Auditions
Entrance auditions for new students and placement auditions each fall.
Coming to ASU
Every music major and minor auditions on their primary instrument. Start with ASU's Prospective Student Form, then request an audition date. You will also take a music theory diagnostic exam on the day; arrive 15 to 30 minutes early to warm up.
| Degree | Repertoire | Drum set | Scales | Sight-reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Arts and Music Minor | One composition each for snare drum, timpani, and keyboard, any grade, from the Texas UIL PML | Optional, but encouraged | Major scales on keyboard, one octave, ♩ = 90, in eighth notes | Snare drum |
| Bachelor of Music, Teacher Certification | One composition each for snare drum, timpani, and keyboard, grade two or higher, from the Texas UIL PML | Strongly encouraged, but optional | Major scales on keyboard, two octaves, ♩ = 90, in eighth notes | Snare drum and keyboard |
| Bachelor of Music, Performance | One composition each for snare drum, timpani, and keyboard, grade one, from the Texas UIL PML | Required: demonstrate a basic rock, Latin (bossa nova, samba, cascara, and so on), and swing feel | Major scales on keyboard, two octaves, ♩ = 104, in eighth notes | Snare drum, keyboard, and timpani |
From ASU's official music audition requirements. Pieces come from the UIL Prescribed Music List. Many suitable pieces are not on the PML; to use one, ask before your audition so the faculty can approve it.
Fall placement auditions
Every fall, studio and ensemble placement is decided by audition. Packets go out at the first Studio Class. The opening weeks of Studio Class work the packet excerpt by excerpt, snare, mallets, then timpani, with three screened mock auditions and written peer feedback, so that audition week is the fourth time you have played the material under pressure, not the first.
The packet itself comes from Dr. Shuey. It is not posted here because the parts are under copyright.
Fall 2026 excerpts
All excerpts are bracketed in the audition music. If there are no brackets, prepare the entire page.
- Timpani
- Hindemith, Symphonic Metamorphosis4 after S to T
- Timpani
- Mahler, Symphony No. 7223 to 4 before 224; 7 after 225 to 2 before 227
- Marimba
- Bach, Double from Partita No. 1 in B MinorA section
- Xylophone
- Gershwin, An American in Paris4 to 7 (condense rests); 6 after 20 to 21
- Snare drum
- Schuman, Symphony No. 3mm. 143–199
- Snare drum
- Delécluse, Etude 8 from Douze ÉtudesBeginning to the end of line 4
How to prepare
- Prepare the pool, not what you expect to be asked.Preparing only what you expect to be asked is the most common way the Skills Assessment Test is failed, and the same is true of auditions.
- Start slowly enough for complete accuracy.Raise the tempo in steps only while accuracy holds.
- Know the music around your part.Listen to recordings with the score, and know what the orchestra is doing in every excerpt.
- Record yourself and listen back.Mock auditions in Studio Class are the place to practice performing under pressure.
Resources
- IMSLPFree public-domain scores for excerpt study.
- Rob Knopper's blogAudition preparation and practice strategies.
- Essential orchestral excerptsThe studio's list, by instrument, in the handbook.
- Interactive rudimentsAll 40 PAS rudiments with playback.
Jazz and Big Band
Drummers are needed every semester in the ASU Big Band and jazz combos. The Big Band is a scholarship ensemble chosen by audition.