<p>Hello everyone! I'm new, and this will be my first thread on this site. =)</p>
<p>This is kind of a "what are my chances" thread, but not really. I'm going to be a Senior in high school this upcoming year. I'm planning on auditioning for ASU's School of Music to try to get into the Music Ed program. I know that ASU's School of Music is very competitive, which is why I'm worried, haha.</p>
<p>I realize a large portion of my chances of getting in will be based upon how I do on the audition, which includes three solos, scales (scales are not a problem), sight-reading, and an interview (which is not a problem). But, I would like your reactions on my musical background list. They do ask for a summary of your musical background, so I want to share mine in hopes that you all can tell me if there is anything else I need to do/improve on, if I'm sort of on the right track, what your own reaction was, or any helpful suggestions/input, etc. Any and all opinions would be nice. =)</p>
<p>Note, before I post my informal background list, that I'm going to be a Senior in high school. =) Everything in this list is including my projected plans for my Senior year.</p>
<p>-Primary Instrument: Percussion; (semi-new) Secondary Instrument: Piano
-Played percussion since 7th grade (6 years)
-Member of the Marching Band’s Drumline for 4 years
*Section/squad leader for Drumline and Tenors for 2 years
*Percussion Rep in Band Council for 2 years
-Member of the Jazz Ensemble for 4 years
*Drum set and accessory percussion for 4 years, vibes for 1 year
-Member of the Percussion Ensemble for 4 years
*Including several concerts with both the concert bands, 3-4 performances/per year
*Played multiple concert percussion, including concert snare and timpani (a lot), keyboards (quite a bit), and accessory percussion (every so often), as assigned by my band teacher
-Member of the Indoor Percussion for 4 years
*Section/squad leader for Drumline and Tenors for 2 years
-Performed in Solo&Ensemble as a Percussion Duet/Percussion Ensemble for 2 years
-Member of my high school's Class Piano for 2 years
*Performed in 4 recitals
*1 year of Class Piano for college credit; credit that can transfer to ASU
-Private Instruction for 1 year
*The private instruction is through classes that give MUP college credit in percussion through a community college; credit that can transfer to ASU
-Volunteered at the school's Summer Music Camp for 2 summers
*One year as performance aid to the ensemble
*One year as a staff to help the percussion students
-Attended the Band Leadership Conference for band leaders for 2 summers
+I'm an honor student with a running GPA of around 4.4, in the upper percentiles of my class. (Exacts of both have yet to come, haha.)</p>
<p>Again, any kind of commentary would be appreciated. Thank you!</p>
<p>My S auditioned percussion at Belmont, U of North Texas and Northern Illinois U. Only 1 of the schools looked at his resume and asked for his GPA (NIU) during the audition (that’s when you give them the resume). It seems they are more interested in your solos than whether you made it to all-state (my s opinion). Snare, marimba and timpani were all required but make sure you can do something spontaneously on the drumset-he was asked by 1 of the schools to play. But your resume looks great and you should also include any awards you have won</p>
<p>hawkrn: Was your son auditioning for a music ed degree or a performance degree? </p>
<p>I think that the resume is more important for the music ed degree than it is for a performance degree. For performance the resume is relatively unimportant. For music ed, even if the resume is not discussed in the audition, it is more likely to be read by admissions personnel.</p>
<p>RandomAc1206: Is the year of private instruction on percussion or piano? You should definitely be taking private instruction on percussion to prepare for the audition and should be spending considerable time on private practice. I would recommend taking lessons over the summer and practicing seriously if you have only one year of private instruction under your belt.</p>
<p>I think that your background list demonstrates a serious and sustained interest in music and a good variety of experiences in school music. If you can play, I would accept you!</p>
<p>You mention being a section leader for tenors, but I don’t see a mention of your participation in a choir. I would include that–how many years, what type of choir etc…</p>
<p>Have you studied any music theory? If so, mention it.</p>
<p>I would encourage you to continue with your piano study since a piano background will make theory courses much easier and will also make score reading less onerous; assuming that you want to be a band/instrumental educator, score reading is essential.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input so far, hawkrn and violindad! </p>
<p>In response to hawkrn: I will definitely put countless hours into mastering my audition music. I believe the audition carries a lot of the weight in the consideration process.</p>
<p>In response to violindad: Yes, I have started summer lessons currently, and will be continuing them through the school year so that I still have them around the audition time.</p>
<p>Thank you for your compliment. =) I should have specified, in Marching Band, Tenors are part of the Drumline. They are also know has quads/quints. They’re basically the toms of the Drumline, and the middle voice. I have not been a member of any choir. </p>
<p>My only music theory knowledge is all that I have gained from my piano class so far (which isn’t too shabby). And I definitely plan on continuing with my piano class next year, and will be in advance piano! =) That means more music theory, too. </p>
<p>To anyone: I would still appreciate any and all input! =) Thank you.</p>
<p>Random: I would highlight the volunteering at music camp by explaining the age of the campers and exactly what you did while interacting with them. Also, if you have any other volunteer or work experience with children such as Sunday school, tutoring, etc include that even if it isn’t music related. The music education interviewers this past year for my son were far more interested in his reasons for pursuing music ed and why he thought he would like to pursue it. Since he was pursuing a double major of performance and music ed, they wanted to be certain that music ed wasn’t just a safety net. He even had 2 studio professors try to talk him out of the music ed program and they, too, asked what his reasons were for pursuing music ed and why he thought he would want to deal with unmotivated or beginning students. Your resume looks great. Also, if you haven’t already, schedule a private lesson with the studio teacher this summer or early fall that way you’ll be comfortable with the teacher and if you do what they suggest your audition will be well received. Best of luck!</p>
