Requirements for the proficiency test

• Audition of up to three different pieces from the applicant's usual musical background (rock or pop guitarist playing rock or pop, jazz guitarist playing jazz etc.). Different tempos / characters should be chosen.
• A wide range of styles is welcome. Original compositions are welcome. Multi-instrumentalists are welcome.

• Audition of up to three pieces of jazz or pop music, one of which can be self-composed. Different tempos / characters or styles should be chosen (for example: Ballad, Up-Time, but also R&B, Funk, Rock, Latin, Straight Jazz, Jazz Waltz etc., preferably with vocal improvisation or ad libs; 1st piece free choice, 2nd/3rd piece choice of the jury
• one short piece a capella
• Sing 1 transcription (vocal or instrumental from the jazz, pop or rock genre of a piece, an arrangement, a solo or ad libs), present it as a transcription and sing along with the original or band (please also bring and present sheet music).
• At the request of the jury, the aptitude test may include improvisation on unknown chord sequences and/or sight-singing.

Electric bass jazz/pop, double bass -jazz/pop, piano -jazz/pop, trombone -jazz/pop, trumpet -jazz/pop, violin -jazz/pop:

• Audition of up to three pieces of jazz or pop music with improvisation, one of which can be self-composed. Different tempos/characters or styles should be chosen (e.g. ballad, up-time, but not up-tempo): Ballad, Up-Time, but also R&B, Funk, Straight Jazz, Jazz Waltz, Rock, Latin etc.).
• At the request of the jury, the aptitude test can include improvisation on unknown chord sequences, performance of a prepared solo transcription and/or sight-reading, and in the case of piano/guitar also the accompaniment of a blues or a simple jazz/pop standard. Please also bring and present sheet music.

Saxophone -jazz/pop, clarinet -jazz/pop, flute -jazz/pop:

• Audition of up to three pieces. These can be standards and originals, but also your own compositions. They should cover different styles, tempi or feels.
• In addition, a solo transcription should be prepared and performed without accompaniment (please also bring and submit sheet music).
• The commission may also conduct a short sight-reading test.

• Audition of up to three pieces of Latin or pop music in as many different styles as possible. These can be pieces from the Afro-Cuban or Brazilian region or from Latin jazz, fusion, soul or funk. As many different percussion instruments as possible should be played. A solo or a four/four chorus should be played in one piece.
• The jury expects knowledge of basic sounds and rhythms and may test samples of the following percussion instruments. Congas: basic tumbao & variations, bongos: basic martillo & variations, timbales: cáscara 3/2 & 2/3 clave, abanico, basic cowbell grooves.
• At the request of the jury, the aptitude test can include accompanying a simple Latin/pop standard, singing melodies, improvisation and/or sight-reading

• Audition of up to three pieces of jazz or pop music in as many different tempos and/or styles as possible. Ternary and binary grooves must be played and a piece in swing/jazz feel should be included. In one piece, "Four-Four" and/or a solo on the form should be played.
• Performance of a prepared etude (e.g. Wilcoxon, Pratt or similar)
• At the jury's request, the aptitude test may include the accompaniment of a blues or a simple jazz/pop standard, improvisation, performance of a prepared solo transcription and/or sight-reading.

Audition with a focus on jazz:

• Solar (Miles Davis) Swing
• Re: Person I knew (Bill Evans) even Eights
• Nica's Dream (Horace Silver) Medium up Latin / Swing Agua De Beber (Antonio-Carlos Jobim)
• Bossa Airegin (Sonny Rollins) Swing
• Footprints (Wayne Shorter) Jazz/Waltz
• Take the Coltrane (Billy Strayhorn) up-swing Blues UMMG (Billy Strayhorn) swing
• Off Minor (Thelonious Monk) Swing
• Alone Together (Arthur Schwartz) Swing
• It could happen to you (Cole Porter) med up Swing My funny Valentine (Richard Rodgers) Ballad
• Song for my Father (Horace Silver) even Eights
• Red Clay (Freddie Hubbard) even Eights
• West Coast Blues (Wes Montgomery) Jazz Waltz
• I hear a Rhapsody (Fragos/Baker / Gasparre) Swing

