Instructions for BHS Jazz Auditions 2017 RHYTHM SECTION Hello and welcome! Thank you for deciding to audition for the BHS Jazz Lab II band and/or the BHS Jazz Ensemble for the 2017 2018 school year. You can register for an audition slot right here at bhsjazz.org please make sure you do! You ll find the link on our home page. Your audition will take place in the A building at BHS, and will take 10-12 minutes. Sometimes we get behind in our schedule, so we ask for your patience ahead of time. Please arrive 20 minutes early to warm up. The audition schedule for this year is as follows: Basses & Guitars: May 18 th beginning at 2:45 Pianos & Vibes May 24 th, 2:45 6 p.m. Drums and Percussion, May 24 th, 6:30 9 p.m. If you are wondering about your chances of landing a spot in one of our groups, here is the final instrumentation the classes can accommodate: Jazz Ensemble: 5 trumpets, 4-5 trombones, 5-6 saxophones, 1-2 pianos, 1-2 guitars, 0-1 vibes players, 1-2 basses, 1-2 drummers, 1 percussionist Jazz Lab II (2 sections): 4 6 trumpets, 4 5 trombones, 5 8 saxophones, 2 pianos, 2 guitars, 1 vibraphonist, 2 basses, 2 drummers, 1 percussionist EACH Jazz Lab I (audition required for rhythm section players, high school or middle school music teacher recommendation required for brass and woodwinds players): 5 8 saxophones, 0 2 flutes, 0 2 violins/violas/cellos, 0 2 clarinets, 4 6
trumpets, 3 6 trombones, 2 pianos, 2 guitars, 2 basses, 0-2 vibes players, 2 drummers, 1 percussionist INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING FOR YOUR AUDITION You ll need to practice a few scales or grooves, work on the piece provided, work on soloing, and get ready to sight read. Instructions below. SUGGESTIONS FOR PRACTICING FOR YOUR AUDITION For scales: practice slowly and make sure you focus on sound quality and intonation (OK not intonation for pianos and vibes). Only when you can play with great sound and intonation should you begin to practice at a faster tempo! For the prepared piece: try for a great jazz feel, pay attention to dynamics and articulation marks as you prepare. In almost all cases the prepared piece is a swing tune. You might consider listening to some great big bands playing swing tunes (for example, the Count Basie or Duke Ellington bands) and try to play your piece the way you imagine they might play it. For sight reading: see if you can get your hands on some music to sight read. If you are not good at reading rhythms, find some music and go s l o w l y until you are sure you are playing the rhythms correctly. Make sure you pay close attention to the key signature! Try to look through a tune before you start playing it, to anticipate difficult spots. For soloing, practice playing along with the sound file provided at bhsjazz.org. Listen to great jazz masters playing solos on the same tune -- or over a blues in the same key. Learn their solos, if you can! Not so you can copy them note for note, but so that you learn some of the
jazz vocabulary they are using, and let them influence you in some way. Ultimately, jazz musicians sound like a mixture of all the musicians they have listened to very closely plus a little bit of their own magic mixed in. Use this audition as an opportunity to get started on this great, life-long project. For comping, again listen to great jazz masters on your instrument and learn what they do when they play behind a soloist. How do they interact with the soloist? How do they feed harmonic and rhythmic ideas to the soloist? How do they play a great groove behind the soloist? How do they use dynamics, and the full range of their instrument to add interest to the group sound? Do they play block chords, or melodic fragments, or blues riffs? How do they voice the chords they are playing? Do they mimic the soloist s rhythms, or provide new rhythmic material? WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR AUDITION Your audition will be heard by a friendly local professional musician who plays your instrument, and by Ms. Cline. You will get to play some of your audition material alone, but at other times you will play with a trio for example, if you are a pianist you will play with a bass player and a drummer. This is so we can hear how you interact within the rhythm section. You will start with scales or, for drummers, grooves, then play the piece provided at this website for your to prepare. You ll move on to a short sight reading excerpt, and then you ll get a chance to solo along with the combo musicians, on the tune you prepared. Some of this group time you will be comping for the others, and some of the time you will solo. For example, if you are a drummer
