Hastings Honor Band and Choir

Wind and Brass students are asked to record the following:

1. Selected portions of a prepared solo or etude (preferably showing contrasting styles),
2. Chromatic scale (two octaves when possible).

Percussionists — see the tab below.

Students are encouraged to audition on more than one percussion option. 

Percussion auditions should include at least two of the following:

1) Concert Snare Drum Etude or Solo

• Recommended collections include: Peters, Cirone, and Delécluse.

2) Rudimental Etude or Solo (Snare or Tenors)

• Recommended collections include: Freytag, Keown, Pratt, Wilcoxon, and Tompkins.

3) Keyboard (Marimba, Vibraphone, Xylophone, or Glockenspiel; 2- or 4- mallet; memorization is preferred).

• Recommended composers include: Zivkovic, Goldenberg, Koshinski, Green, J.S. Bach, Davila, Abe, Peters, or Stout.

4) Timpani

• Recommended collections include: Lepak, Vic Firth, Goodman, and Carroll.

5) Hand Percussion (e.g., West African, Brazilian, Cuban, Middle-Eastern) • Recommended collections include: Sampaio, Keita, Spiro, and Velez.

6) Drumset (unaccompanied solo, solo w/track, or demonstration of 3-4 styles)

• Recommended collections include: Houllif and Thompson.

The following links have excellent tips for preparing to have a successful college audition:

• Todd Meehan (Liquidrum)
• Will James

For questions about percussion auditions at Hastings College, or to schedule a free lesson prior to your audition, please contact Dr. Jed Blodgett at jed.blodgett@hastings.edu.