Undergraduate Music Auditions
Purpose of the Audition
The audition serves as an opportunity for you to display your musical performance ability, meet our faculty, and have questions answered concerning the School of Music, Theatre and Dance, the admissions process, student financial aid, housing, campus life, and other aspects of being a music student at UNCG. Your parents are encouraged to attend with you, as there is a special informational meeting and tour for prospective students and their parents.
The School of Music, Theatre and Dance requires that you, as a prospective music major or minor, audition for acceptance into the music program before faculty members in the performance area(s) you select. Audition requirements for acceptance as a music minor are the same as those for a music major.
Full admission to the School of Music, Theatre and Dance is a two-step process involving:
- A successful live audition, and
- Acceptance into the University by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
Acceptance to the University prior to your music audition is not a requirement, though you are encouraged to submit an application to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions prior to your audition. You may contact Office of Undergraduate Admissions at (336) 334-5243 or visit their website at http://admissions.uncg.edu/.
Requesting an Audition
Your audition should be arranged in advance by completing the Undergraduate Application and Request for Music Audition form online, or mailing a printed copy to the address indicated on the form. The form must be received by 11:59 PM on the Sunday before the requested audition date. Any requests received after that time will be accepted only on a space-available basis. High school students are urged to audition early in their senior year. Transfer students should plan to audition during the year preceding enrollment at UNCG. If scheduling conflicts do not permit a personal audition on one of the regularly scheduled audition dates, you should contact the School of Music, Theatre and Dance by calling (336) 334-5789 and contact the instructor of your performance area to arrange another time. Be aware that some areas will not schedule auditions except on regular audition days. An audition for admission to the music program is valid for one calendar year. If the student does not enroll and begin performance studies lessons within that time, they must re-audition for entrance into the major.
Recorded Auditions
The School of Music, Theatre and Dance does not usually accept recorded music auditions from applicants who live within the continental United States.
The Audition
Be certain to read the Audition Material tab for information specific to your area. Sight reading will be part of each audition, regardless of your area. Although voice students are encouraged to bring their own accompanists, an accompanist from the School of Music, Theatre and Dance will be provided upon request. Instrumental auditions do not require accompaniment.
The Audition Location
Music auditions are held in the UNCG Music Building on campus located at the corner of McIver Street and West Market Street (100 McIver Street). If you need driving directions or lodging recommendations, please visit http://admissions.uncg.edu/visit-directions.html or the SMTD web site for more information. Parking is available in the McIver Street Parking Deck ($2 for first hour, $1 for each additional hour with a maximum of $7 per day).
The Audition Day
Please report to the UNCG Music Building between 7:30 and 8:15 a.m. on the audition day. The audition process typically lasts the entire morning. Parents are most welcome to accompany you and attend the orientation meeting in the Recital Hall at 8:30 a.m. Members of our faculty look forward to meeting you and your parents and answering any questions you may have.
Scholarships for Music Majors
Outstanding students majoring in music will be awarded music scholarships based on the results of their auditions and will receive notification by e-mail. In order to be eligible for a music scholarship, you should plan to audition no later than the last February audition day in the academic year preceding expected enrollment. Music scholarships are granted on a one-year basis and are renewable depending upon satisfactory academic and musical progress.
Music Education Interview
All prospective students interested in pursuing a major in Music Education must complete an interview with a faculty member of the Music Education Department. If Music Education is one of your requested major areas, please complete the Music Education Interview Profile and bring it with you to your audition. Music Education Interviews will take place on each of the four designated audition days.
Piano Placement Test
The test is not related to the decision regarding acceptance into the School of Music, Theatre and Dance; it is only to determine placement in class piano. All students who are not keyboard majors or minors are advised to take the Piano Placement Test on the audition day.
Transfer Students
The theory and ear training placement tests will be offered on regular audition days and at the beginning of each semester. Prior to taking the tests, students will be registered for the theory and ear training level indicated by transcripts of previous study. Following the tests, students may be moved to another level. Students who are deficient in one or more areas may expect to repeat a course for which credit was previously granted at another institution. Transfer students are required to complete the standards established for all enrolled students.
Forms
Applying to study Music at UNCG couldn't be simpler!
- Complete the online application to UNCG here.
- Complete the Undergraduate Application & Request for Music Audition form here. Be sure to pick an audition date from those listed below.
- Prepare for your audition. Read the "Audition Material" and "Advisory" tabs for more details on what and how to prepare.
Audition Dates
Music auditions can be scheduled for the following dates:
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013*
If scheduling conflicts do not permit a personal audition on one of these dates, please contact us at (336) 334-5789 or music@uncg.edu. Please note that some performance areas cannot schedule auditions outside of the above pre-selected dates.
* Important! - February 23, 2013 is the last date to be considered for a music scholarship.
