Auditions

YSU Admissions information

Entrance Audition Guidelines - Overview:
 

Audition and Scholarship Deadlines: 

See YSU Financial Aids for academic scholarships deadlines. 

For music scholarship consideration, you must complete your audition by the last published Dana audition day in late February. Other Entrance Auditions may occur anytime throughout the year pending studio vacancies. 

Current majors are automatically re-considered for scholarship renewal and any other scholarship funds that become available. 

• Audition Appointments: https://ysu.edu/academics/cliffe-college-creative-arts/dana-school-of-music

We provide a personalized and flexible education plan to highly motivated individuals regardless of your particular musical interests.

Auditions for Music Major Status: Following admission to the University, each prospective music major must demonstrate their musical accomplishments in a percussion audition/interview for admittance to the Dana School of Music. On-campus audition/interview is preferred, but a pre-recorded audition is possible pending Dr. Schaft's approval. 

Audition for Music Minor Status: Following admission to the University, each prospective music minor must attend a percussion audition/interview for admittance to the Dana School of Music. Please contact Dr. Schaft directly for an appointment. Demonstrate your achievement on the instrument(s) you wish to study, such as drumset, snare drum, keyboard percussion, timpani, hand drums.

Audition Policies: 

1. Make an appointment https://ysu.edu/academics/:-college-creative-arts/dana-school-of-music
2. You will be sent an audition appointment confirmation.
3. Percussion audition/interview duration is 30-minutes in Dr. Schaft’s studio - 2234 Bliss Hall.
4. Each candidate is provided a warm-up room beforehand. Please check-in at Dr. Schaft's office 30-minutes before your audition appointment time. Audition and warm-up rooms are similarly equipped: Malletech 5-octave marimba, Malletech xylophone, Musser vibraphone, congas, drumset, timpani, and concert snare drum. Bring your own sticks/mallets and one copy of your music for the audition committee.
5. Our website contains directions to campus, directions to Dr. Schaft's office, and parking info Directions, Parking, Map.

6. Audition repertoire guidelines are included below.

    

Recorded Audition Policy:

Due date - last Saturday in February, 9:00AM Eastern Time. Send all your audition materials in a single email with the subject heading of "audition files" to Dr. Glenn Schaft, Director of Percussion Studies at geschaft@ysu.edu. 
Your email should contain two attachments: 
    1. PDF of your résumé including: contact info, school related musical experience, other musical experience, academic and musical honors and awards, private percussion teacher names and how long you studied with each, and names of three references including title/position, phone, and email. 
    2. Unlisted YouTube Video file link containing your various musical excerpts edited into a single video file via a software editing program such as I-Movie or YouTube: begin your video with stating your name and desired music degree. Follow with various musical excerpts as described below in the Audition Repertoire section. Recordings should be a high quality audio/visual file labeled with name, repertoire title, composers, recording dates, and performers.  

1. Performance: Choose approximately 15 minutes of music representing your highest achievements. Memorization is left to your discretion. Typically, your private percussion teacher will recommend suitable audition repertoire. If your private teacher has not made recommendations, we've listed some standard repertoire below. 

2. Interview: we will review your résumé , discuss your college degree plans, career goals, and answer your questions. Your résumé should include: contact info, school related musical experience, other musical experience, academic and musical honors and awards, private percussion teacher names and how long you studied with each, and names of three references including their title/position, phone, and email. Either this can be submitted in print at the audition or emailed in-advance to Dr. Schaft (geschaft@ysu.edu) as a PDF attachment with the subject heading "audition files”.

    

Undergraduate Audition Repertoire for Percussion Major Status:

• Demonstrate whatever experience your possess whether snare drum, drumset, keyboard percussion, timpani, hand drums.
• Contact Dr. Schaft for private lessons or teacher referrals.
• Prospective music education majors (BME) should ideally demonstrate a balanced audition repertoire including snare, keyboard, timpani, and drumset.
• Prospective performance majors (BM) should demonstrate instrumental versatility and substantial achievement on at least one instrument.
• Prospective majors in Jazz Studies (BMJ) or Music Audio Production (Recording) repertoire: similar to above with significant drumset or vibraphone emphasis.
• Prospective jazz vibraphone majors (BMJ) should play a solo or etude and improvise over a blues and/or standard song form.

