I wish he could start upright earlier, too. But his bass teacher is pretty set on January start date. He has some electric material he wants him to get through first.
I see what you are saying about the numbers and the yield. I know he has a high bar in front of him- he is pretty set on bass as his instrument. Trust me, I have pushed trumpet as an option since he has been playing it for so much longer! That has ended up in some pretty ugly arguments that have just added more stress for him and me. What is not included in the numbers you presented is how many are applying for these spots, are there 20 people auditioning for 4 acceptances at Thornton or 8? That makes a big difference. But, I guess there is no way to know that.
I do worry that auditioning on electric would put him at a disadvantage, but there is also the question of what the programs are looking for- do they want someone who is technically proficient and flawless or are they willing to look at someone who might have a lot of potential for growth. I do not know the answer.
They are going to look for the top picks for the number of slots they have open.
My hypothesis is that at most places, as things are today, in the realm of jazz bass, the yield numbers are not exactly something to dwell on. I think there is a certain level of achievement in a player that is going to make that player not care if the acceptance percentage is 10% or 50%.
I think here is the key if you audition on either bass. Find out what level your playing is at. Look at a range of college that may fit that level. Apply to those. There are programs of all levels. I look at where instructors and great players went to college, and it is all over the place. Miami University of Ohio - is that ever mentioned here? N. But one of S’s great instructors went there. Gotta run. More later.
These aren’t mutually exclusive criteria. Applicants are high school kids, so no one’s going to be flawless and “potential for growth” is certainly the primary criteria for everyone. But keep in mind that auditions last 15-20 minutes, so the skill set in hand is what’s going to show that potential.
Does his teacher have experience guiding students through a college application process for jazz? If so, I would trust his strategy. If not, and your son is interested in applying to those top-tier programs, you might consider getting a second opinion from someone who does. FWIW, my son studied with one teacher up to his junior year in high school and it was this teacher who pushed my son to study with the jazz professor at UMich when it came time to work toward college applications.
Something I didn’t consider until then was that for most families, acceptance and scholarship money go hand-in-hand. Being accepted is moot if you can’t afford to go, so the audition may not be just about getting accepted, but the opportunity to attend in general.
We go an early dose of this “looking for potential” thing when S was auditioning at various DCI drum corps for snare. They said it. We heard it. We never could really see it. It just seemed like if you’re good enough in the first place, that was a good start. Maybe the “looking for potential” was not like “in 2 years, you’ll be a top dude”, but more like “you play well now, but if we want you to learn this new song, will it take you 1 day or I week - let’s see by throwing stuff at you that might be new and see if you catch on right away”.
With that experience in mind, we (S and I) really didn’t think about those words by the time college auditions were coming around. It just had to be about what you could show right now, and then on top of that be broad enough to catch curve balls they throw at you.
At the outset, it was not clear that S would ever be able to get into UNT. But it sounded like a great place, so he aimed for it. Still, several other picks, whether they made the final 5 picks or not, were designed to be “increasingly easy” place to audition into, with all due respect to all programs, and with no real formula how easiness is measured. Once S got ideas of how he stood, he trimmed off certain options. The “easiness” to get in was mostly based on S listening live at college visits or listening to YouTube to see how he thought they stacked up. But that required his ear and his brain, subject to the recording. When he did college visits that lasted several hours that were scheduled directly with the professor or jazz director, he could sit in on rehearsals, and watch freshmen, sophomores, grad students, and make an estimate how his stage of development fit in there. He might say he sees himself at the sophomore level here, and another level somewhere else.
Maybe this plan (plan Alpha) will work:
decide to audition on upright - 100%
figure out how to judge the level of play at places you like versus your level of play (hard to judge, I know)
audition at places that seem to fit or try some that seem tougher, if applicable
@ScreenName48105 his teacher is the bass teacher at a college that is mentioned here often. We had a long talk about my S applying to music school, so I am assuming he has a good idea of how to proceed. My S has only had a handful of lessons with him so far. @GoForth these are good points and I like the plan you have laid out. I agree with your thought of having to go in where you are, that is part of the reason I was thinking he might be better off auditioning on electric some places. We have just been to two music school visits and are figuring out what the best approach is to get the most out of our visits- he will need to start doing more than the general music school tour. Also, identifying some programs that are not the top 5-10 programs is in the plan. I am open to any suggestions!
We never went on a general music tour. Ideally, at least the following things would happen. Say it is a 5-hour visit. You would be on the phone/email with the director of jazz studies or his office coordinator, or possibly the professor, but probably that coordinator. Ask for a visit where you can sit in on classes, preferably several in a row. It may include a music history class or a jazz forum. And ask for a rehearsal to be in the schedule so you can watch some ensembles. Don’t hesitate to sit in on an improv or combo class where another bass student or the instructor will say “Hey, you want to play a song with us?” Say “Yes”. Don’t worry too much about asking how good they think you are, but definitely get a feel for how you think they are - have some idea what level they are at - freshman or grad. The grad student swill pretty much always sound awesome. So, have a bias towards never being idle and never saying no and focus on watching them, not worrying about their thought of your standing (unless you actually have no concept of how to compare yourself, then that is harder). You abilities will change over the next months, so don’t get stuck on that. If you see that one freshman is weak, one is like you, and the sophomore is much better, that sounds like a fit. If they all make your head spin in circles with their never-before-seen awesomeness, that might be a reach. If you feel sad at how bad it is, that might be “too” safe for you.
EDIT: They probably will have an upright bass in the class where they ask you to join in, so that might modify the procedure a bit. It makes life tougher.
I totally forgot to say you could also schedule in a sample lesson with the prof. In that case, if you have no upright at the time, you would be bringing your electric and an amp (hopefully small or on wheels), and you would have it out in the hallway wherever you go, so you could bring it into a class if needed.
I concur with GoForth about scheduling sample lessons when visiting colleges. This is the perfect opportunity to sound out whether auditioning on an electric is not just acceptable but equivalent. These are the people that are going to evaluate the audition, so having a lesson and really listening to the recommendations they make is like being handed a cheat-sheet!
“You abilities will change over the next months, so don’t get stuck on that. If you see that one freshman is weak, one is like you, and the sophomore is much better, that sounds like a fit. If they all make your head spin in circles with their never-before-seen awesomeness, that might be a reach. If you feel sad at how bad it is, that might be “too” safe for you.“
So true! Overall, EXCELLENT, spot on advice about visits from @GoForth ! Listen to him! This is true across all genres, too, not JUST Jazz.
The video is really informative. I will definitely show it to my son! Thanks for all the advice. We are not going to see any colleges until February, so he should have plenty of time to get his visit planned out! In the meantime- lessons, practicing Mid-State tryouts, and ACT tutoring!