you ll play along as the pianist plays the melody ( head ), then as s/he plays a short solo, and then you will solo at the end. Auditions can be nervous making it s important to remember that your auditioners want you to play your best! Take a few deep breaths and have confidence in yourself. If you ve practiced thoroughly, your skill and creativity will shine through. AUDITION RESULTS Audition results will be posted on our website at bhsjazz.org on Saturday, June 10 th Good Luck! I know that auditions can be stressful. You can avoid some of that stress by preparing thoroughly! Sarah Cline Jazz Program Director Berkeley High School BHS Jazz 2016-2017 Rhythm Section Auditions PIANOS SCALES * 2 octaves concert Bb major BOTH HANDS in octaves * 2 octaves ascending chromatic scale beginning on C BOTH HANDS in octaves
PREPARED PIECE ensemble piano or jazz lab piano depending on which group(s) you are auditioning for. written notes and chord changes. If you are auditioning only for a jazz lab band, the sight reading excerpt provided will be easier. IMPROVISATION Choose one of the tunes included here to play for the audition if you would like to show us you can solo: o Afternoon in Paris o C minor blues The lead sheet in your instrument s key and clef is provided, as is a sound file for you to practice with. In the audition you will play the head the first time through, then solo for one or two choruses with the same sound file. GUITAR SCALES * 2 octaves concert Bb major. Play in octaves if you can! PREPARED PIECE ensemble guitar or
jazz lab guitar depending on which group you are auditioning for. written notes and chord changes. If you are auditioning only for jazz lab II, the sight reading excerpt provided will be easier. IMPROVISATION Choose one of the tunes included here to play for the audition if you would like to show us you can solo: o Afternoon in Paris o C Minor Blues The lead sheet in your instrument s key and clef is provided, as is a sound file for you to practice with. In the audition you will play the head the first time through, then solo for one or two choruses with the same sound file. VIBES SCALES * 2 octaves concert Bb major. Play in octaves if you can! PREPARED PIECE ensemble/jazz lab vibes written notes and chord changes. If you are auditioning only for a jazz lab band, the sight reading excerpt provided will be easier.
IMPROVISATION Choose one of the tunes included here to play for the audition if you would like to show us you can solo: o Afternoon in Paris o C Minor Blues The lead sheet in your instrument s key and clef is provided, as is a sound file for you to practice with. In the audition you will play the head the first time through, then solo for one or two choruses with the same sound file. BASS SCALES o 2 octaves concert Bb major. Play in octaves if you can! o 2 octaves chromatic scale starting on C (this scale for upright bassists only) PREPARED PIECE ensemble bass or jazz lab bass depending on which groups you are auditioning for. written notes and chord changes. If you are auditioning only for jazz lab II, the sight reading excerpt provided will be easier. IMPROVISATION Choose one of the tunes included here to play for the audition if you would like to show us you can solo:
DRUMS o Afternoon in Paris o C Minor Blues The lead sheet in your instrument s key and clef is provided, as is a sound file for you to practice with. In the audition you will play the head the first time through, then solo for an entire chorus. GROOVES You will begin your audition by playing 16 bars each of time in the following grooves: o Funk o swing o samba (if you are auditioning for jazz ensemble) o bossa nova (if you are auditioning for a jazz lab band) PREPARED PIECE ensemble drums or jazz lab drums depending on which group you are auditioning for. written hits and time in a swing groove. If you are auditioning only for a jazz lab band, the sight reading excerpt provided will be easier. IMPROVISATION Choose one of the tunes included here to play for the audition:
o Afternoon in Paris o C Minor Blues The lead sheet in your instrument s key and clef is provided, as is a sound file for you to practice with. In the audition you will play the head accompanying the recording the first time through, then take a solo for an entire chorus. PERCUSSION You will begin your audition by playing 16 bars of a Cuban son groove on congas and timbales. Next you will play 16 bars of a 6/8 clave on both congas and timbales. You will then demonstrate that you can play the guiro. Next you will do a short sight reading exercise to show your auditioner you can read rhythms choose whichever instrument you feel most comfortable with. Finally you will solo over the tune Manteca sound file provided here