ILMEA Vocal Jazz Audition
Students will leave the Vocal Jazz Institute having learned both prepared selections in their entirety, studied all possible tonal skills, learned more about jazz improvisation, and recorded performances of their scales, chords, and vocal improvisation.
After the Institute, the only remaining step will be to record the prepared selections once the official cuts are announced.
ILMEA Vocal Jazz auditions consist of three main parts:
1. Prepared Selections
Students will prepare two required pieces: Gotta Be and My One and Only Love.
At Vocal Jazz Camp, students will learn and practice both songs in their entirety. For the ILMEA audition, the state will select a specific excerpt from each piece in the fall.
2. Tonal Skills
Students will demonstrate fundamental vocal skills, including:
Blues scale
Chromatic scale
Major or minor seventh chord
Dominant or fully diminished seventh chord
(See Tonal Skills under the Curriculum section for practice materials.)
3. Vocal Improvisation
Students will improvise over a C Blues progression.
(See Improvisation under the Curriculum section for resources and examples.)
Prepared Selections
Gotta Be This
or That
My One and Only Love
Tonal Skills
Scales and chords will be performed in Eb for Sopranos and Tenors and in C for Altos and Basses.
At camp, students will learn the Blues scale and the Chromatic scale.
Students will also learn and record each of the following chord types even though ILMEA will only ask for two:
Dominant Seventh
Major Seventh
Minor Seventh
Fully Diminished Seventh
Vocal Improvisation
Students will demonstrate their improvisation skills over a C blues progression. They will first listen to a reference chorus, then perform an improvised solo for two complete choruses.