<p>Hi Everyone:</p>
<p>My son is auditioning at Belmont University on February 12th for Commercial Music on the Piano. Has anyone experienced this lately and can you share with us what they day is like. Also, my son is being asked to prepare two contemporary pieces (with no singing) and two classical pieces. Is there enough time in the audition to actually play all four pieces from end-to-end? We'd truly appreciate any and all insight into this experience.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I can’t attest to commercial piano but my son auditioned at Belmont last week for classical percussion. He was allowed a 15 minute warm-up and 20 minute audition. They did not stop him from playing at any time. Get there about 7:45 to get a parking place somewhere close. Parents will be in informative sessions while the kids are auditioning. They were good presentations. You should be done by noon!</p>
<p>I will be at Belmont on Feb. 12 also with my S for audition in commercial music - guitar. The guitar requirements do not look quite as extensive as piano, but from what I know about the program they will give your student time to perform all the pieces, and may ask for some improvisation and sight reading as well. Just prepare everything they tell you to and be ready to play it all!</p>
<p>Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>My S auditioned at Belmont this past weekend for Commercial Music Electric Bass. He played his first piece and moved straight to his second piece. The instructor communicated that he didn’t need to play some of the specific requirements because he had already demonstrated the skills in his first song. He has been admitted to Belmont, but is waiting to hear about admission to the Honors Program and The Commercial Music Program. He is/will have auditioned at four schools including USC Thornton, DU Lamont, Berklee. He loves Belmont and had a terrific experience there last weekend. My husband made the trip with him and he was very surprised to find the level of professionalism with regard to the music program. We think it could be a good fit for him. We could probably connect our sons. Send a private email and we can go from there. Best of luck to him.</p>
<p>BassBoyMom:</p>
<p>What did your S wear to the audition? For Berklee my S wore jeans and a button down shirt. At Belmont were the guys less casual?</p>
<p>BassBoyMom–
My son also applied to the Honors Program. I am not clear about how this program benefits a student who is a music major. How would your son plan to use the Honors Program in conjunction with his music studies if he is admitted to the program?</p>
<p>kcreative - I plan to dress my S a little more formally for Belmont than we did for Berklee. He had a composition interview at Temple last Sunday and wore dress slacks, a gray shirt, and tie. I’ll probably have him wear the same thing for Belmont. But whatever your S is most comfortable in while playing is most important. It sounds like Belmont is heavier on the playing and lighter on the interview part.</p>
<p>BassBoyMom - great to hear about your S. Maybe he and my S will put together a band someday. 
He has also been admitted already at Belmont and applied to Temple, NYU Steinhardt, and Berklee. I have a friend who is the head of IT at Belmont if you have any other questions about the school.</p>
<p>about clothes…i came in a suit with a tie at my berklee audition, and i was easily the most overdressed as far as i could tell. BUT that’s the only audition where i’ve seen grossly underdressed students, the rest have been about the same as me. i like to dress up when the occasion arises so theres no harm in doing yourself up, not to a ridiculous level though. slacks, and a nice dress shirt are pretty much fine</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure there was nobody in jeans at our Belmont audition. Dress pants, shirt and tie were the norm for the guys.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the clothing suggestions! I am a Temple grad (journalism). It’s great to hear that some of your kids are applying there. While the school is not in the best part of town, my experience in Philly was tremendous because of the opportunities the university afforded me. </p>
<p>I have one more (for now) Belmont question. My S was told he must bring along a music activities sheet and a solo repertoire sheet. He is applying to the contemporary program but they want a listing of his classical music pieces. While he has prepared three classical pieces for upcoming auditions, his overall training has been contemporary. He has spent the past few years composing his own music and lyrics and has won awards for his work. But I don’t think this is what goes on that sheet. Also, it would be a nightmare if he lists some past classical pieces that he studied long ago and he was asked to play any of them now. When he goes into the audition can he play the four pieces (2 contemporary and two classical) that he was asked to prepare for the audition? Or can this solo listing get him in to potential trouble?</p>
<p>My son gave them the pieces of paper and copies of his sheet music and then played his solos. They didn’t comment on anything. He had both a commercial prof and a classical prof in his audition (percussion). FYI, at Belmont the 1st 2 years are spent studying classical, even if you are a commercial major. So maybe they would want to know what classical pieces he had done? To be honest, the audition at Belmont was underwhelming compared to the audition at University of North Texas</p>
<p>hawkrn,
Do all students have to provide copies of sheet music or was it just for percussion?</p>
<p>hmmm. Don’t know the answer to that one. It was on his list of things to bring for the audition along with a resume of activities and a repertoire list. They asked for it specifically when he got in the audition room.</p>
<p>The commercial muisc requirements seem to be different for different instruments. My S has to perform a jazz guitar piece and two others of any style. They would prefer a classical piece and he plans to do a Bach adaptation that he has used for other auditions, but that’s basically the only classical piece he knows. He wants to study commercial composition and arranging, so he also plans to bring his composition portfolio and include his own compositions in his repertoire list “just in case” he gets the chance to talk about it.</p>
<p>When we visited Belmont we asked about the repertoire list, and we were told that for Commercial Music applicants they are not really strict about what they want to see, they just want to know what types of music you have played. It isn’t disqualifying if you haven’t played any classical music. My S has played a ton of it on french horn in his school bands but none on guitar.</p>
<p>Thanks honestmom for the explanation. Very helpful. My son is a French horn player too, but is auditioning on piano.</p>
<p>Wow, kcreative, that is a small world. Maybe our sons will end up playing some horn together! I like all the “alternative instrument” possibilities at Belmont. I would hate to see my S give up the horn completely, he is a really good player and has played since 4th grade.</p>
<p>He wore a black jeans, a dressy white embossed shirt with black paisley cuffs and a smart, but sort of dressy black vest – he worn stylish black suede boots and I thought he “looked the part”. My husband said the classical kids were in pants or suits, dress shirts and ties and the Commercial kids were dressed smartly, but some were dressed very casually. I always recommend that our kids dress as though what they are doing is really important to them without completely going over the top – in the Belmont audition situation, a suit for a Commercial applicant would have been overdoing it – hope that makes sense.</p>