Prelude with a focus on pop:

• "What's going on" Marvin Gaye
• "Ain't no sunshine" Bill Withers
• "Come together" The Beatles
• "Money" Pink Floyd
• "No Woman no cry" Bob Marley
• "River Deep-Mountain High" Ike and Tina Turner
• "Layla" Derek & The Dominions (Eric Clapton)
• "Manic Depression" The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• "Car Wash" Rose Royce
• "Tutti Frutti" Little Richard
• "Brick House" The Commodores
• "Real Mother for Ya" Johnny Guitar Watson
• "Superstition" Stevie Wonder
• "Oje como va" Santana
• "I'm Walkin ́" Fats Domino
• "Demasiado Corazon" Mini DeVille

Snare drum etude with foot accompaniment
Recommended literature for orientation:

• "The All-American Drummer" (Charley Wilcoxon)
• "Modern Rudimental Swing Solos" (Charley Wilcoxon)
• "The New Pratt Book" (John S. Pratt)
• "Rudimental Solos for Accomplished Drummers (John S. Pratt)
• "Rudimental Ritual" from "The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary" (John Ramsey)
• The foot accompaniment (an ostinato with or without variations) is freely selectable.

Teaching team

• Prof. Jonas Burgwinkel
  Head of department | Jonas.Burgwinkel@HfMT-Koeln.de
• Alex Vesper
  Focus on pop drumming | Alex.Vesper@hfmt-koeln.de
• Roland Höppner | Roland.Hoeppner@hfmt-koeln.de

• Performance of up to three songs, including one external composition. One song should be performed solo with own guitar or piano accompaniment, the remaining songs with the band provided by the university. One of the songs should be performed in English.
• In addition, a task from the area of text work must be solved.
• At the request of the jury, the aptitude test may include singing a melody, accompanying and/or sight-reading a simple pop/soul/blues standard.

All majors (except piano-jazz/pop and guitar-jazz/pop):
(not for piano or guitar majors, here the minor can be chosen freely)

• A notated piece in the level of difficulty of e.g. Children`s Song (Chick Corea), Jazz for the Young Pianist (Oscar Peterson), Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, Zweistimmige Inventionen (Bach), Für Kinder, Mikrokosmos I oder II (Bela Bartok), Kinderszenen op. 15 (Robert Schumann).
  Alternatively, a piece based on a notated model from the rock/pop genre, for example The Easy Groove Piano Book (Philipp Moehrke) or Piano Studies in Pop (Mike Schönmehl), a transcribed jazz/pop solo or a notated original composition.
• A simple jazz/pop standard or a blues, independently arranged for the piano.
• Performance of a simple cadenza (approximately II-V-I-IV). The examination board reserves the right to select the pieces to be played. Under no circumstances is it obliged to listen to all the pieces offered or to listen to them in full. If the duration of the examination is exceeded, the examination board may stop the performance.

Main subject piano-jazz/pop or guitar-jazz/pop:

The minor subject can be chosen freely without an examination. However, it must be named in the application. If an applicant has already passed the EP in the minor subject for the Bachelor of Music Jazz or Pop in a previous comparable degree program, credit will be given and participation in these parts of the examination/the examination is not required.

In the area of ear training, the written test (dictation) covers the following topics:

• Scales, melodies typical of the style, intervals, triads and inversion, and tetrachords typical of the style.

In the area of harmony, the written test covers the following topics

• Analysis of a chord progression, creation of a simple five-part piano movement based on a harmonic model and harmonization of a given melody.

The exam lasts a total of two hours for both tests. Further information can be found in the sample exams under Documents & Downloads.