JAZZ DRUMMERS: Whats a hard song I could I do for my college audition???

Two songs that I find challenging are:
Giant Steps by John Coltrane and Evidence by Thelonious Monk.
Giant Steps for the speed and Evidence for the timing of the notes. Monk used space very well.
 
Why aren't you asking the college what they expect to hear?

Asking here isn't really going to help at all.

What does your private teacher say about this?

Email the professor you're going to audition for and ask what he/she expects.
 
When I was younger I always had this fantasy of studying at the Berkeley School of Music.
Now I see videos of kids posting their audition videos on Youtube.
Here I thought all these years if you were a halfway decent musician and had the money you could just enroll without an audition. The whole purpose of college is to continue the learning process and to prepare yourself for the real world. High school gives you the basics and college expands on the basics. I agree to a point with Bo Eder's statement. So if you are not good enough you will never be accepted to a good music school? It borders on elitism at a certain point.
 
I hear both Todd and Bo on this one. I think a good jazz program is one that can strike a balance between pursuing the music as far as it will go, and also preparing students for the real world of gigging as much as possible. I don't think this has to be an either/or proposition.

Also, to put things in perspective this is not a problem that is exclusive to music programs by any means. I think pretty much any liberal arts discipline could fall into the same trap of being either too deliberately obtuse or too mercenary. And there aren't many programs that can truly guarantee anything for their graduates.

To the OP, I would err on the side of an easier tune that will showcase your playing more than a super-involved tune that will hog the spotlight. In my experience, professors are more interested in what you are bringing to the table as a player than in hearing a difficult song. I would go with something that you feel really deeply and make it the best you can.
 
I think a good jazz program is one that can strike a balance between pursuing the music as far as it will go, and also preparing students for the real world of gigging as much as possible. I don't think this has to be an either/or proposition.

Also, to put things in perspective this is not a problem that is exclusive to music programs by any means. I think pretty much any liberal arts discipline could fall into the same trap of being either too deliberately obtuse or too mercenary. And there aren't many programs that can truly guarantee anything for their graduates.

That makes sense to me, Andrew. Which makes music education very much like any other tertiary education. I remember doing a management post grad cert and they spent more time giving you the first steps towards being master (or mistress) of the universe than the prosaic nuts and bolts of working with small work teams. As with all areas - you have this vast body of knowledge - you can't include everything and probably can't cover any area to the ideal (until it gets to doctorate level).

Pretty sure if music degrees were totally vocationally focused there'd be a lot of noses out of joint about that too. Someone aspiring to be an orchestral drummer might want to spend three semesters on backbeat pocket.

The art of playing dance beats with just that extra edge of juice and groove - the inner dynamics and timing control - is a folk art relying on too many intangibles to be taught as a degree course. Imagine a degree in Grooving (with first class Deep Pocket) awarded at The Steves University. Four years of relentless backbeats, still trying to get it right haha ("Darn it!!! I STILL can't get it to sound like Gadd!!" echoed through the corridors ...)
 
When I was younger I always had this fantasy of studying at the Berkeley School of Music.

Was a dream of mine too back in High School. Then I realized I had no money to support it or any desire of going that deeply in debt. I found many other ways to get a great music education though for much, much less.

That makes sense to me, Andrew. Which makes music education very much like any other tertiary education. I remember doing a management post grad cert and they spent more time giving you the first steps towards being master (or mistress) of the universe than the prosaic nuts and bolts of working with small work teams. As with all areas - you have this vast body of knowledge - you can't include everything and probably can't cover any area to the ideal (until it gets to doctorate level).

Pretty sure if music degrees were totally vocationally focused there'd be a lot of noses out of joint about that too. Someone aspiring to be an orchestral drummer might want to spend three semesters on backbeat pocket.

The art of playing dance beats with just that extra edge of juice and groove - the inner dynamics and timing control - is a folk art relying on too many intangibles to be taught as a degree course. Imagine a degree in Grooving (with first class Deep Pocket) awarded at The Steves University. Four years of relentless backbeats, still trying to get it right haha ("Darn it!!! I STILL can't get it to sound like Gadd!!" echoed through the corridors ...)

So very true. I live in a town with some very, very expensive private universities and see thousands of people all the time spending $500,000. on all sorts of business related education that makes little sense to me. Not in today's corporate environment does it make sense to me. I understand it if it's for a specialty field and you can't get the education elsewhere. However, I don't "get it" for an everyday business degree.
 
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