Audition Guidelines

Your prepared piece must be:

• performed live (it cannot be prerecorded—you must be able to demonstrate live performance skills);
• three to five minutes in length; and
• performed on your primary instrument (the instrument you select when you submit the application form).

If you change the instrument you wish to audition with after submitting your application form, please email eo@berklee.edu.

Berklee embraces and values all musical styles, so you should perform a piece that you are comfortable with and that displays your strengths as a musician. Select a piece that highlights what you feel represents your best abilities rather than a piece you think the audition team wants to hear.

Some examples that may help with your selection include the following:

• A tune from a well-known artist or band (any style)
• A standard or jazz tune (which may include blues and rhythm changes) with your own improvisation
• A composition from the instrumental/voice repertoire or a movement, sonata, concerto, or etude
• A transcription of a well-known artist's solo

Producers and Electronic Musicians

If you create music digitally using a computer, software, and hardware, you may qualify for the electronic digital instrument (EDI) program. 

Learn more about EDI

Composers and Songwriters

If composing or songwriting is your primary focus, you may choose to perform an original piece on your primary instrument that showcases your individual style. Your original piece should be no longer than three minutes, and you should also prepare a second piece from the above listing (no longer than three minutes).

If you are a singer-songwriter, please note that you must choose one principal instrument for the audition. For example, if you play guitar and sing, you must choose to be assessed on either guitar or voice (not both).

You will improvise over a short instrumental progression or drum beat. You should be prepared to play or sing over a standard I-IV-V blues progression. If you audition online, the faculty adjudicators will share a backing track file with you, which gives you the chance to improvise in-time.

Explore practice exercises for improvisation and blues.

You will be asked to read a written notation example and play it on your instrument with the correct pitches and note durations. The examples range from basic to complex in order for the audition team to gauge your reading ability. 

You will be asked to participate in exercises including the following:

• Call and response: playing, clapping, or singing back short rhythms and melodies
• Identifying intervals and chord qualities
• Pitch matching: singing or playing back a series of pitches

Bachelor of Arts applicants complete an online interview and are not required to audition. Bachelor of Music applicants complete a live audition and interview, which may be conducted either in person or online. Read more about the differences between the two programs.

If you come to our Boston campus to audition and interview, there will be opportunities for you to take a student-led campus tour, attend an info session, and see a live student performance.

Learn More

If you choose an in-person audition location outside of Boston, you will still have an opportunity to talk to an admissions representative or student ambassador about life at Berklee. If you complete your audition and interview online, you will virtually meet Berklee College of Music staff and faculty members, but you will not interact with any current students.

Family and friends may wait with you prior to being called, but they are not allowed to observe your warm-up, audition, or interview. If you have an accompanist or backing band, they may only join you for the warm-up and prepared piece section of the audition. Family and friends are not allowed to attend an online audition and interview.

In the event that Berklee must change or reschedule the date and/or time of an audition and interview due to inclement weather, you will be notified as soon as possible.