composition process

mickey

Senior Member
scenario: you're asked to prepare a 3-5 minute "prepared piece" for an music school (college level) audition.
I'm interested to hear how ya'll would start on this. what's your process?
personally I usually start by improvising within a certain structure, beat, or sticking pattern, and then elaborate on whatever ideas might have surfaced and try to take it from there. I'm feeling a need to switch up this process, so I thought I'd throw it out there and see how other people go about "composing" short solo pieces.
 
No. Usually a prepared piece is a piece that you will choose from existing literature. They do not want you to make something up (unless of course they ask you to trade 4's).

For a classically oriented music department, you will play an etude from Anthony Cirone's Portraits in Rhythm or something equivalent. You will probably have to play some mallet percussion (4 mallet if possible) such as Yellow After the Rain. Some ask for tympani or marimba - some ask for both. If you are required to do drum set, they will probably tell you what is required - styles, trading fours, sight reading a chart, etc...

Jeff
 
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