College trombone video submission

[Diana6]

My son is a junior in high school and is interested in playing in a jazz ensemble, brass ensemble, and/or orchestra. He enjoys jazz band the most. He would not be a music major but is interested in perhaps submitting a video of him playing a piece or two. This can sometimes help in college admittance.

We would like advice on piece selections, whether or not to try to include an original piece or just choose a standard. Would it be best to use background instruments? I'm assuming he will want to play jazz, but I guess he could break it into a few parts and include a classical selection?

He also plays electric guitar and keyboards and was thinking of composing a piece ( with trombone also) and play all the parts.

He wants to make an impression of a potential student who would be a useful addition to whatever ensembles each college offers. The submission is reviewed by the music department and then they can give recommendations if warranted.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Vegasbound]

What has his teacher suggested ?

[Diana6]

He has a not so helpful school band director, not really a teacher at this time.

[harrisonreed]

While it's dependant on the school, in my experience the music ensembles, especially jazz ensembles, in a college are usually reserved for music majors. The big exception is always the marching band. If it's a very small school or a school without a large music program, it may be easy to do your plan and submit a video and he can have access to whatever ensembles the school has.

If he is not going for music, and the school is a typical big college with a music program, the way to do it is to get in touch with the college's marching band -- you can usually get into that with very little in the way of an audition and none of the slots will be reserved for music majors. In the off season, the marching bands are usually converted into concert band, pep band, or even jazz ensembles, again with no reserved slots. That's a great way to stay playing in the freshman year, and your son will be exposed to music major students as well as teachers in the music department. After his first semester, meeting these people, he might have an "in" for the groups that are reserved for music majors.

Another idea, if it's a public school or big college, is to see if the music department allows non-majors to take lessons with the trombone professor and participate in the trombone studio. That is another great way to keep playing, and if your son has talent and is able to hang with the studio, that might be an "in" to the jazz ensemble as well.

It comes down to how many trombone majors there are in the studio at the school. If there are fifteen, all of them will be gunning for the three or four slots in the orchestra, the three or four slots in the wind ensemble, and the four slots in the big band. The odd ones out will take a few of the slots in the concert band (off season marching band). Your son will basically be trying to take slots from these other kids.

[hyperbolica]

There are some pieces that combine traditional solos with a little jazzy-ness. One that I like is Deux Danses by Defaye. The last movement (starts 6:17) is the one to play.