<p>My S auditioned music ed although he was admitted for either major. He has since (this week) decided performance. 1 bit of advice he got from the Choir teacher when all the music students were together for all-state was to take a semester of choir. He said it would be helpful for a music major. So his last semester of high school he took choir and actually enjoyed it. That also was put on the resume!</p>
<p>At one of the schools my son auditioned at we had the opportunity to chat with the people who were conducting the audition just before his audition (my son was scheduled to be the first at the audition). One of the auditioners seemed to talk a heck of a lot about jazz, giving us the impression that jazz was his “thing”. We happened to be standing just outside of the warmup room that was assigned to my son. So when my son went in to warm up for his trumpet audition he also took advantage of the piano that was in the room and played some jazz (knowing that I was still talking to the auditioners just outside the door). </p>
<p>He ended up getting offered a scholarship package that is 4 times what the website of that particular college said that it could offer. Somehow I get the feeling that our opportunity to suck up (oops I mean have a conversation) and the jazz piano thing helped. My son felt terribly bad when he turned down that colleges offer.</p>
<p>Piano classes are required of all music ed students, most colleges will allow you to exempt out of the college piano classes if you already can play decently, so you have a nice advantage over many other music ed students.</p>
<p>To everyone: Again, thank you so much! I really appreciate all the tips/suggestions. =)</p>
<p>Momofbassist: Okay, I will be sure to describe the specifics! I also forgot to mention that I’m part of the National Honor Society (NHS) at my school, where a certain amount of volunteer hours are required to be a member. Almost all of my “outside hours” come from volunteering in band activities like carwashes, concessions at some sporting events (in order to fundraise for band), and helping to set-up and take-down stuff for the All-State Festival at my school. I definitely want to pursue a career in Music Ed because I enjoy helping others learn; I’m not one of those people who gets satisfaction out of telling others what to do and being bossy, but I do get satisfaction from seeing another individual improve from my help. =) And yes, I will be continuing the lessons in the summer and through the upcoming school year.</p>
<p>hawkrn: While I would enjoy joining choir quite a bit, I do not have enough room in my schedule for my Senior year! Band class, piano class (college credit), math honors, Humanities honors (college credit), Spanish honors (college credit), and Government/Econ all fill my schedule to the max. =/ And I plan on (this upcoming year) asking my piano teacher for any music theory practice sheets that she might have throughout the year.</p>
<p>imagep: Yep! Besides enjoying playing the piano, I have signed up for piano for 2 consecutive years knowing that it would be much to my benefit. Thankfully, this upcoming year (the 2nd year) is the year I can take it for college credit; hopefully that will make me look “appealing.” =) Okay, I’ll be sure to have chats with any important people, haha. Thankfully my private instructor knows a lot of people in ASU’s school of music, so he knows what they expect. </p>
<p>The only thing I would add is that you’ve only mentioned applying to one school. Since auditions are wily and highly unpredictable in outcome, I would suggest you get together a list of maybe 6 - 8 schools with at least three of them being academic or financial “safeties” (no music program is a “safety”) and to also include some “reaches” even if they’re not in your financial alignment. The reason I suggest this is because it CAN happen that an out of state or private university/conservatory might award the right amount of money in terms of merit or need-based aid that it ends up being close to comparable in price. The process of “vetting” programs and auditioning is great experience, and since you sound like a ‘natural’ for music ed, it will deepen your future contact pool.</p>
<p>One other note – my son was not headed for music ed (he has ‘superhearing’ which makes HS tuning very painful for him) but always was kind of a natural in terms of leading his section and stepping in to conduct, etc. when the conductor was called away. These traits carried over to summer programs. One thing that I personally believe assisted him in his acceptance and scholarships was a very generous letter from a summer program conductor who lauded his leadership of young musicians. Why not ask a prospective recommendation source if they’d be willing to asses you in terms of leadership/education potential and address same in their letter. I have a hunch just from a few of your comments that you have available to you people who would be happy to do this ;)</p>
<p>To kmcmom13: I appreciate your concerns in my lack of mentioning other schools. I’m not going to get into specifics, but basically I will be able to get into ASU for almost nothing in terms of expenses, which is REALLY great. =) But I do know what you are saying, so I truly appreciate your advice. (Basically I will have to pick a back-up major if I do not get into the Music Ed program.)</p>
<p>But yes, between my own band director (who has seen me developing as a leader for three years), my great piano teacher (who really likes me), my private instructor, and the really cool summer music camp coordinator, I think I have a great selection of reference letters. =) Thank you for wishing me luck.</p>
<p>Random, don’t take this the wrong way, but I started laughing. I started laughing because with competition like you, the other students are the ones who need to worry. You are really focused and your experience has depth and width. My best advice to you is keep doing what you are doing.</p>
<p>Random. I agree with with KMC. If you want to be a music ed major please find 1 or 2 other programs to apply to also just in case your audition doesn’t go as well as you would like (you could get sick, etc.) or if the competition is more competitive than you are anticipating. ASU does have a good rep nationwide and I know several students form NY who applied there and were accepted. You will not only be competing with AZ students but a national pool. So have a backup plan and schedule a few other auditions before the ASU audition just to be certain you’ll be ready. (Unless your private teacher is the ASU prof for your studio there is no guarantee that you will be accepted.) So, good luck and let us know how it works out.</p>
<p>geo1113: I appreciate your compliment! =) The support is much appreciated. Now, I do not like to think exactly that way since it still comes down to the audition. I’m sort of doubting myself, but you can’t really tell how well the competition will do with the audition, or if something goes wrong in mine. </p>
<p>Momofbassist: Thank you for your advice. I’m aware that ASU’s school of music is extremely competitive, which is what worries me. But honestly, if I do not get in, I’ll likely have to select a back-up major.
