Planning for Your Audition: A Step-By-Step Guide

There’s a lot that goes into the college audition process!

This is an outline that I pass along to high school students thinking about auditioning for music school.

Junior Year

1. Identify 10-12 schools
2. Research these schools (this guide will help!)
3. Make contact with the teachers
4. Reflect – which of these seem like good fits for you?
5. Group these schools into three groups
   1. Safety
   2. Target
   3. Reach
6. Plan your summer carefully – this is the best possible window of time to work on your audition repertoire

Senior Year

1. Narrow down your list to 5-7 schools – include at least two safety schools and one or two reach schools
2. Schedule a visit and a lesson
3. Enter audition requirements for all schools into spreadsheet
4. Research audition times – avoid making life terrible in Jan/Feb
5. Plan your practice time carefully – the fall disappears quickly
6. Make sure you’re preparing well – check out our Ten Practice Techniques for Better Auditioning for more details

Tips for Surviving the Audition Process

1. Start your preparation early – there’s no substitute for good preparation
2. 1-2 hours of practice a day is much better than 4-5 hours every once in a while
3. Play for as many teachers as possible
4. Get as much sleep as you can
5. Exercise regularly
6. Drink lots of water
7. Eat healthy – diet has a huge affect on your mental state
8. Visualize your performance – be as detailed as possible
9. Spend time outside – especially in nature
10. This is a small part of a very long journey

More Resources

I’ve spoken about this topic at several events over the years.  Here’s a live talk that I did with Illinois Wesleyan bass teacher Trevor Jones.