Prescreening & Auditions

Piano Student

Prescreening & Audition Repertoire Requirements

All applicants must complete a prescreening video according to their program (instrument, voice, composition or jazz). Prescreening requirements are the same regardless of your specific major of interest (with the exception of jazz). For example: All voice applicants will follow the vocal requirements below, no matter what they plan to major in (Music Education, Performance, Integrated Studies or the Musical Arts degree). Once the admissions process is complete, admitted students will notify us of their intended specific major. You can learn more about these majors here. Jazz applicants should follow the specific jazz requirements below for prescreening and audition on their primary instrument or voice.

All applicants should feel free to reach out to Blair Admissions with audition repertoire questions.

Woodwinds

  • Flute
    • B and C major and harmonic minor scales, 3 octaves, as fast as possible: slur ascending, articulate descending (prescreening only)
    • Two selections from the flute literature that contrast in style and time period, and represent the applicant's musical maturity and technical skill. Selections may be single movements drawn from a sonata, concerto, or similar concert piece (prescreening and audition)
    • One unaccompanied solo flute work (audition only)
    • Two orchestral excerpts of applicant’s choice (audition only)
    • Sight-reading (audition only)
  • Oboe
    • One Major and one minor two octave scale, in eighth notes quarter=60 (prescreening and audition)
    • Two selections from the oboe literature that contrast in style and time period, and represent the applicant's musical maturity and technical skill. Selections may be single movements drawn from a sonata, concerto, similar concert piece, or a work for solo oboe (prescreening and audition)
    • Either a Ferling étude or one of the Barret 16 Grand Studies (prescreening and audition)
    • Two orchestral excerpts of the applicant’s choice (audition only)
    • Sight-reading (audition only) 
  • Clarinet
    • Major and melodic minor scales, full range, three octaves when possible (audition only)
    • One movement from either the Mozart Concerto or a Crussell Concerto (prescreening and audition)
    • One work of your choice from a 20th or 21st century composer (prescreening and audition)
    • Two contrasting etudes from Rose (32 etudes), Alfred Uhl or Cavallini (prescreening and audition)
    • At least two major orchestral excerpts (audition only)
  • Saxophone
    • Three major and three harmonic minor scales of applicant’s choice, at least two octaves, memorized, in 8th notes at a tempo of at least quarter note=120 (prescreening only) 
    • Two contrasting études from Ferling's 48 Famous Studies or Voxman's Selected Studies (prescreening and audition)
    • Two contrasting works from the standard saxophone repertoire which best demonstrate the applicant's technical and musical skills. Single movements from larger works are acceptable. (prescreening and audition) 
    • Sight-reading (audition only)
    • If approved for a recorded audition, please supplement the prescreening materials with an additional recording of a different etude or movement from the standard saxophone repertoire.
  • Bassoon
    • One etude (prescreening only) 
    • Two contrasting solo works; single movements from larger works are acceptable (one for prescreening; both for the audition) 
    • Two orchestral excerpts of the applicant’s choice (audition only)
    • Sight-reading (audition only) 

Brass

  • Horn
    • 1st movement of a Mozart concerto (prescreening and audition)
    • Contrasting to the Mozart above, select either a 1st movement of a concerto, sonata, or solo piece (prescreening and audition)
      *      example: Strauss       Concerto, movement 1, or Hindemith Sonata, movement 1, Or Krol Laudatio
    • Three orchestral excerpts of your choice: one high, one low, one lyrical (prescreening and audition)
    • Kopprasch Etude of choice from Book 1 or 2 (prescreening and audition)
  • Trumpet
    • Major and minor scales (audition only)
    • Two contrasting études, such as Charlier, Brandt, Arban or Bousquet (one is required for prescreening, two are required for audition)
    • Movement of a major work, such as the Haydn Concerto, Hummel Concerto, Hindemith Sonata, or similar work (prescreening and audition)
    • Two or three orchestral excerpts of your choice (audition only)
  • Tenor Trombone
    • Movement of a major solo work such as Guilmant, David, Bozza, Grøndahl, or similar work (prescreening and audition) 

    • Three contrasting orchestral excerpts of your choice (audition only) 

  • Bass Trombone

    • Movement from a major solo work such as Lebedev, Koetsier, Bozza, Ewazen, Hidas, or similar work (prescreening and audition) 

    • Three contrasting orchestral excerpts of your choice (audition only) 
  • Euphonium
    • Movement of a major solo work such as Guilmant, Barat, Jacob, Capuzzi or similar work (prescreening and audition). 
    • Three contrasting band and/or orchestral excerpts of your choice (audition only). 
  • Tuba
    • Movement of a major solo work such as Gregson, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith, Lebedev or similar work (prescreening and audition) 
    • Three contrasting band and/or orchestral excerpts of your choice (audition only)

