<p>I'm auditioning at CIM as a transfer student next week and the audition requirements included scales and arpeggios. I talked to a friend who auditioned two years ago and he said that he didn't play any scales at his audition. He only played some Bach and his concerto movement.</p>
<p>I was wondering if I were asked to play scales at the audition, how many would I have to play? </p>
<p>And my second question is in reference to repertoire. Is it a good sign if the panel asks you to play more repertoire? I remember when I auditioned two years ago, I was asked to play more of the required repertoire at some places, even though everywhere asked for the same material. Thanks!</p>
<p>While there are some notable exceptions (e.g. bass players auditioning at Curtis), most schools list the scales on the requirements but do not ask for them at the audition. That doesn’t mean that you should neglect them because so much of musical technique is based on the ability to play scales and arpeggios in all keys effortlessly and accurately.</p>
<p>A panel asking to hear more of your repertoire can be good or bad. All it means is that there are things about your playing that you have not yet demonstrated to their satisfaction. At the very least it means that you probably did not completely bomb out on the first piece or, if you did, they are giving you an opportunity to regain your composure.</p>
<p>Last year, S as a violinist was not asked for scales or arpeggios at any of 5 live auditions and I believe at least 4 of them indicated they were required. Some instruments (like bass) more frequently require scales at live auditions. </p>
<p>However, if a school says they require scales, you should be prepared: we had never heard of anyone required to play their post-1939 work at Juilliard and, in fact, had heard that it is never asked for: guess what? S was asked to play his. My guess is that he was asked for two reasons: a) the person before him didn’t show, so he was asked to do his audition early which gave the panel time to kill (and also meant he missed about 15 minutes of his planned warmup–always be extra early, as he was); and b) his post-1939 was a rarely played piece by a well-known composer that the committee probably hadn’t heard dozens of times already. </p>
<p>Like BassDad, I would not read much into the amount of rep that you are asked to play or the length of your audition. I recall from last year a distraught woodwind player whose audition was a fraction as long as all of those before her; she was accepted (and I bet, that some of those with the longest auditions were not). The length of your audition has more to do with the factors BassDad mentioned and with the time that the committee has available–if they are behind, they will try to keep auditions short and if they are ahead of schedule they may let a person play a bit more of a movement. In any case, they will hear enough in order to make an informed and intelligent decision.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! I’ve been working on consistency in my scales and it’s sort of been stressing me out. If they don’t ask me to play them, it’s not the end of the world. I’m benefitting from it either way. </p>
<p>I was asking the question in reference to repertoire because I’ve been told that it’s generally a good sign when panels ask you to play more things. I guess there are a bunch of other factors playing into it though too.</p>
<p>I don’t know what instrument you play, but IIRC, last the violists were asked to play scales (I’m pretty sure it was CIM). Violinists just did a little Bach and a part of a concerto movement.</p>
<p>As we were told at the info session at one school, “we don’t need to hear you play your scales - we can tell from how you play your piece how much you’ve been practicing them.” Yikes!</p>
<p>Regional auditions often consist of playing in front of a video camera run by someone who likely does not play your instrument. You can expect to play more in that situation because they have to get enough of your playing recorded to allow the faculty to make an educated decision but may not be able to determine just when that point has been reached. They will usually err on the side of having you play a bit more than you might at a live audition (that’s why fast forward buttons exist) rather than not collect enough.</p>