Percussion Audition Solos 2007-08
All State/District/County
(videos require Quicktime)
Scales
Start one octave scales with the left hand.
Two octave scales with the right hand.
If you choose to play the sharp and flat notes in the middle
of the bar
Always play scales and arpeggios with smooth musical phrasing.
Make sure to play 16th notes and then triplets. Good Rhythm!
Grade 11-12 Keyboard
Make sure to play the attack of each roll with the same intensity as the other notes. (I added some rolls for better phrasing, and an embellishment at the end of the solo.)
The forte and piano dynamics are very important. Make a difference from loud to soft.
Taper the end of the roll as a flutist would play a long note.
Don’t roll too fast and crescendo to the release.
Keep scales passages smooth.
Relax on any double strokes to avoid unwanted accents.
Grade 9-10 Keyboard
Concentrate on making a difference between rolls that are untied and those that are tied.
Rolls are a way to make long notes. Play each roll with an attack and a release rolling slow enough to let the bar resonate and ring.
Don't play this piece too fast. Make musical phrases and give the syncopation some character and bounce.
Count the last two measures carefully.
Middle School Keyboard
Video coming soon
Decide on a sticking that allows accurate playing and use double Rights or Lefts that are smooth.
Always play with musical phrasing even when the notes are repeated. Be expressive using dynamics even if there are none marked in the music.
Grade 11-12 Timpani
Keep a good feeling of triple meter pulse when the rhythms change.
Don’t be afraid to accent the downbeats a little bit.
Are the right and left hand even from drum to drum?
Lift the mallets off the head for a good sound.
Use a relaxed grip.
Be careful when double stroking between drums if you choose that sticking.
I think this solo sounds better without muffling, but the composer asks for silence in the empty bars. Muffle quietly and make sure to stop all the sound by pressing hard enough. Don't just swipe your hand over the drum.
Grade 9-10 Timpani
Be sure you know which note is tonic and which is dominant and phrase accordingly.
Lift the mallets off the head for a good sound.
Use a relaxed grip.
It is easy to pound out this piece. Make sure you lift to get good clear rhythm.
Middle School Timpani
Video coming soon.
Avoid pounding out the rhythms or using very hard mallets.
Lift the sticks off the drum head for clarity.
Play as if you are in a band or an orchestra following good phrasing.
Lift the mallets off the head for a good sound.
Use a relaxed grip.
Grade 11-12 Snare Drum
Concentrate on consistent rolls.
Make the dotted notes are clear and precise.
Play the etude at the marked tempo. It is much harder at the slow tempo.
Sing the rhythm in your head as if you are playing along with a melody.
Read the composer's introduction about the style of the etude.
Grade 9-10 Snare Drum
Dynamic contrasts are important between pp and f.
Don't let the grace notes distort the rhythm. Play the etude without grace notes and then add them back in. (Very important in the line with the changing grace notes from flams, to ruffs, to 5 and 7 stroke roll sticking.)
Make sure to breath and add musicality to the phrases.
Play as if there is a melody to the rhythm.
Middle School Snare Drum
Video coming soon.
Don’t allow the dotted rhythms to sound like triplets.
Concentrate on consistent rolls with the same number of buzz strokes and the same attacks and releases.
Percussion Audition Solos 2006-07
All State/District/County
(videos require Quicktime)
Scales
Start one octave scales with the left hand.
Two octave scales with the right hand.
If you choose to play the sharp and flat notes in the middle
of the bar
Always play scales and arpeggios with smooth musical phrasing.
Grade 11-12 Keyboard
Make sure to play the attack of each roll with the same intensity as the other notes.
Taper the end of the roll as a flutist would play a long note.
Don’t roll too fast and crescendo to the release.
Grade 9-10 Keyboard
Concentrate on making a difference between rolls that are untied and those that are tied.
Rolls are a way to make long notes. Play each roll with an attack and a release rolling slow enough to let the bar resonate and ring.
Middle School Keyboard
Video Link Middle School Keyboard
Decide on a sticking that allows accurate playing and use double Rights or Lefts that are smooth.
Always play with musical phrasing even when the notes are repeated. Be expressive using dynamics even if there are none marked in the music.
Grade 11-12 Timpani
Keep a good feeling of pulse when the rhythms change.
Don’t be afraid to accent the downbeats a little bit.
Are the right and left hand even from drum to drum?
Lift the mallets off the head for a good sound.
Use a relaxed grip.
Grade 9-10 Timpani
Keep a good “waltz” feel to the triple meter.
Be sure you know which note is tonic and which is dominant and phrase accordingly.
Lift the mallets off the head for a good sound.
Use a relaxed grip.
Middle School Timpani
Video Link Middle School Timpani
Avoid pounding out the rhythms or using very hard mallets.
Lift the sticks off the drum head for clarity.
Play as if you are in a band or an orchestra following good phrasing.
Lift the mallets off the head for a good sound.
Use a relaxed grip.
Grade 11-12 Snare Drum
Concentrate on consistent rolls.
Make the 32nd notes clear using doubles.
Listen to “Sheherezade” by Rimksy-Korsakov
Mm2. Make sure there is space between the dotted note and the 16th note. Try a 5 stroke roll and a 7stroke roll without a last beat. (just the buzz strokes) See which one feels best to you to keep the rhythm steady.
Line 4: There are no DIDDLES in this book. "Portraits in Rhythm" was written in the early 1960s before that notation meant diddle (like in drum corps) What Cirone wants with the tie is a buzz stroke with one hand. (or two buzzes if the tempo is slow enough) It looks like a diddle, but it should be a smooth buzz tied into the next 16th.
Line 6: In order to get the ruff to fit into the rhythm it is easiest to add a double sticking into the 16th notes. Either as a double paradiddle or adding the double at the beginning. RRLRLR
Grade 9-10 Snare Drum
Dynamic contrasts are important between pp and f.
Make sure to breath and add musicality to the phrases.
Play as if there is a melody to the rhythm.
Middle School Snare Drum
Video Link Middle School Snare Drum
Don’t allow the dotted rhythms to sound like triplets.
Concentrate on consistent rolls with the same number of buzz strokes and the same attacks and releases.