Combo Auditions
In an effort to eliminate the Monday morning jazz workshop auditions, we will now provide the opportunity to submit your combo/vocal group audition via video. We have multiple suggestions to submit your audition. Using a smart phone's video feature, you can pick from the following:
1. Email your audition to helpwithjazz@gmail.com
2. Submit your audition via google drive to helpwithjazz@gmail.com
3. Submit your audition via Dropbox to postbop@hotmail.com
4. Send a link to a YouTube clip of your audition to postbop@hotmail.com
Accepted video formats are .MOV ,MP4 .MPG ,WMV .AVI
Please do not send audition submission until you finish and confirm your application. The audition process is to determine combo or vocal group placement. Limited auditions can also be done on the first day of the workshop if you have no access to the technology required. Please try to keep submissions under 4 total minutes in length. Please submit auditions by June 1st, 2019.
What do I submit?
After the record button is pressed,
1. "My name is..."
Tell us who you are.
2. Your background
Your age? (optional for adults)
How long have you been playing music?
How long have you been playing jazz?
If you play jazz, where have/do you play it?
If you're in school, where?
If you have professional experience, what?
3. Your interest in attending
Why do you want to attend the DJW?
What do you want out of the experience?
What are your better music abilities?
What do you feel you need to work on?
High School / Adults:
Horn Players:
1. Demonstrate a few major scales.
Please play 2 octaves, up and down the scales at a tempo of your choice.
2. Download, print, and play Au Privave excerpt.
Should be played with a swing feel at a medium tempo. If you use a metronome, set it at quarter note=110.
3. Improvisation (OPTIONAL)
If you have any experience with improvisation please demonstrate by soloing over F Blues. You can do so:
1. Unaccompanied
or
2. With a backing track
This, again, is OPTIONAL and for people with jazz experience.
If you use a backing track, play only a few choruses (a minute or so). Please turn up the accompaniment volume on a computer or other device so it can be heard by your recorder's microphone.
If you don't improvise, but want to demonstrate your sound by reading part of a tune from your jazz band or combo, you can do this instead. Please announce this on the audition recording.
Pianists/Guitarists:
1. Demonstrate chord playing and improvisation ability.
You can do so by using this F-Blues play-along video:
There is no piano or guitar track.
Directions:
1. Play 2 choruses of comping (playing chords)
2. Improvise for at least 2 choruses.
No need to play the melody.
2. Play a jazz song of your choice.
Play an abbreviated jazz song, preferably a standard. You can play solo or use other musicians, or a backing track. Please not longer than 2 minutes.
Bassists / Drummers
Bassists, please walk two choruses of bass lines on a medium-swing F Blues. You then have the option to play a couple choruses of a solo. Feel free to use this play-along:
Drummers, demonstrate 10 seconds a piece of the following grooves:
1. Medium Swing Beat
2. Bossa Nova Beat
3. Medium-Fast or Fast Swing Beat
4. Rock or Funk Beat
5. Samba or Afro-Cuban Beat
(OPTIONAL) Play a drum solo over one of these grooves.
Jazz Vocalists:
Jazz vocalists, please submit a recording of yourself singing a standard out of the Great American Songbook. It can be any style, and be solo or with accompaniment. Please have the melody and lyrics memorized. Here is a list of standards if you need some ideas:
100 Vocal Standards with Links
Middle School
Middle school students, after answering questions at beginning of page, please play the following:
1. A couple 1 or 2 octave major scales of your choice.
2. A 1 minute excerpt of something that shows off your talent. It can be from a jazz tune or something from band or orchestra, or a solo.
3. Optional- If you can improvise, show us! Feel free to use the high school F Blues play-along track above, or send something unaccompanied.
Pianists and Guitarists- Follow steps #1, #2, #3 but if possible, also demonstrate some of the chords that you know how to play. Different types of 7th chords are preferred, but triads are accepted if that is where you're at.
Bassists- Follow Steps #1, #2, #3, but if possible, demonstrate that you can play a bass line.
Drummers- Demonstrate some of the grooves that you can play on the drum set. Include, if possible, a swing beat, rock beat, and your choice of a latin beat.
If you have any questions, please ask at postbop@hotmail.com