Hello- a few of the schools my son is applying to in jazz studies have as part of the application a requirement for a “repertoire list.” I would like some input as to what this should be. I have asked one school but did not get a clear answer.
So he will have 3 songs prepared for the audition (and he will use these for prescreening). He knows many jazz pieces and standards as he has been and is in many bands, but he hasn’t applied to Schools of Music before (of course) and this just has not been requested before. Some of the pieces are fine played as solos and some might be better played with accompaniment. Most of these schools have students there for accompaniment during the live audition but one does not I think (but they also require a repertoire list). So I am very unclear as to the function of this list and the school websites do not say. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Hi browniemom- I imagine it would be a little different for jazz, but when my D18 auditioned for classical voice the repertoire list was meant to give the panels a snapshot of the overall body of music she had studied and learned up to the point of applying. A couple of audition panels commented on her rep list at her auditions, so they do look at it.
It’s not just the specific audition songs but all the advanced repertoire the applicant has mastered/memorized/performed in his/her short career. Hope that helps.
For jazz studies, what they are probably looking for is all the standard tunes he knows the melody and changes to, and can comp over and solo on without charts. He can also list big band charts he has rehearsed and performed. S didn’t have a huge repertoire under his belt yet at auditions, but they like to see that you “know tunes”. Hope that’s helpful.
Any tune your son can play reasonably well if they ask him to at the auditions (they probably won’t, but just in case). They just want to know what standards and other tunes he has worked on in the past and can play if asked.
thanks folks. we got the list done–all the tunes he could easily play if asked.