All auditions will include Sight Reading. For a specific list of requirements for your performance area, click on a heading below to expand that section. Note: These guidelines are intended for entering freshmen. Prospective Transfer students should contact the performance area faculty to find out about audition material.
Thank you for your interest in music study at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro! If you are thinking about majoring in music and pursuing the Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Arts in Music degree, then you need to focus immediately on the following areas that will help you to be successful at UNCG.
I. Prepare for Success in Music Theory
First-year students apply to UNCG with differing levels of knowledge about music. Many know the major and minor scales, key signatures, clefs, intervals, and chord types (major, minor, augmented and diminished) which they have learned through private lessons or music study in high school. Many others, however, possess only a rudimentary understanding of this information. This range in knowledge about music theory presents a difficult challenge to both students and faculty. To determine your level of knowledge of fundamental skills, admitted students will be required to take our online Fundamentals of Music Theory Exam prior to enrollment. If you do not score at the required level, we will provide additional information for you to study. The examination will consist of the following components (in both treble and bass clefs):
• Name the major and minor keys indicated by a printed key signature.
• Write (notate) key signatures for indicated major and minor keys.
• Identify the following scale types: major; natural minor; harmonic minor; ascending melodic minor.
• Apply accidentals to printed notes to form the scale types listed above.
• Identify the quality and size of notated intervals: perfect, major, minor, augmented, and diminished (quality) and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 (size).
• On a staff, notate the pitch that lies a specified interval above or below a given pitch.
• Identify the quality of notated triads (root position and first-inversion) as major, minor, augmented, diminished.
• Given a notated pitch, regard it as the root, third, or fifth of a triad, then notate the remaining pitches to complete a triad of the indicated quality (major, minor, diminished, or augmented).
• Given a printed meter signature, determine the number of beats in a measure and what note value equals one beat.
• Given a printed meter signature and a notated rhythmic pattern, divide the rhythmic pattern into measures.
• Rewrite rhythmic patterns using beams to conform to the meter indicated by a given meter signature.
Click here to see examples of each of these skills.
If you need further explanation of this information, please talk to your high school or private music teacher. They will be able to help you prepare. For a complete list of materials to use in preparation for this examination, please visit http://jazztheory.uncg.edu/fundamentals/.
Those admitted students who do not score at the appropriate level on this exam by the start of classes in the Fall will be enrolled in MUS 100 (Music Fundamentals) for the first semester, thus delaying enrollment in MUS 101 (Theory I) until the Spring Semester.
NOTE: If you are transferring from another school where you have had some theory courses, you will NOT take the above examination. Instead, you will take the normal advanced placement test for theory (either during your audition or just prior to the beginning of classes) to determine which music theory course you should take during your first semester at UNCG. If you are transferring from another school where you did NOT have theory instruction, you will be required to take the examination described above.
II. Develop Your Keyboard Skills
If you have limited performance skills on the piano, then we strongly urge you to find a piano teacher and begin keyboard study immediately. Piano study will contribute to your general musical knowledge in many ways, especially your functional knowledge of scales, chords, and clefs. You will need functional keyboard skills to play simple accompaniments, harmonize melodies, and improvise music in different styles during your studies at UNCG and throughout your professional career. During your audition, we will ask you to complete a piano skills assessment. As a result of this assessment, you will be placed in the appropriate level of Class Piano. Auditioning students who have had considerable piano background may be able to exempt class piano by passing all levels of the assessment. For more information on the Piano Proficiency Exam required for all non-keyboard majors can be found here, please visit http://performingarts.uncg.edu/piano-proficiency-guidelines.
The four levels of class piano are MUP 131-134. Placement below MUP 133 is considered a remedial/deficiency placement. Except for the BA music degree, credit earned in MUP 131 and/ or MUP 132 will not fulfill a specific degree requirement, but may count toward free electives.
The UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance adopted beginning piano texts are the following:
Alfred’s Group Piano for Adults, Books I and II by E.L Lancaster and Kenon D, Renfrow. Alfred Publishing Company, Van Nuys, CA.
III. Develop Your Singing Voice
The functional use of your singing voice is important to your success as a music student at UNCG and later as a music teacher in private lessons, ensemble rehearsals, and the classroom. Although students who anticipate being a voice major usually spend several years singing in a choir during their adolescent years, many instrumentalists, including pianists, fail to develop their vocal skills. During the first two years of study at UNCG, all music majors must enroll in courses designed to develop the skills of aural perception and sight singing. Prior singing experience will help you succeed in those courses. If you have not recently had experience singing, then you are urged to find a place in a school or community choir or another musical venue where you can develop skill in singing with good pitch and rhythm and become comfortable in using your singing voice.
As always, if you have questions about these items or anything else pertaining to music study at UNCG, please contact us at 336-334-5789 or by email at music@uncg.edu.
