by Matteo Carcassi from 25 Etudes, Op. 60
    • Selections from Leo Brouwer’s Etudes Simples, Vol. 1 or 2
    • Fernando Sor’s 20 Studies edited by Segovia
  3. You should be familiar with basic right- and left-hand techniques and comfortable reading in the first position.

Students interested in other music genres, such as jazz and rock, may also audition. For more information, please reach out to Dr. Jody Graves at jgraves@ewu.edu.

Piano

  1. Perform three pieces by memory from the standard repertoire, each in a different style. No arrangements, please. Examples include (but are not limited to):
    • Baroque: Bach, Scarlatti Sonatas
    • Classical: Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven Sonata movements
    • Romantic: Chopin Nocturnes or Preludes, Brahms Intermezzi
    • French: Debussy Preludes, Ravel Sonatine
    • 20th Century: Works by Bartók, Prokofiev, Ginastera, Shostakovich, Copland
  2. Play scales and arpeggios, up to 4 octaves. You may perform them at a tempo that best reflects your musicality and technical ability.
  3. Take a sight-reading exam.
  4. Bring (or send in advance ) a list of the repertoire you’ve studied and performed. Alternatively, you may send a recording that showcases representative pieces of your repertoire.

An acceptable audition will qualify you for applied lessons with a major performance artist-teacher. For more information, please reach out to Dr. Jody Graves at jgraves@ewu.edu.