School of Music | Washington State University

Percussion Audition Information

Percussion (BM & MA)  

l  Audition/Tape material should be 10-15 minutes in length.

l  Choose three or more of the following areas:

²  Snare Drum: solo and/or Etude which illustrates your technical and musical facility. Either rudimental and/or orchestral in style. Include basic rudiments such as rolls, flams and ruffs (drags). You may wish to include performances of the basic rudiments.

²  Timpani: solo and/or Etude which illustrates your technical and musical facility. Please include: on a lower tone (F, G or A) play a fp roll which slowly crescendos to ff and then slowly back to pp.

²  Mallets: solo and/or Etude (2, 3 or 4 mallet) which illustrates your technical and musical facility. Please include: 1) chromatic scale, ascending and descending 2 octaves starting on C. 2) The following major scales played 2 octaves (ascending and descending): C, Bb, D, A.

²  Multiple Percussion: Solo and/or Etude which illustrates your technical and musical facility

²  Drum Set: A short (15 to 30 seconds) sample of the following drum styles: 1) Slow swing (mm=80); 2) Medium swing (mm=132); 3) Fast swing (mm=208+); 4) Latin style (bossa nova and/or samba); 5) rock style (fusion, funk, linear). You may also include a recording of your performance with a group (school jazz ensemble or combo, for example).

For live auditions: Same as above with an informal setting in front of 3 to 4 faculty. Accompanist is not necessary. Some sight-reading may be included.

                                                                                                                                               Updated on 05/10/2019