We also assess pitch-aural skills via:

1. Pitch matching — hum pitches (use syllable “la”) played for you on vibraphone
2. Sing, (solfege, scale degree numbers, or syllable “la”) major or natural minor scale and arpeggio one octave up and down

Suggested Audition Repertoire:
 

Snare Drum

     1.  Orchestral style solo or etude: such as M. Peters-Advanced SD Studies # 1, 3, 5 9, A. Cirone-Portraits In Rhythm # 3, 4, 14, 15.

     2. Rudimental style solo selected from sources such as MENC State Class A Adjudicated Event Snare Solo, or similar repertoire such as Abel-2040's Sortie, Pratt-Drum Corps On Parade, My Friend Norman, Conquering Legions of Rome, Cider Jug, Wanamaker-Hurricane or Bridgemen, Wilcoxon-Battin Em Out, traditional. Downfall of Paris.

Keyboard - marimba, xylophone, or vibraphone

1. Two Octave Scales
   1. chromatic scales
   2. 12 major scales and arpeggios
   3. 12 natural minor scales and arpeggios.
2. OMEA Class A or B Solo or etude of your choice — two or four mallets. Memorization is left to your discretion.

Drumset

Demonstrate timekeeping and soloing in various styles: rock, funk, shuffle, slow 12/8 blues, swing/bebop, jazz waltz, Brazilian-bossa nova or samba, Afro-Cuban-mambo, mozambique, or songo. Play 8-measure cycles; 4-bar time-feel groove and 4-bar solo, repeatedly.

Timpani

Two, three, or four drum solo or etude from: Peters – Fundamental Method for Timpani or similar timpani method books such as Goodman, Friese/Lepak, Carroll, Hochrainer, etc.

Hand Drums

A brief solo on congas, djembe, or frame drum.

Graduate Studies Auditions

Percussion Performance. Each graduate candidate is allotted a 60-minute audition/interview. 

    Snare Drum - two advanced solos or etudes of contrasting styles

    Marimba - two-mallet solo and four-mallet solo

    Orchestral Excerpts - two excerpts each for snare drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, and timpani

    Drumset - various groove styles and soloing capabilities 

    Additional repertoire options: vibraphone solo, multiple percussion solo (submit pre-recorded file), hand drum solo

Audition Outcomes

You will receive a Dana School of Music audition results email letter (typically early March). Our studio enrollment cap is generally 15-20 students.

1. Acceptance as a percussion major—we believe you are capable of successfully completing your desired degree program. Once accepted as a major, please see Advisement & Registration.
2. Denial of admission—four possible outcomes:
   1. Long-term denial. You did not demonstrate the musical aptitude or achievement necessary to pass the first semester applied percussion course and are denied admission. We believe significant deficiencies exist and you should not re-audition for at least one year or pending significant private study and achievement.
   2. Waiting list. We believe you possess the musical aptitude and achievement necessary to pass the first semester applied percussion course and a re-audition is not necessary; we simply have no presently available studio openings. Notification of full-acceptance, pending studio vacancies, typically occurs by early May. Upon notification of acceptance, see advisement & registration.
   3. Short-term or minor deficiencies. We recommend that you study privately to address minor deficiency(s) specified during your audition and re-audition in early-August before fall semester. We recommend this option if we believe you are capable of correcting short-term deficiencies before beginning YSU.
   4. Minor level recommendation. We believe you possess sufficient musical aptitude to be accepted at the major level pending an re-audition, but require at least one semester of minor level applied percussion lessons MUAC 1500A) at YSU with our faculty to correct specified deficiencies. You will study with the percussion faculty and receive practice room access. You must perform a jury (audition for major status) during final exam week of that semester. Pending a passing lesson and jury grade (letter grades A-C), you will be admitted to major level status. 

Theory - A theory placement exam is designed to place you in the appropriate theory class and is administered at the beginning of your first semester. In order to prepare for this exam and develop your written and aural theory skills:

1. General fundamentals (including written theory)
2. Flash cards available on the YSU flashcard page
3. Teoria
4. Leo Kraft's A New Approach to Ear Training is a huge volume of melodic and harmonic dictation exercises, with CDs and answers included. Great for studying on your own in a methodical, disciplined way.

Piano - As a music major, piano is considered your minor instrument, and four semesters of study or equivalent proficiency, is required in Bachelor of Music degrees. If you possess piano experience, please take the piano placement exam to determine if you might proficiency out of any required courses. If you do not possess previous classical piano training, enroll in the first course, MUAC 1581.