College of Arts, Education, & Sciences

VAPA | Music

French horn players, trumpet player and percussionists performing on stage in Brown Auditiorium.

Instrumental Audition Requirements

All instrumental musicians wishing to pursue a music degree at 四色AV are required to audition for admission. For more information about the audition process, please refer to the scholarships tab. For more information regarding specific instrumental requirements, contact the applied for that instrument.听

Non-major Instrumental Audition Requirements:听

  • twenty-four measures of a technical etude
  • twenty-four measures of a lyrical etude
  • two major scales
  • sightreading

Brass and Woodwind Major Audition Requirements

  • all major scales and arpeggios
  • chromatic scale
  • two solos or etudes in contrasting styles
  • sightreading

Piano Major Audition Requirements

Major/harmonic minor scales and arpeggios, parallel motion, 4 octaves.

Two memorized pieces in contrasting style from standard keyboard literature. The following examples may be used as a guideline:

  • Baroque:听J.S. Bach - WTC Prelude and Fugue
  • Classical:听a movement from a sonata by Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven
  • Romantic:听a work of Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, etc.
  • Impressionistic or Contemporary:听a work of Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, Prokofiev, etc.

Percussion Major Audition Requirements

Potential percussion students must represent themselves in the areas listed below. Though the list contains suggested repertoire, the student is not limited to the repertoire listed. Solos or etudes that show a similar level of technical and musical achievement may be used in conjunction or in substitution. If LMEA All-State materials are used for audition, the student should perform the complete etude/selection and not just the bracketed sections.


1. Snare Drum
Perform a concert/orchestral-style etude or solo. A rudimental-style solo may also be performed in addition to the concert solo/etude.

A selection from the following concert etude books would be appropriate:

  • Portraits in Rhythm by Anthony Cirone
  • Intermediate/Advanced Snare Drum Studies by Mitchell Peters
  • Douze Etudes pour Caisse-Claire Jacques Delecluse

A selection from the following rudimental etude books would be appropriate:

  • The All-American Drummer by Charley Wilcoxon
  • Odd Meter Rudimental Etudes by Mitchel Peters
  • 14 Modern Contest Solos by John S. Pratt
  • Selections from the 40 PAS Rudiments and sight-reading will be requested.

2. Keyboard Percussion - Marimba, Xylophone, and/or Vibraphone
Perform a two-mallet and/or four-mallet etude or solo.

A selection from the following list would be appropriate:

  • Fundamental Studies for Mallets by Garwood Whaley
  • Modern School for Xylophone, Marimba and Vibes by Morris Goldenberg
  • Masterpieces for Marimba by Thomas McMillian
  • Furioso and Valse by Earl Hatch
  • Yellow after the Rain by Mitchell Peters
  • Ghost Garden by Adam Hopper
  • Frogs by Keiko Abe
  • Virginia Tate by Paul Smadbeck

Two-mallet sight-reading will be requested.

3. Timpani
Demonstrate a basic knowledge of tuning timpani.听Perform a timpani etude or solo.

A selection from the following books would be appropriate:

  • Exercises, Etudes and Solos for Timpani by Raynor Carroll
  • Modern Method for Timpani by Saul Goodman
  • Musical Studies for the Intermediate Timpanist by Garwood Whaley
  • The Solo Timpanist by Vic Firth
  • Pedal to the Kettle by Kirk Gay

4. Drum-set: Optional*
An audition on drum-set is not required but highly encouraged. Potential students should demonstrate the following basic styles/grooves:

  1. Rock/Funk
  2. Jazz/Swing
  3. Latin/World

Guitar Major Audition Requirements

  • Three-note per string major scale with strict alternate picking and also with economy picking, if using a pick. If playing fingerstyle, alternate i and m on right-hand (or left, if you play left-handed).
  • Two-notes-per-string minor pentatonic scale with alternate picking, alternate i, and m if you are playing fingerstyle.
  • Chromatic scale with alternate picking/i and m.
  • Identify each note name on the guitar fretboard (you don't have to name every fret, just show that you can).
  • At least two minutes of repertoire performance.This might include:
    • an excerpt from existing audio
    • a prepared etude
    • an original composition听
  • Sight Reading, some possible sources for sight reading:
    • pages 2-14 of Melodic Rhythms for Guitar by William Leavitt
    • pages 11-15 of Carcassi Classical Method, New Revised Edition by Matteo Carcassi

*The tempo/speed at which the above criteria are satisfied does not matter/there is no specified time limit. The student may choose their tempo.

It is not necessary to have a background in reading sheet music. A motivated guitar student can learn how to comfortably read to this level in a short amount of time, provided that the first four criteria above (3-note-per-string scales, pentatonic scale, chromatic scale, fretboard note names) are met.

If you are an out-of-state or an international student seeking to audition, or you would rather audition at home then you may arrange a Skype call in which Professor Farmer will email you a few examples during the call.听听

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