College audition pieces---classical guitar

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:15 am

My daughter needs to audition for the college music programs she is interested in and has chosen to do so on guitar. She's had lessons, but not in classical guitar, which is what they require. She has to choose a piece from Sor's studies, which I just ordered, and then two more pieces at about the same level of difficulty but in contrasting styles. Do any of you have any suggestions for those other two, especially on the EASY end of the spectrum? Something modern? Some transcription from old lute music? I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have.

Thank you!

Carol

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:46 am

It was ages ago, but I'm pretty sure my audition pieces were the "Registro" from the Suite Venazolano by Heitor Villa-Lobos, and the prelude to Bach's first cello suite, transcribed by someone I don't remember. The Villa-Lobos is a blast -- harmonically it's pretty complex, but it lays out so perfectly on the guitar you can almost play it by accident.

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:04 am

Thank you! We'll look into those!

Carol

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:21 pm

guitar students in college are likely to play a lot of Brouwer and Villa Lobos. a selection from Brouwer's first 10 studies would not be a bad place to start.

I would recommend spending some quality time with the book "The Natural Classical Guitar." I've read dozens of these kinds of books and I think this one has the most practical and applicable advice regarding learning/mastering/perfecting pieces, as well as a wealth of other issues related to musicianship.

I also recommend lessons with a good classical teacher as well, as lessons in other styles are not likely to cover the aspects considered important for classical, in my experience. I think the key for an audition would be to demonstrate an understanding of music through those pieces, so I would pick music that is technically within the comfort zone and focus on make them sound really musical. The devil is in the details.

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:22 pm

Oh, and I would recommend performing in front of people often between the time that the piece is learned and the audition, because anything that can help make the audition less stressful would be a big help.

C.IrishGuitarist · Post by **C.IrishGuitarist** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:51 pm

If you would like to ask some full time classical guitarists you can go to "delcamp.com"...it has pieces on the web site that are very helpful.....

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:54 pm

A nice lively Brazilian piece that's not too hard is "Sounds of Bells" by Joao Pernambuco. I have heard other people's names associated with this piece so don't be surprised if it's attributed to someone else. It is very fun to play and seems difficult to the untrained audience member.
Mike

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:08 pm

I concur that "The Sound of Bells" would be a good choice for a contrasting style from the Sor Studies. It is one of my favorite pieces on the solo guitar. However, I don't see how anyone who hasn't played the classical guitar for a certain length of time could possibly play the piece for an audition.

So much has changed since I went to college in the sixties. Even though I attended one of the better music schools in the country, I don't believe that they had any kind of a program in classical guitar, and music for the classical guitar was hard to come by. I ordered a lot of music from Europe. However, I attended a guitar recital last summer at the Interlochen Music Camp in northern Michigan. It was a pleasant surprise for me to hear these young musicians play the guitar better than I ever could after all my years of practice.