Trombone Auditions for Admission

Preliminary Screening Video

Along with the on-line application to the College of Music, all jazz trombone applicants must submit a screening video recording. Recordings will be reviewed by the faculty to determine your advancement in the audition process. You will be notified no later than one month before your requested audition date regarding the results of this pre-screening. The deadline to do this is the first Monday in December. Preliminary screenings should include the jazz repertoire requirements only. Undergraduates invited to audition live will perform the classical audition for the faculty at that time.

Follow the directions on the College of Music application to submit a high quality video recording. Please see the musical criteria for the live audition below and use that for the preliminary video.

Undergraduate students
Undergraduates must play both a classical and a jazz audition. The requirements for the classical audition are published here on the College of Music web site.


Starting for applications submitted Fall of 2018, the following are the updated guidelines for submitting an application for the UNT Jazz Trombone Studio:

All Applicants for Undergraduate and Master's Jazz Trombone Degree Programs must prepare the following for the on-campus audition. Students who are unable to visit campus for the audition may submit an audition video. All Undergraduates and Masters Applicants should prepare:

· One (1) Bordogni (Rochut) Etude; Unaccompanied from selected numbers 1-60.

· One selection from the following bebop melodies, at a comfortable tempo for the applicant: Billie's Bounce, Ornithology, Anthropology, Bebop

· One Medium or Medium-Up Swing tune from the American Songbook (i.e. composed by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, etc. The original version of the tune should have lyrics.)

· One jazz ballad performed at a ballad tempo (Quarter note = 60 or slower)

· One tune with straight eighth-note feel. (i.e. Bossa Nova, Mambo, Jazz-latin, etc.)

• A jazz transcription of your choice (at least 32 bars, not to exceed 64 bars, this can be an excerpt from a solo) by one of the following soloists: JJ Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Slide Hampton, Frank Rosolino, or Carl Fontana. Students may perform this with our without written music, unaccompanied. Please bring copies for the audition panel.

Additional Requirements for Master's applicants:

· Confirmation (Charlie Parker) instead of the Bebop melodies listed above.

· Optional: one original composition

Each jazz selection should include the melody, at least 2 choruses of improvisation, and the melody out. The ballad should not exceed two choruses total.

For video auditions, there should be no other soloists on each recording. Recordings need not be of professional quality, but should clearly demonstrate the player's musical abilities. Play-along tracks are acceptable for the jazz improvisation portions, but live musicians are preferred. If neither are available, a metronome marking half-notes (sounding on beats 1 and 3 or 2 and 4) is acceptable.

Undergraduate applicants must play both a classical and a jazz audition. The requirements for the classical audition are published here on the College of Music website.

Master's applicants are not required to play a classical audition.

Candidates applying for a DMA in Performance, Jazz Studies major field on jazz trombone should prepare video recordings of the following for submission as the pre-screening video:

• One (1) Bordogni (Rochut) Etude; Unaccompanied from selected numbers 1-60.

• Confirmation, at a comfortable tempo for the applicant:

• One Medium or Medium-Up Swing tune from the American Songbook (i.e. composed by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, etc. The original version of the tune should have lyrics.)

• One jazz ballad performed at a ballad tempo (Quarter note = 60 or slower)

• One tune with straight eighth-note feel. (i.e. Bossa Nova, Mambo, Jazz-latin, etc.)

• Optional: one original composition

Applicants for the DMA will be invited for an on-campus audition based on an evaluation of the pre-screening video.

For the on-campus audition audition, the applicant should provide a repertoire list of 10 selections covering a broad range of styles, tempos, and historical jazz periods (i.e. bebop, hard bop, modal, modern, etc). Applicants should bring sight-readable lead sheets for the rhythm section for any and all compositions. In addition, DMA applicants should bring at least one original composition, with lead sheets for the panel and rhythm section. The audition will also include an interview that will address your career plans, research interests, and preferred teaching assignment(s) and how you would approach them.