<p>My daughter is a freshman this year, majoring in biology and minoring in music (flute). Her best friend in high school wanted to be a music education major, playing trumpet. She found out that not only would she have to be accepted into the school as a music education major, she would also have to be accepted into the trumpet instructor’s trumpet studio. He usually accepts only 6-8 freshmen each year. </p>
<p>She was a good trumpet player, but wasn’t sure she was that good. She had been to UA’s summer jazz band multiple times since middle school, UA Honor Band her senior year, and was section leader of the high school band. She took a few private lessons with the trumpet instructor her senior years, and ultimately decided not to pursue the music education major.</p>
<p>UA has a very good, very well-respected music program. I would encourage you to go for a site visit and arrange a meeting with the trumpet instructor, who can give you an idea of your chances, although he won’t promise anything. The whole music department is full of incredibly talented musicians, and there is competition to be admitted into the different programs.</p>
<p>My daughter met with the flute instructor in October of her senior year. While at Honor Band, she auditioned for the Million Dollar Band and received participation scholarships for MDB (fall) and other band ensembles (spring). </p>
<p>Music minors are also supposed to audition, but because of D’s meeting with the flute instructor, which really became a mini Master Class, in which she played for and with the flute instructor, she didn’t have to formally audition. The instructor said she’d heard D play, and she was in with no problem. (It also probably helped that D had just won our local youth Orchestra’s concerto competition.)</p>
<p>If you live close enough to make it possible without missing too much school, I definitely recommend applying for UA’s Honor Band. You can find info on the music department’s web site at music.ua.edu. </p>
<p>One word of warning: the first semester music theory required class is brutal. The actual written work is very difficult, plus there is a lot of focus on singing scales and melodies. My D has never been a singer, and this part of the class has worried her all semester. However, she has a solid A in the class right now, although she’s afraid the singing on the final will bring her final grade down to an A minus (wrecking what she wanted to be a 4.0 for her first semester).</p>
<p>Over half the class failed the midterm. The way grading is done, if you fail that, there is absolutely no way to pass the class. The instructor sent a very strongly worded email advising all those who failed to drop the class immediately, as they had two days left to do so without it looking bad on their transcripts. He was encouraging to those with Cs and Ds, saying he and the teaching assistants could work with them to bring up those grades.</p>