Tstrydom wrote:Hi
I am a 25 year old female.
I really want to join the corps of army music. I'm a South African but I have a visa to work in the UK. I play the clarinet and have played in semi-professional orchestras for years. I am just worried about the standard they are expecting. I read 50% of the audition is sight reading, which I think I am quite good at. But again they could want a very high standard of sight reading. Does anyone know where I can find a guideline as to the standard of the pieces I should prepare and also for what standard I should be prepared to sight read? I am in the South African reserve force, so I am not worried about the physical training. But any help with the audition would be super!
Thanks
There should be no problem if you already have been playing for years. I've been told by the officers in the RM School of Music that reeded instruments are of short supply so you may stand a good chance of getting in. I myself switched to oboe last year from flute because of this. Unfortunately, my 5 months of playing from scratch wasn't good enough (yet) when I did my audition about a month ago so I've been deferred for 6 months ... I'm probably going to take 10 months just to be sure.
It says on the website and joining instructions that you need to be of ABRSM Grade 6 standard but perhaps because of recent cutbacks and tightening of purses by the MOD, you really need to be about Grade 8/Diploma level before entry. You need to pass an equivalent of ABRSM Grade 8 standard assessment to complete your Phase 2 training. The best flautist I've met in my life (I know of maaaany) happened to be South African. He has been recently made the principal flautist of the Grenadier Guards after just a term in the RMSM (3 months... so probably all in all, he did all of his relevant Army training in the space of 6 or 7 months).
Anyways, they are really anal about Scales. All scales: major AND melodic AND harmonic minors . All arpeggios as well as dominant and diminished 7ths starting on any note. Been told I should aim to go across the range of the instrument (2.5 octaves (up a twelfth) to 3 octaves) at about 92+ bpm (semi quaver/32nd note runs). All played from memory.
As for audition pieces, consult the ABRSM Grade 7-8 and/or ABRSM Diploma (lists should be on the ABRSM website). These need not be memorised.
Theory paper is piss, anyone can do it with their eyes closed so I wouldn't worry about that. Grade 5 ABRSM standard will suffice. You need to do an Aural assessment too, which involves: interval recognition, identifying cadences, key signature, singing back or clapping a short melody/rhythm and general appraisal of a short music to played by the examiner.
I shouldn't worry about CAMus sacking musicians. You sign a contract of 4 years (minimum). It protects you and the Army so there should be no major dramas in those 4 years. The aim is to try and get in and worry about everything else later.
Hope that helps.
Rikk
no worries mate. Just a little hint for you. 