Undergraduate Electric Guitar Audition Requirements

In addition to scales, audition materials should include etudes and/or solo works demonstrating contrasting styles, not to exceed ten minutes.

Choose two contrasting pieces of music (Latin, swing, ballad). Your audition pieces should be 2-4
minutes in length. Choose a piece that demonstrates your proficiency and musicianship. You will want to
select a piece that you feel showcases your abilities and represents your best playing. We ultimately
want to find out who you are as a musician, and what it is that you do well.

If you require an accompanist for your prepared piece, please bring one. FAU does not provide an
accompanist for guitar auditions. You may also use a play-along CD or MP3 recording. Do not use
original tracks of artists to play along with. We want to only hear YOU. We advise you to use standard
play-along, music minus-one, or karaoke recordings so that you are not playing your part along with the
part on the original recording

Here are some guidelines and examples that will help you in your selection of a piece:

  • A composition/song from a well-known artist
  • A well-known jazz standard (which may also feature your improvisational abilities)
  • A composition from solo repertoire, for example, an etude or a movement from a sonata

Optional / In addition to the prepared piece:

  • A transcription of a known artist's solo
  • An original composition (must be 3 minutes or less)

Improvisation:

We will ask you to improvise over a short chord progression to help us asses your creative development.
It is not required, but you may feature improvisation in your prepared piece. Be prepared to play over a
standard I-IV-V blues progression, as well as another simple chord progression.

Sight Reading:

The sight reading material will range from simple to complex. You will have approximately 3 tries if
necessary. Examples will consist of single note melodies, chord symbol reading, and rhythmic notation.

Ear Training:

You will be asked to play back short melodies and rhythmic examples given by the interviewer. You will
also be asked to identify intervals and chord qualities. You may be asked to demonstrate and discuss
your practice techniques as well as other techniques that showcase your musical style, for example,
right hand technique, sweep picking, finger tapping, etc.

*Please note that electric guitar majors may not enroll in the Bachelor of Music Education. Students
who perform as vocalists or instrumentalists are encouraged to audition in those areas if they wish to
pursue the Bachelor of Music Education, which is designed for band, orchestral, or choral public
school teaching. 

Applied Teacher: Lindsey Blair