Monday, September 2, 2013

Select Chorus Auditions

SELECT CHORUS AUDITIONS 2013-2014
Thank you for your interest in auditioning for the MSMS Select Chorus!  

Auditions will be on Monday, September 9th. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the Chorus Room door.

Below is information that will help you prepare for your audition.  Your audition will consist of 3 parts.
1.  PITCH: You will sing “Happy Birthday” (Sing to Mr. Connors?) in any key that you choose.  You may sing it any way that you like, including any vocal “stylings” you choose.  
2.  RHYTHM: I will clap some rhythm patterns, and you will clap them back.  I am listening to see if you can keep a steady beat, and checking your musical memory.
3.  EAR TRAINING: I will play a 3-note pattern on the piano, and you should sing it back to me with solfege syllables (Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, or Ti).  This will test your EAR.  Students in Select Chorus need to be able to hold their own part in much more challenging music than Choral Union, and we will use solfege to help us.  To prepare for this part of the audition, download the mp3s here (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0r3dcnxtqg1bd0r/gLiBwu3a-u) and follow the steps below.
***Listen to Track 1.  These are TONIC PATTERNS.  After each 3-note pattern (“Bum bum bum”), hear the pattern in your head first (This is called audiation, or “thinking music”), wait for the “snap,” and then repeat it back on the same neutral syllable (“Bum bum bum”).  Repeat this track many times.
       
***Listen to Track 2.  These are DOMINANT PATTERNS.  Follow the same instructions for Track 1.
***Listen to Track 3.  These are the same TONIC PATTERNS you heard in Track 1, but this time, each note is assigned a solfege syllable.  A TONIC PATTERN is any pattern that consists of Do, Me, and So. Listen, audiate, then sing back the solfege pattern.
***Listen to Track 4.  These are the same DOMINANT PATTERNS you heard in Track 2, but this time, each note is assigned a solfege syllable.  A DOMINANT PATTERN is any pattern that consists of So, Ti and Re. Again, audiate during the pause, and repeat back using the solfege syllables.
***Listen to Track 5.  A 3-note pattern is played on the piano.  Audiate the pattern in your mind, and then sing back the corresponding solfege syllables This is what I will do during the audition.  If this is challenging, repeat steps a, b, c, and d many, many times.  It will eventually get  easier.  Work with a friend, if possible.
Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions!
Mr. Mullen