Reply To: All State Band Auditions

[Anonymous]

I am a former public school band director (33 years) and a current music instructor at Northwest College in Poowell. I feel that only having to work on two scales in the course of a week would contribute to the “dumbing down” of the audition process,and the performance education process. Scales are a part of the instrumental technique that students use in their performances. Let’s not remove the technical aspect from their education.

Scales should be memorized for the same reasons. Their prepared pieces already demonstrates the ability to read and prepare selections. Perhaps we should require all twelve major scales, one octave, performed in a specified order (chromatic tonic, circle of fifths. . .).

Rick Parmer
Low brass instructor
Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming