Hello Lynn,

I am a full-time music student here at a state college in California, and after being a DB strings major for two semesters, I want to audition for the jazz program.

I am studying with a fine jazz teacher, but would also like your feedback. My two songs are Bye Bye Blackbird and Doxy. I think they represent contrasting styles, as one is a swing tune I can do a lot with, and the other is a blues tunes. I will be graded on my performance of the head, my walking, and improvision. The scores are divided among abilities in musicianship, improvisation, and sight reading.

I will also need to do sight reading with a background track. I plan to be totally prepared, have the tunes memorized. I am going to also use soloing ideas I like from good players, and do some transcriptions of walking lines to learn some new ideas, especially on Ray Brown's recording of Doxy. As far as sightreading, I am pulling out all the playalongs I have and working on playing the heads. I am also in a jazz combo this semester with one of the instructors who will be sitting on my audition and giving it my all with good musicianship and being there and prepared. I have about five weeks of preparation time left, along with all the classical stuff I need to prepare for my juries the middle of May.

I am just curious what factors make or break a successful audition in your opinion. This is really a general question that can apply to any university, any audition. What do you think of my song selections? What makes you accept someone and/or say try next time or pick another major?

Thanks.

Hello,
First of all, good luck with your audition. The two tunes you picked are classic standards that everyone loves to play. You mentioned that one was a blues. Assuming you were talking about Doxy, it is not technically a blues, but people often play it in a bluesy style. Most people consider 12 bar blues the most common. There are certainly other blues forms, but if your audition requires a blues, (like ours at UNT) they may be wanting the 12 bar variety. Make sure the tempos are different on the selections. At UNT, we look for players that play with a good even time feel, clear basslines, solo with jazz language, and can read chord changes and notes well. If the auditionee also knows some jazz bass history it helps their playing. The best ones have done some transcription of bass lines and some solos before they get here. One may look at the UNT website for more information about the audition process at www.jazz.unt.edu . It sounds like you are doing the right things to prepare. Good luck.

Lynn,

Thanks for your response, and a quick one. I reviewed the UNT website too.

No, I do not have to do a 12-bar blues tune, but you made an excellent point about tempo. Both of these tunes are in about the same tempo. I am thinking of changing to a different tune, maybe a Latin one like St. Thomas that has a faster tempo, and a chance to do walking in both a Latin and swing feel or a fast 12-bar blues. Hope St. Thomas would not be considered too easy. Thanks again for your input.