D made sure that she wrote in all of her college essays that she had zero music theory or even vocal jazz instruction in HS. Everything she has done and accomplished has been 100% on her own without any help from her HS choir. To that end, since she has been studying with a very well known vocal jazz teacher for the past 5 years and not a teacher that is recommended by her choir directors, they made it clear she would never get a lead in the musicals or solos In choir. And they sure were true to their word on that. Itâs a real source of contention for us. Stupid HS drama. We will be glad to have HS choir in our rear view mirror. Bottom line though Iâm so proud of D for sticking to her guns and staying true to herself. She has really paved her own way and walked her own path and I can tell you, hearing well regarded vocal jazz profs at these colleges drop Dâs vocal coachâs name with great respect makes me ecstatic that D didnât succumb to pressure from her choir directors. She would not be where she is without her vocal coach.
Ditto to the above. I tend to believe in UG they are looking for talent. Not all students have access to theory and sight readingâŠand the colleges can teach that. Talent you canât teach. So if all else was good, I wouldnât worry about it.
Note however having strong skills when you enter can help you progress. As @GoForth has pointed out some kids do have to play catch up the first year (another indication skills can be at different levels). So if you find any discrepancies it may be worth it to address them AFTER auditions with some self study before starting college.
Congrats on a good audition!
I agree that these folks are looking for talent (sometimes obvious, sometimes raw; most often a combo of both) and, more importantly, promise and teachabilityâI think they want to feel totally confident that they can make a candidate soar in their program. Outside of talent, I expect theyâre looking for commitment, enthusiasm, and especially discipline. And probably some inexplicable âit factor.â Regardless, everyone has weaknesses in one area or another, and programs surely expect that and have no problem identifying and filling in those knowledge gaps in the first year/sâclasses that are a breeze for some will be a challenge for others and vice versaâwhich has certainly been the case in my kidâs experience and that of his peers so far.
^^âclasses that are a breeze for some will be a challenge for others and vice versaâ Yes to this!
So, Western Michigan auditioning is complete. Congrats.
Sight reading first surprised S when he was at an earlier camp and they asked him to sight read. He never did that before. He told his instructor (I canât even remember which instrument it was for), and they started to work on it. I believe S had some component of sight reading at each audition for his instrument.
He got some feedback on his audition from last week. One of he things he can improve on is, guess what, sight reading of complex and fast big band charts. Some programs may emphasize different amounts of focus on sight reading, but it is something that can be worked on starting now, going through the season, going through the summer, and so on. S can be contacted if more info is needed on self-assist sight reading.
There are a number of classmates S has right now who have perfect absolute pitch. S does not have that, but he notes that he is getting better at every turn just by working hard and steady. He feels he has more of a natural sense of timing than of pitch.
Good luck on the next auditions.
@SpartanDrew , Loyola went very well, thanks for asking! He went by himself as it is close by and we had a soccer tournament for S22. S18 sang three songs. The panel was very warm and welcoming, to be expected when your private voice teacher is on the panel! Afterwards they told him they hoped he would seriously consider Loyola, and they would see him in the fall.
Sounds like your D had a great audition! I hope those silly teachers at her HS are embarassed when your D soars!
Back from an exhausting but thrilling weekend. Flew to Phoenix on Friday. Barely slept Friday night because of a horrible hotel room. Arizona State audition on Saturday. Rented a car and drove to Irvine Saturday night. UC Irvine audition this afternoon. Drove back home tonight. Worn out. ASU appears to have a good program. The audition panel was 7 people and she was not expecting so many. This threw her off a little bit. However, she thought she would like the program, if admitted. I will say the campus is a bit unappealing aesthetically (for my taste) but not a deal breaker.
UC Irvine was a surprise hit. In fact, she loved it. She auditioned with a panel of two. Aside from receiving very encouraging feedback, they spent quite a bit of time talking with her about her interests, future plans, etc. She felt very comfortable and connected. She also thought either would be a good new teacher for her. She was invited to return for a master class whenever she wants. So I am hoping the interests goes both directions.
At both schools, we attended the music orientations. This was really worthwhile.
BTW, my daughter is horrible at site reading too. All in good timeâŠ
Some high school students (and younger) attend conservatory prep schools and take theory/solfege/aural skills and are quite good at things like dictation and sight reading. At age 18 there is a wide range of preparation in these areas. Some of the testing done at auditions is for placement purposes, but I have no idea if that is true in a vocalistâs audition when sight reading comes up.
I randomly ran into this: https://music.ku.edu/aural-skills
From our experience during our D vocal performance applications and auditions, if memory serves well, the theory/solfege/aural skills testing were done for placement purposes.
Yes. Not sight-reading specific, but at Frost there were a couple groups of applicants, based on how many people couple fit into the test room at once, and they took a theory test. They said it was for placement purposes, not admission purposes. Some places have easier tests. Some will be harder. I donât think there is much to be read into how easy or hard the test was. It really is just placement, so you just need to do âyouâ and be properly placed.
Sorry, I wasnât clear. Generally exams given at audition time are for placement purposes. I was wondering if sight reading challenges during an actual vocal audition might also be for placement. In other words, how much ability or preparation with that skill counts for admission versus simply class placement.
That is hard to say. The one example I know about is UNT. They have separate tests and auditions after the admission audition. In addition to the theory placement test during summer registration, there is a placement audition covering playing ability and sight-reading skill one week before classes start. Thatâs one data point.
Berklee does placement exams and auditions at Orientation to determine placement in classes. Placement is not tied to admission audition. In some cases students are auditioning 9 months before school would start so basing placement on admissions auditions would not be a very good idea. Lots can be learned in that amount of time
D had good news. She applied with a video audition to Cornish and just received a decent sized merit scholarship. It doesnât bring the cost down to our in-state options but it is close enough to make it viable.
Congrats to your D @BearHouse ! Good things happening and hopefully more to come!
Thank you @coloraturadad ! She is excited and seems to appreciate the validation.
So Iâm new to this thread (at least I think I amâŠI might have been on years ago as I was in the music major forum to two older children). I was hesitant as I thought it was for just vocalists, but went a few pages back and saw a couple of instruments mentioned!
In need of group therapy as tomorrow we fly out for my daughterâs second audition (at Vanderbilt) this weekend. She auditioned at Belmont in November and has already been accepted with academic and music scholarship $$ but itâs not in her top 4 so onward!!
She is my 4th child going in as a music major, and you think Iâd be used to it. But no. Iâm not sure you ever can be!!
Glad you are all out there!!! Wonder if Iâll see any of you this weekend?
Welcome back @NYsaxmom!
Vocalists, instrumentalists, anxious and exhausted parentsâŠ
Good luck @NYsaxmom with Vanderbilt! I canât imagine doing this for a fourth kid.
We leave tomorrow for UCLA. D has a lesson Thursday night, audition on Friday, UCSB audition on Saturday, and SFCM audition on Monday. I predict a Tuesday collapse. She will be fine. My wife and I will not.
This forum is for instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, those interested in music education, music therapy, music industry or production, studio work, electronics and any studies related to music. It is also for students who may not major in music but are still hoping to continue with it. It is open to BM, BA, BS, BFA, double major and double degree students. It is inclusive! For some reason this year the music forum is almost entirely vocal performance and I have wondered if other posters are tiurning away. At one point I asked a moderator about this. Where are the instrumentalists and composers? Should someone post a welcome to non- vocalists? NYSaxmom maybe you could post your own thread so others see a sax parent on here!