The Happy Musician

Hi musician friends! Are you wanting to try out for the Florida Polk All-County Chorus but aren’t sure what to expect or what to practice? Look no further, this post has you covered! (P.S: Congrats to those who made All-County this year, see you this Friday!)

Audition Process

This audition process is all in one day, with results roughly a week later. It consists of 3 simple steps and a 5-10 minute judging period.

Audition Steps

Step 1: Scale and arpeggio. You will sing the scale and arpeggio for your voice part on solfege. (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Mi, Re, Do – Do, Mi, So, Do, So, Mi, Do).

Scale + Arpeggio Keys (Unless there has been an update):

Soprano 1: G major

Soprano 2: F major

Alto: D major

Tenor: E major

Baritone+Bass: Bb major

Step 2: Pitch matching. This will vary by middle and high school. Typically for middle school they will do 2 rounds of 3 pitches that you must repeat back to the judges on any syllable (such as dee, dah, do, lah, etc. or whatever the judges specify).

For high school, they do 2 rounds of 3-4 (usually 4) pitches each that you have to match. You can usually have up to 10-15 seconds to think about the pitches before singing them, but try to take no more than 5-10. The pitches will normally be played on quarter notes or slow eighth notes, and they can be any notes in your range, so be ready for a weird interval or strange accidental – that’s what they want to hear from you!

Step 3: Folk song. You will be given a folk song at your school to study for a couple of weeks, usually up to a month and no less than a week (unless the songs don’t come in quickly enough!). You will prepare that song, study it, mark it, and after the scale, arpeggio, and pitch matching, you will sing the song to the judges A CAPELLA (without background music). Make sure to get the feel of the music; the dynamics, tempo, and body language/facial expression. You may ask for the song in a different key but they will not change the key for you unless you ask them. For instance, if the folk song is in D and you want it lower, say the key of B, you would say something to the effect of: “May I please have the folk song in the key of B instead?”

Audition songs for 2025:

6th Grade SA choir – Inizio Choir – Early One Morning

7th and 8th Grade SAB choir – Intermezzo Choir – The Ash Grove

9th-12th Grade SATB choir – Massimo Choir – The Last Rose of Summer

Helpful tips

• Have a sibling, parent, guardian, friend, etc. play some random notes in your range on the piano and try to repeat it back to them on “lah”.
• Have your choir/voice teacher help you with your prepared piece and the nuances of the expression, tempo, dynamics, and technique.
• For warm-ups, sing your scale and arpeggio in every key, going up the piano until you reach your voice part’s scale and arpeggio. Then refine that certain scale.
• Always, always, ALWAYS remember to breathe. Try breathing exercises to increase lung capacity and diaphragm usage and remember to breathe low across your stomach. Your shoulders should not rise and your tummy and lower back should expand on an inhale. Try inhaling properly and hissing out for as long as you can. Time yourself and do this a few times each day. Remember that breathing is the first thing to go when you get nervous.
• Don’t be scared! Act professional and know that the audition will be over before you blink (ok, not really, but you get what I mean).

You can do it! See you this Thursday (9/18/25), and thanks for reading!!!

Cover photo from Facebook – Calvary Baptist Church Academy – my school!