The audition

How do you get into a tertiary music course? What's required and how do you prepare? I looked everywhere online but couldn't find information detailed enough to really help me. So, if you find yourself wanting to get into Ara Institute Music Arts courses maybe this could help you.

Normally when one applies for a tertiary course you can expect a straightforward application form to fill in and in most cases you are 'in'. However, if you want to join a Music Arts course at Ara Institute (Christchurch's former polytechnic) there's a LOT more to it than that.

The documentation I ended up sending amounted to 14 documents which included copies that had to be signed by a Justice of the Peace, proving my identity, nationality, qualifications, domicile address and experience in the field of study. If you make a statement, you have to be able to back it up with proof.

I also had to write a personal statement (two thirds of a page in my case) explaining why I deserved a place, my music background and music studies, what I hoped to achieve.

In addition, I had to find two referees to fill out a set form and send back to me. They could not be friends, rather employers. For me this was not so easy as I have not had any fulltime permanent employment in NZ since 2010 and that employer became defunct that same year.

As if that wasn't enough, I was required to prepare for an audition on my chosen instrument, mine being electric bass. Passing the audition is not a 'given'. People fail these and have to try again the following year, and there are limited places available.

Here's what I needed to prepare for the panel of two:

Music theory - As soon as I arrived I was seated at a table and told to answer a two-page music theory test. Some bits were ridiculously easy, others were definitely not. I had spent hours slaving over learning key signatures and scales for this test but apparently it is not a test, just gives them an idea of where you are at, but that doesn't matter at all as I later discovered they start you from zero knowledge, on the course. 

Performance - Two pieces - one with a 12-bar blues aspect and the other contemporary. I chose Hound Dog by Elvis Presley, and Always on my Mind by Willie Nelson. Both quite different feels. Each had to be performed to a backing track on my phone, connected to their equipment. Note: nowhere on the website did it mention backing tracks had to be on smartphone. I played the best I could, trying to put in a few dynamics and changes in playing style. I was told my playing was impressive. Well, that was encouraging since I had had no formal lessons and had only been teaching myself for 6 months, with some tips from a bassist friend.

Aural tests - Again, I had spent many, many hours teaching myself intervals at home, feeling very stressed out by it all. At the audition an interviewer sat at the piano and played notes and I was told to sing them. There were no questions on rhythm, which I thought strange since the bass is a rhythm instrument what works with the drums. I was told to sing intervals, identify intervals played. To my horror I was expected to identify augmenteds, diminisheds, major and minor triads, sevenths etc. I haven't done music theory since I was 15 and I found the questions more geared to guitarists rather than my instrument. I had reached my theory limit back in 1970 and hadn't progressed beyond Grade IV exam (which limited what higher practical exams I could do in the future past, such as Grade V violin and Grade IV piano).

Last, but certainly not least, there was then the interview - I was told not to be offended but how was my hearing? What? Do they ask everyone that question? I informed them I have hearing aids but could obviously hear the backing track, my bass and the tests. "But it gets very noisy in a band," they said. "Oh well, I would just take my hearing aids out," I said to them. Yes, noisy environments are a challenge for me these days but quite a few youngsters would have the same problems. I just have to try harder than if I was 20.

There were questions designed to test my attitude and behaviours but there was one bit that raised my eyebrows. "We wouldn't want you to mother the others," I was told. I'll bet no other student was asked that. Good grief. I have no intention of mothering anyone. I'm there for the music and to see what I can achieve. Yes, I am by far the oldest student on my course, but so what? I was the oldest student back in 2003-2006 when I did my Bachelor of Applied Communications at MIT (Manukau). I was also ranked number two for the whole institution, across all faculties, at graduation. They also asked me how I would cope if I was given work I could not do. Well, I'm currently finding that out.

I found all aspects of the audition gruelling but towards the end of the interview they offered me a place on the course, on the spot, for which I was exceedingly grateful and delighted. I now had a focus, a major project which would be very important to me in the short and mid-term future.

This challenging audition required many hours slogging away at home trying to guess what was needed, having no idea of the standards required. Certainly, many of the young students would have had the advantage of studying music recently and being prepped by music teachers for the audition. Older ones have had decades of playing. Never mind. I had got there and went to work organising myself to be ready to go when the course started.

In following posts I'll let you know about what it is like to play in a student performance band, tearing my hair out over composition software, filling in the gaps in music theory, having bass lessons (at last) and studying music history (some of which I have lived through). There's also the social aspect which hasn't really kicked in yet. I hope it does, and other aspects of life on campus. This was a good decision though it will certainly be challenging. The adventure begins.