AndrewWK

I am a Junior in High School and love playing the trumpet. I am looking into a career in music and do not know the difference between colleges.

What is the difference between:
TCU
UTA
UNT

music wise. I would like to go to TCu because I know Jon Bergess and other teachers there aswell as some of the trumpet students there. I know that UNT is mainly focused on jazz becasue they are one of the top jazz schools in the nation. UTA, I figured, is more for becomeing a music teacher. TCU is still an inigma to me in the since that you can do everything there(Is this true?). Anyway, I would really appreciate the help. Thanks.

Thanks for the help.
AndrewWk

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Jon

The key to happiness is self-delusion -Dogbert

bigaggietrumpet

Well, realize I'm not much of an expert on the issue, but you seem to be right on the money so far. UNT is definitely an excellent music school, and while they definitely lean towards jazz studies, don't knock their classical students, either. They are top notch as well, it's just the jazz usually gets more publicity. I'm guessing UTA is University of Texas Arlington. I've personally been to that campus, and all I can say is that it didn't impress me much. I'm also not just real comfortable in the Arlington neighborhood. I can't say for certain what their music program is like, but I'd imagine it'd be enough to get you a teaching job at a high school. TCU is supposed to have a very nice music program. I remember my high school band director posting up notices of band camps, and TCU was always up there. The brass teacher at the high school said that the music program at TCU was pretty solid, and would probably offer a good musical performance degree, if that is the way you are leaning. I imagine that, along with your already knowing the trumpet profs there, it would be a good call. The campus certainly looked nice, though I haven't been there in quite some time.

__________________
Michael Smith
Hullabaloo: The official band of Texas A&M Basketball
Kanstul 1537/ Schilke 14
LA Olds Studio

Heavens2kadonka

Shoot, just spend these next two years working up a real solid audition piece, and just audition everywhere, see what everyone's offering, tour around their department. Also, see which atmosphere feels best to you. Carson-Newman college is a SOLID school, with their music department really tied-in with UT-Knoxville. I could have went there full-ride, but the atmosphere wasn't what I wanted. TN Tech, flugh. Won't even get on that one. The trumpet section up theres a bunch of jerks.

Meet your prospective section-mates. Meet the people you'll have to look up to and obey on the practice field. Listen to who you'll be competing against. MOST IMPORTANT: HAVE A LESSON WITH YOUR PROSPECTIVE TRUMPET TEACHER! I cannot stress that one enough!

NEVER rush college choices. I still am pissed at myself for not auditioning Vanderbilt, MTSU, Memphis, Belmont...



Oh, and for good audition pieces. The Arban stuff is standard fare, so boring. Will make you look boring to your jury. Also, they'll know Arban backwards and forwards, harder audition.

So, heres what I think you should look at:

Petite Piece Concertante- Guillame Balay (What I played at Tech audition, GREAT piece. Deceptive slurs, takes practice.)

Premiere Etude De Concours- A.S. Petite (My recital piece from this semester. Again, deceptively difficult. Great way to show your competency with strange rhythms, particularly 32nd notes.)

Aria Con Variazioni - Handel (A piece I worked up for a symposium my Junior year. Fell on my face with the last variation. Still pisses me off when I think about it, lol. Hardest piece of the three. I plan on playing it this Spring semester recital.)



ALSO, work your ass off on sight-reading NOW. Prepare for EVERYTHING. At CU, they sometimes like to give impossible sight-reading pieces (I.E. an EIGHT sharp key signature piece), to see if you'll catch it, and remark the piece was incorrect. Also learn jazz style. Thats normally a big way to earn credit in your audition (BTW, I DIDNT prepare for jazz sight-reading, lol).

Van

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Stage 1 California Light
'94 Bach Strad 37
1900 Eb Cornet

LOUD Steve Patrick 10 1/2 C
LOUD LM93

bigaggietrumpet

Well, first, does he plan on staying in state? Out of state tuition will absolutely MURDER you these days.

My comments on the repertoire...

Balay- I had a good friend, and excellent trumpeter, audition at his college with this one. He made it sound effortless. Van's right, very VERY tricky at points

Handel- hehe, come on, Van, that last movement wasn't THAT hard :wink: . But seriously, this is a pretty good piece. You can display your lyrical side, and also your technical side. Just watch the third movement. It's not staccato, but it's not slurred, either.

__________________
Michael Smith
Hullabaloo: The official band of Texas A&M Basketball
Kanstul 1537/ Schilke 14
LA Olds Studio

Heavens2kadonka

I'm still kind of aggravated for not trying out-of-states. Andrew, be sure to send a tape to at least one out-of-state college (*COUGH COUGH* Cumberland University *COUGH COUGH*) to see what will happen.

Actually, I am pretty sure the private schools don't charge extra for out of staters, they just don't qualify for some grants and state loans. Private schools have some great music programs, never discount them.

Yeah, for some reason, I decided that since it was 32nd notes, it was supposed to be take like I imagined they should be- INSANELY fast. Thats what makes songs with 32nds so deceptive! Being able to control yourself with 32nd rhythms are a real testiment to you music reading skill.

HOWEVER, the Handel piece takes you to you high B, whereas the others take you to high G.

Listen to me: YOU DON'T HAVE TO PLAY HIGH TO IMPRESS YOUR JUDGES!!! Having to play high for a high-stakes audition is just adding to your stress. Its the biggest mistake any high school senior can make: Auditioning with some crazy Clarke-esque piece (If you even think of auditioning on any of Clarke's cornet solos, I'll kill you, btw).

Stay in your comfort range, you'll just feel better during your audition. Normally what happens when you have a high note in a piece during an audition, you overly-tense up, and A: You'll get the note, but it'll sound like you also pooed your pants. Or B: You won't get anything out, and the rest of your audition will be used to make up for that horrible mistake.

You should be ready to play up to a high C for scales, though. Also, you need to check with who your auditioning for to see if minor scales are expected. At bare minimum, expect all of your majors, chromatic, and maybe one or two easy minors. At Tech, I did ALL my majors, C and A Minor, and my chromatic.

Also, if your comfort range (How high you can play without strain or pressure) IS higher than a high G, feel free to look at more difficult pieces range-wise. You should still steer away from Clarke pieces, however. The style of those solos are not oriented towards auditions, in my opinion.

You could always work up Jules Levy's Carnival of Venice...

Van

__________________
Stage 1 California Light
'94 Bach Strad 37
1900 Eb Cornet

LOUD Steve Patrick 10 1/2 C
LOUD LM93

DennisM

Andrew,
UNT has had the rep of being a primarily-jazz school for many years. I don't know if it was a conscious decision or not, but that may be changing. I've recently started studying with John Holt, principal with the Dallas Opera (and an monster legit player) and he is on their faculty now. Keith Johnson is chair, and is a super legit guy himself. Looks like a visit with Keith and/or John might be a good idea at this point in your search.

Dennis