Becoming an NCCU Music Major

Students must audition and be accepted by the Music Department to become music majors.  Admission to the university is not the equivalent of admission as a music major. 

Begin with the NCCU undergraduate admission application:

Application for admission

Departmental Auditions

• Students are required to audition on the primary instrument prior to acceptance into the NCCU Music Department
• Students must plan for their auditions well in advance of their assigned audition dates.  Students living within a 100-mile radius of Durham are expected to audition in person on the NCCU campus.
• Students living outside the 100-mile radius may submit a CD or DVD recording.  However, an in-person audition on campus is preferred.  The recording should be of the best audio or video quality possible.  Primary emphasis is placed on the quality of the performance submitted.

Auditions are scheduled in the fall for admission the following spring semester and in the spring for the following fall semester.  In some circumstances, it is possible to schedule alternate audition dates. To arrange the audition, please contact the Music Department Office.

All auditions will include the following components:

• Performance of two prepared selections of varying styles
• Sight-reading assessment
• Technical assessment

See below for additional audition guidelines specific to individual instruments.

Jazz Studies Auditions

Acceptance into the Jazz Studies program requires a separate audition in addition to the audition for admission to the Music Department.

The Jazz Studies audition usually occurs at the same time as the departmental audition. Jazz Studies auditions will include the following components:

• Performance of two prepared selections with improvisation including one blues or "Rhythm Changes" piece
• One ballad
• Sight-reading assessment
• Chords and scales assessment

Audition Dates

• November 18, 2023
• December 2, 2023
• January 27, 2024
• February 24,
• March 23,
• April 20, 2024

Apply for Audition

Music Theory Assessment

The music theory assessment test determines student placement in the Fundamentals and Harmony classes.  The test is given during the orientation period at the beginning of each semester.

Admission Prerequisites to the Graduate Studies Master of Music in Jazz Studies

• Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance or Bachelor of Arts in Music
• Extensive experience in jazz performance
• Teaching experience is preferred
• Students entering the Master of Music in Jazz Studies program must have a 3.0 average in their undergraduate major and a 2.7 cumulative grade point average
• Advanced study in jazz theory and improvisation for Performance majors
• Advanced study in jazz arranging and composition for Composition majors
• Extensive jazz, big band, and small combo experience for Vocal or Instrumental majors

Application Process

• Graduate Admissions Application
• Two official undergraduate transcripts
• Two letters of reference

Audition Process

A successful performance audition and a written and oral theory exam are required for acceptance.  Students auditioning for the program must be proficient in improvisation in the following three song forms:

• Blues
• "Rhythm changes"
• Select standards including ballads and Latin jazz

Additionally, applicants may submit recordings from a small or large ensemble that demonstrate applicant's musical development.

Students seeking the Composition track must provide written scores and recordings that demonstrate successful writing ability.

Voice

The audition evaluates vocal potential along with basic musical skills, including vocal range and reproduction of pitches and melodic fragments.  The audition must include two prepared pieces selected from the following:

• An Italian anthology song sung in Italian or English
• A Classical or Romantic period song sung in English
• A 20th-century or Broadway song sung in English

Piano

The audition must include major and minor scales up to five sharps or flats (two hands, two octaves) and the chromatic scale.  Audition must include two prepared pieces representative of Level Three (minimum) of the common preparatory piano repertory, such as the following:

• Movements from sonatinas by composers such as Clementi, Kuhlau, and Kabalevsky.
• Selections comparable to Bach, Little Preludes, 2-Part Inventions; Scarlatti, Easy Sonatas; Schumann, Album for the Young; and Gretchaninoff, Children's Book, Op. 98.
• Selections comparable to Bartok, For Children (Books I and II), Ten Easy Pieces.

Organ

The audition must include major and minor scales up to five sharps or flats (two hands, three octaves) and the chromatic scale.  Audition must include prepared pieces:

• A Bach prelude and fugue or another representative Baroque composer
• A representative work from the 19th or 20th century
• A hymn from a representative hymnal

Students without previous organ study experience will audition on the piano to demonstrate the necessary keyboard skills using the piano guidelines.  

Stringed Instruments (violin, viola, cello, and double bass)

The audition must include the following:

• Major and minor scales up to four sharps or flats, two octaves minimum, three octaves (when possible) with various bowings
• An etude from the representative repertory
• Movements from the student or standard repertory demonstrating both technical proficiency and musical expressive ability

Guitar 

The audition must include the following:

• Demonstration of open chords, major and minor barre chords with the root on the fifth and sixth strings
• Major scales in two octaves
• Two prepared pieces reflecting a variety of styles
• Demonstration of sight-reading 

Woodwind Instruments

The audition must include the following: 

• Major scales up to four sharps or flats, two octaves, and the chromatic scale
• Solos or etudes from books such as Rubank Advanced Method, vols. I and II; selected studies by Voxman; and representative works from standard literature

Brass Instruments

The audition must include the following:

• Major and minor scales to five sharps or flats, two octaves, and the chromatic scale
• Movement from representative solo concerto or sonata repertoire by composers such as Mozart, Haydn, Hummel, Dittersdorf, David, Schumann, Saint-Saëns, or Vaughan Williams
• Representative orchestral excerpts or standard etudes

Percussion

The audition must include major and minor scales up to five sharps or flats (on a keyboard instrument: marimba, vibraphone or piano) and the chromatic scale.  The audition must include two prepared pieces representative of Level Three (minimum) of the common preparatory percussion repertory, such as the following:

• Two-mallet or four-mallet solo piece from standard mallet solo literature
• Selections comparable to arrangements for marimba by Bach, Mozart, Schumann, etc.; Whaley beginning or intermediate mallet books
• The audition must include one snare drum solo from Portraits in Rhythm or comparable standard snare drum solo literature
• Optional: Play different styles and grooves on the drum set (swing, funk, Latin, odd-time, and brush playing).