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Percussion

The following repertoire list is applicable to all music major, minor and scholarship applicants. Should you like to substitute one of the required solo works with a standard orchestral/band excerpt, please contact Dr. Tang at longtao.tang@pepperdine.edu.

In addition to the following requirements, you may submit additional footage of jazz playing for special consideration. All materials must be submitted via the supplemental Fine Arts application. 

Each applicant to the instrumental performance program is also required to participate in an interview with the music faculty. Participating in a live audition day, either virtually or in-person, will fulfill this requirement. If you are unable to participate in a live audition day, please reach out to the Fine Arts Recruitment Office to schedule your interview. 

 

Percussion Audition Requirements

  Keyboard

Please prepare one continuous recording for keyboard and one continuous record each for two of the remaining three instrumental categories (three recordings in total).  If any of your solo selection is over 5 minutes, please play an excerpted version.  Standard orchestral excerpts could be used in place of the solo works as well. 

In addition to the following requirements, you may submit additional footage of jazz playing for special consideration.  Please contact Dr. Tang at longtao.tang@pepperdine.edu.

If you have difficulty accessing these instruments, please contact Dr. Tang at the above email address.

  Snare Drum
  • Any solo from Advanced Snare Drum Studies by Mitchell Peters
  • Concert roll, pp - ff - pp, 20 seconds
  • Rudimental solo of choice/Standard orchestral excerpt of choice
  Timpani
  • Roll at pp and ff dynamic levels 
  • Solo work of choice/Standard orchestral excerpt of choice
  Drum Set
  • Demonstrate steady time and fills in two styles of your choice: swing, rock, funk, latin, jazz waltz
  Mallet Keyboard
  • 2-mallet solo work of choice/Standard orchestral excerpt of choice
  • 4-mallet solo work of choice

 

Percussion Transfer Students

For entrance into the Department of Music as a transfer student in percussion, a student must demonstrate technical strength and reading ability on keyboard and two of the remaining three percussion areas.  Please prepare one continuous recording for all keyboard selections and one continuous record each for two of the remaining three instrumental categories.

The following repertoire list is applicable to all music major, minor and scholarship applicants. Should you like to substitute one of the required solo works with a standard orchestral/band excerpt, please contact Dr. Tang at longtao.tang@pepperdine.edu.

In addition to the following requirements, you may submit additional footage of jazz playing for special consideration. 

If you have difficulty accessing these instruments, please contact Dr. Tang at the above email address.

  Keyboard
  • Two major and two harmonic minor scales of your choice (two octaves) at a moderate tempo
  • Four-mallet solo of your choice from the following list or from works of comparable difficulty to the following:
    • Eric Sammu: Four Rotations
    • Paul Smadbeck: Rhythm Song
    • Keiko Abe: Michi or Wind in the Bamboo Grove
    • One movement from J. S. Bach Violin Sonatas or Partitas
  • One standard orchestral excerpt including but not limited to:
    • Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
    • Gershwin - "Porgy and Bess", overture
    • Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon
    • Mozart - "The Magic Flute", Act 1 Finale
    • Respighi - Pines of Rome
    • Shostakovich - "The Golden Age", Polka
  Timpani

Ability to tune drums by relative pitch (by using a tuning fork) will be assessed

  • Relaxed roll at pp and ff dynamic levels
  • One solo selection or etude (for two or more drums and involving tuning changes) including or of comparable difficulty to:
    • John Beck: Sonata for Timpani
    • One selection from Alexander Lepak 32 Solos for Timpani
    • One selection from Fred Hinger Solos for the Virtuoso Tympanist
  • One standard orchestral excerpt including but not limited to:
    • Beethoven - Symphony No. 5, 7 or 9
    • Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis
    • Mahler - Symphony 5
    • Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
    • Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4
  Snare Drum
  • Rudimental roll and closed orchestra roll at ppp through fff
  • Prepared solo using rolls, drags, flams and a wide dynamic range comparable to the following:
    • Jacques Delecluse: Douze Etudes
    • Anthony Cirone: Portraits in Rhythm
    • Mitchell Peters: Hard Times
  Drum Set
  • Ability to keep steady time and play fills several basic beat styles: Swing, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Funk, Rock and Jazz Waltz, alternating 4 measures of time with 4 measures of solo


For more information, please contact the Fine Arts Recruitment Office at 310.506.4111, or via email at fineartsrecruit@pepperdine.edu.