(It probably helps that my instructor frequently plays with a lot of the ASU percussion faculty over there, and knows what level of performance is accepted/expected.) Thank you for wishing me luck!</p>
<p>The resume thing is a nice idea but it’s really gonna come down to how you play. A kid with no resume who plays great will beat a kid with a great resume who isn’t good. I didn’t see you mention playing mallets. You should play 2 and 4 mallets to get in a good program today. Also timpani. It’s nice you have some different things you’ve attended and participated in but don’t forget the basic things you really need to be accepted into the school. A strong audition. What level of pieces are you playing? Make sure you’re at the level you need to be at. I have a 15 year old here working with 2 private teachers on things like Stout, Sammutt, Delecluse, Cirone, Carter, Williams, plus the drumset. Please keep the audtion requirements in your sight at all times. You’ll get approx. 20 minutes to impress the teacher. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Random, the best way to remove self doubt is to be ready. Also, it is great that your instructor knows the ASU people and the expectations. Your instructor would be the best source for evaluating your progress towards a successful audition. One other thng I can suggest is play your audition pieces in front of others. It will help you to become comfortable. As my son was getting close to his auditions, his mother and I would have him play for us. We didn’t even have to evaluate because he knew the areas that he needed to shore up. The ASU website very specifically tells you what you need to know. Be ready for any and all. And for the items in which they ask for one of a number of pieces, work with your instructor to pick the piece which will best show off your talents.</p>
<p>bigdjp: Don’t worry, even though the audition isn’t until February (I believe), I still always keep thinking about it whenever I practice. It is almost always on my mind. =) I play mallets in concert percussion at least twice per concert, but depending on the piece I can have trouble sight-reading. However, playing piano has improved that, and I’m sure my lessons will help improve that as well. Thank you very much for the tips. =)</p>
<p>geo1113: Yes, I could play in front of my family (of musicians), maybe even in front of friends at school (where there’s an actual mallet instrument haha). =) I read ASU’s requirements quite often, making sure that I know what is expected of me as a performer; I also check the website quite often to be up-to-date with any news. Once I get a few more lessons in then my instructor can evaluate which pieces will be good for me. Thanks again for the advice. =)</p>
While it’s true that a kid who doesn’t play well at the audition won’t get in, it is ALSO true that a kid with NO resume who plays well will not be selected over a kid WITH a resume who plays equally well. I can assure you that at quality programs they have enough auditionners/applicants to choose from that they can insist on the “total package.” In addition, many schools REQUIRE the submission of a repertoire and resume. It’s not a gratuitous request – they use it in their evaluations!</p>
<p>Random, I certainly appreciate the “free” ride. That said, I think you would do well to audition at a couple other programs because when else will you have the opportunity to know how you’d fare? You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain.</p>
<p>Also, Random, we all know students who should be in a program that declined or waitlisted them. Son’s good friend spent 3 summers at the Crane Music camp. Took lessons with the studio teacher and got good feedback from the studio teacher, bought the school jacket after his audition since it went well… He ended up deferred and ultimately rejected because the competition was that tough. Fortunately, he had other choices because he did audition at other schools even though he was convinced that Crane was the only place to go. Son also auditioned at a school that his private teacher graduated from and was groomed for the audition. Studio teacher even came out after my son’s audition to tell me what an amazing audition son had (Also, the studio teacher told son’s private teacher what a great audition son had.)… Well, son ended up at the top of the waitlist where the studio teacher has had 100% yield for several years in a row including this year. Studio teacher said it was one of the most competitive years that he has ever seen.
So, as KMC wrote, you have nothing to lose if you schedule some other auditions and it will give you options should God have other plans for you. You don’t want all of those great resume activities to go to waste if another school would love to have you and give you a great scholarship, too.</p>