CONCERT SENIOR BAND

NEW MEMBERS’ NOTE: All new members are required to accompany your parent(s) to the Overview and Orientation meeting sometime in September, stay tuned. Once set, our online CALENDAR will give the exact date, time and location for this meeting as well as for the first band practice.

AUDITIONING FOR A PARTICULAR BAND DOES NOT GUARANTEE ACCEPTANCE IN THAT BAND. You will be placed in a band level based on your proficiency and the needs within each section and band. Also, one’s ability to commit to/attend band will be taken into greater consideration in roster placement. Membership in the WSHSB is by audition only, Cadets (beginners) excluded. Those who do not submit an audition video will not receive music and will not be considered a member of the band.

What We’re Looking For

Multiple things determine a student’s placement

1. Proficiency of player.
2. Musical needs/balance of the band
3. For current members, the following six points are also considered when determining chair assignments:
   • Regular attendance with minimal to no absences
   • Practice times
   • Spirit of service to band
   • Attitude/demeanor
   • Performance at rehearsals and sectionals
   • Overall leadership abilities

We realize it is very difficult to play everything perfectly. Part of being a good performer or “showman” is to keep going, despite mistakes. A solid performance, incorporating the following aspects is more important than playing all the correct notes with incorrect rhythms, tempos, articulation, etc.

Points are deducted for every error. Musical aspects that will be considered when evaluating a performance are

• Note accuracy
• Correct rhythms and tempos – Points will be deducted for not using and setting a metronome.
  Note – Avoid the tendency to slow down or stop when a difficult passage is encountered. Stay with the beat. Do not let the metronome simply be “white noise” in the background while you play at a different or uneven tempo. Weakness in playing at the correct rhythm and/or tempo is often what prevents one from getting a higher placement.
• GENERAL COMMENT – Try to listen to the recording. Know that in the passages that are played fast, the tempo you choose to play at will be taken into consideration, as will your accuracy.
• Continue to play at tempo through mistakes
• Articulation, which includes things like tonguing, accents, staccatos, correct phrasing and slurs
• Dynamics (applies to both winds and percussion)
• Tone
• Intonation (playing in tune)

For recording

• DO Stand on the floor or sit on a solid chair and use a music stand.
• DO NOT set the music on a table, in your case, or have another person hold it while you perform. Do not sit on a sofa, soft chair or bed.
• Recommended Camera Angle –
  Record audition from the side and NOT from the front. Playing directly into the microphone can distort the sound. The director assesses embouchure and fingering/hand technique during auditions, and side-view recordings are the best format from which to observe these. Tubas, be sure to film on the side where the student’s face can be seen.
• Every audition must be COMPLETELY NEW for 2025-2026 including ALL REQUIRED ELEMENTS as defined within each audition. Do not skip any elements. Points will be deducted for missing elements.
• At the beginning of the recording clearly state your first and last name and announce for which band and instrument you are auditioning.
• First Chair Expectations – If a student is not prepared or willing to accept the following degrees of responsibility, he should say so at the BEGINNING of his video. Earning first chair/principal confers upon a player an important title. But there are responsibilities that come with the position. The director and band rely on each principal to take on leadership for his section. These expectations increase commensurately with each band level. As lead he is expected to –
  • Attend band regularly with minimal to no absences
  • Be the most skilled performer in the section and an example of “how to do it” to the rest of the section
  • Play solos
  • Be called upon to “model” a difficult passage for the rest of the section
  • Be responsible for leading sectionals as needed
• Announce each selection before playing e.g.; Bb chromatic scale, passage name, etc.
• Everything must be played with a metronome at the designated tempo where specified.
  Points will be deducted for not using and setting a metronome.
• VERY IMPORTANT – You may choose to record parts of your audition on different days or at different times. However, there is to be no break or editing within any passage/exercise/scale. If you make a mistake or stop within a passage, etc., leave the video running and pick-up where you left off. Points will be deducted for breaks in the recording, other than at measured rests. One or two measures of rest should be counted out on the video. Where there are three or more measures of rest, leave the video running, pause playing and announce, “I am continuing at measure ___.” Resume playing at that measure. While making your audition video if you record any passage/exercise/scale more than once you must edit that video to a final video with only one take of each audition requirement. Include ALL elements in the same email.
• ATTENTION: Set the YouTube audition link to UNLISTED. DO NOT set it to private or public. Send to director’s REGULAR email address. DO NOT send through the WSHSB website contact form.
• ONLY auditions on YouTube will be accepted. ALL AUDITION VIDEOS MUST BE EMAILED AND RECEIVED BY THE DIRECTOR BY 5 PM ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2025 or they will be considered late. In order to be considered for a ranked chair position your audition must be received on time, by the deadline. If you fail to do so, there will be penalties at the director’s discretion.
  NOTICE: No auditions will be accepted on external storage devices like DVDs, flash drives, SD cards, etc.
• The director is aware YouTube uploading can take as much as a few hours or more, depending on internet speed, etc. Additionally, there may be power outages, computer failures, equipment issues or other unforeseen problems. To avoid missing the deadline, do not wait until the last moment to upload your YouTube recording.