Strings

  • Violin
    • First or third movement of a standard concerto, memorized (prescreening and audition)
    • Two contrasting movements of a Bach solo sonata or partita, memorized (prescreening and audition)
    • One Paganini Caprice, memorized (prescreening and audition)
  • Viola
    • Étude or any short work or sonata movement (audition only)
    • Two contrasting movements from a Bach unaccompanied suite (originally for cello) or a Bach unaccompanied sonata or partita (originally for violin), memorized (prescreening and audition)
    • One movement of a significant standard concerto, memorized (prescreening and audition) Examples include (but are not limited to):
      * First movement of the Stamitz D Major Concerto or Hoffmeister D Major Concerto
      * Any movement from Hindemith Der Schwanendreher or Walton or Bartok concerti
  • Cello
    • Étude demonstrating technical proficiency (audition only)
    • Two contrasting movements of a Bach unaccompanied suite, memorized (one movement required for prescreening, two required for audition)
    • Movement of a standard concerto, memorized (prescreening and audition)
  • Double Bass

    • Two solo pieces of contrasting style, tempo and era. A movement from a sonata or concerto will be considered one piece (prescreening and audition)

    • Two standard orchestral excerpts of your choice (prescreening and audition)

Piano

Memorization Required
  • Major and harmonic minor scales, four octaves (audition only)
  • Prelude (prescreening only) and fugue (audition only) from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier or similar contrapuntal Baroque work
  • An allegro movement from a sonata by Haydn, Mozart (excluding K. 545), Beethoven (excluding Op. 49), or a similar work from the classical period (prescreening and audition)
  • A major Romantic or Impressionist work (prescreening and audition)
  • A major work by a 20th or 21st century composer (audition only)
  • Sight-reading (audition only)

Percussion

  • Concert snare drum solo or étude (prescreening and audition)
  • Four-mallet marimba solo or étude (prescreening and audition)
  • Timpani solo or étude (prescreening and audition) 
  • Traditional rudimental snare drum solo or étude (audition only)
  • Two-mallet keyboard solo, transcription or étude (audition only)
  • Demonstrate the ability to recognize, sing and tune pitches and intervals on timpani (audition only)
  • Sight-reading on all percussion instruments listed above (audition only)

Harp

  • One movement of a concerto by Handel, Mozart or Dittersdorf, or a similar work (prescreening and audition)
  • Two contrasting solo pieces from different periods (prescreening and audition)

Voice

  • A 20th or 21st century British, American or Canadian art song (in English), memorized (prescreening and audition)
  • A foreign language art song, memorized (prescreening and audition)
  • An additional art song, or an opera, operetta or oratorio aria, in any language, memorized (prescreening and audition)
  • Monologue, memorized (prescreening and audition), chosen from these four provided options.   

Please be prepared to sight-read a vocal line at the piano, and complete sight-singing (for audition only.) In addition to the requirements listed above, Voice applicants are encouraged to share any background and experience with instrumental study, as applicable, on their Music Resume (private instruction, ensembles, etc.) 

 A change in repertoire for the audition must follow guidelines above. Please contact Blair Admissions with any questions.

Composition

  • A portfolio of three original scores and corresponding recordings. At least one live recording is preferred, but not mandated. (prescreening only)
  • A prescreening video showcasing proficiency on your primary instrument or voice. You may select any piece from your current repertoire. (prescreening only)
  • Record a short video of yourself (no more than three minutes, please) describing, in musical terms, the goal(s) of one of the pieces you submitted and how you accomplished those goals. (prescreening only) For instance:  
    • What particular techniques or (perhaps new) approaches did you try?  
    • What difficulties did you encounter?  
    • What did you learn from this piece and the process that lead to it? 
  • Composition applicants who pass prescreening will receive an invitation to interview with the Composition faculty. This is the "audition" round for Composition applicants. Applicants who are invited to interview should bring the portfolio they submitted for prescreening and any other in-progress work.

Jazz

Applicants interested in jazz studies should prepare the following for their primary instrument or voice. The following areas are eligible for application to a major in Jazz Studies: Voice, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Guitar, Piano, Bass, and Drum set.

  • Jazz Drum Set Requirements
  • All other instruments and voices select three tunes from different categories below, playing the melody and improvising over the form. Applicants are required to perform repertoire from memory for prescreening and audition. Instrumentalists are to perform "Tall and Lanky" as one of their three pieces.
    • Required for all instrumentalists: Tall and Lanky Please reach out to blair.inquiries@vanderbilt.edu if you need a lead sheet or backing track for this selection. 
    • Blues: Billie's Bounce; Footprints; Blues for Alice
    • Great American Songbook: Like Someone in Love, A Foggy Day, I'm Beginning to See the Light, On a Clear Day, There Will Never Be Another You
    • Ballad: Nearness of You, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Darn That Dream, Skylark, My Romance
    • Latin/Straight: Wave, Tristeza, Corcovado (Quiet Nights), Mas Que Nada, Like A Lover (O Cantador)
  • Rhythm Section instruments must demonstrate ability to play diverse styles and grooves. (audition only)
  • An additional tune from a different category (from the list above) not included in prescreening selections (audition only)
  • Sight-reading (audition only)