If you have any difficulty locating the books mentioned below you might order online from JW Pepper. Allow 2 to 4 weeks for delivery. For additional resources see the “Music and Instrument Stores” document on Forms/Documents. For Unisonal Scales – most instruments are available for $11.99 from this link –
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/series/unisonal-scales/1302911

REQUIREMENTS FOR WINDS

(percussion requirements follow winds’)

NOTE – If two students are identical in all musical aspects, the one playing at a faster tempo
will have an edge. However, do not play at a faster tempo and
sacrifice your accuracy or another musical aspect.

Requirements 1 and 2 are to be played with metronome AT YOUR SELECTED TEMPO – and state tempo on video

1. Two octave chromatic scale, tongued up slurred down
   Will be rated on overall accuracy and tempo (tempo of your own choice)
2. First two lines (six measures) of “Part 2 No. 1” scale exercise on page 8, (tempo of your own choice) from the book Unisonal Scales, Chords & Rhythmic Studies for Bands, compiled and edited by William C White, published by Carl Fischer
   NOTE FOR TUBAS AND OBOES:
   Tubas should use the link for Tuba Unisonal Scales found on our Music Resource page.
   Oboes should use the OBOE book and not the one for Flutes/Oboes.
3. From ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS for Band, BOOK 2 “Red” (instrument specific). (Or you can use Essential Elements 2000, Book 2, the older title, which has the same contents.)
   Page 42 – PLAY (do not clap) the complete rhythm lines for measures listed below.
   Play with metronome set to one quarter note = 100 (Or if you are able to play it faster, with accuracy, do so and state your tempo)
   Play each entire line that begins with measure: 13, 21, 25, 29
   Rest four beats between each line

Audition sheet music for all Concert Senior and Symphonic winds is to be picked up at the director’s home in Winfield on
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2025, 9AM – 7PM.

Plan ahead if you will be gone for the holiday. There is NO EARLY RELEASE and UNDER
NO CIRCUMSTANCES will audition sheet music be mailed.
Have a friend pick-up your audition if you are unable to get it on July 8.

IMPORTANT: If you are not able to come on July 8 it is your responsibility to make arrangements with another band member, (not the Borows) to pick-up your music on July 8. All audition music pick-ups are to be completed on July 8.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PERCUSSION

IMPORTANT REMINDER – When making percussion roster assignments for current members, one’s ability to play with proper dynamics in all ranges, will be considered.

NOTE – If two students are identical in all musical aspects, the one playing at a faster tempo
will have an edge. However, do not play at a faster tempo and
sacrifice your accuracy or another musical aspect.

NOTE: Music for bells is TO BE PLAYED ON BELLS.
Music for all other percussion instruments, snare, bass, etc. is TO BE PLAYED ON PADS.

BELLS – PLAY with metronome AT YOUR SELECTED TEMPO and state tempo on video

1. Two octave chromatic scale
   Will be rated on overall accuracy and tempo (tempo of your own choice)
2. First two lines (six measures) of “Part 2 No. 1” scale exercise on page 8, (play w/metronome stating your tempo on video) – From Unisonal Scales, Chords & Rhythmic Studies for Bands Compiled and edited by William C White, published by Carl Fischer

DRUM PAD

From ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS for Band, BOOK 2 “Red” (instrument specific). (Or you can use Essential Elements 2000, Book 2, the older title, which has the same contents.)

1. Rhythms, minimum tempo, one quarter note = 120 (ideally) or faster
   PLAY with metronome AT YOUR SELECTED TEMPO and state tempo on video
   Page 42 Play each entire line that begins with measure: 13, 21, 25, 29
   Play as if one continuous song with no rests between lines.
2. Demonstrate the following rudiments
   (Note: Perform as closely as possible to the demonstrations on the Vic Firth website using this link →Vic Firth Percussion Rudiments – Page 46
   Scroll down to Dr. Wooton’s four red tiers/columns and click on the rudiment you need. You can hear it, and if you scroll near the bottom, you can see it played and a watch a lesson/demonstration on how to perform the rudiment in the exercise. No 3 and 7 are in Tier 2.
   • 3. Single stroke seven
   • 7. Five stroke Roll

Audition sheet music for all Concert Senior and Symphonic percussion is to be picked up at the director’s home in Winfield on
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2025, 9AM – 7PM.

Plan ahead if you will be gone for the holiday. There is NO EARLY RELEASE and UNDER
NO CIRCUMSTANCES will audition sheet music be mailed.
Have a friend pick-up your audition if you are unable to get it on July 8.

IMPORTANT: If you are not able to come on July 8 it is your responsibility to make arrangements with another band member, (not the Borows) to pick-up your music on July 8. All audition music pick-ups are to be completed on July 8.