Audition Requirements

VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, and BASS

Auditions for strings are in-person on February 21, 2026 at Northern Guilford Middle School. Students are responsible for the following components for a total of 120 points. The solo excerpt and major scale will be announced on the Tuesday before auditions. 

• Solo - 60 points

• Scales - 30 points (15 points for the major scale, 15 points fo the minor scale)

• Sight Reading - 30 points

2025-26 Solos

Students are responsible for learning the entire solo for their instrument linked below.  An excerpt from the solo will be chosen an shared on this website two days before the audition. The solo does not need to be memorized and students may bring a printed copy of the music into the audition. 

PLEASE NOTE: Students may use their choice of fingerings, but will be expected to follow the printed bowings in the solos linked below. 

• Violin, Viola, and Cello- Petite Bouree by Prosse/arr. Etling (Solo Time for Strings, Book IV), entire solo

• Bass- Petite Bouree by Prosse/arr. Etling (Solo Time for Strings, Book IV), only prepare measures 1-21, double stops are not required and will not positively or negatively influence score if attempted. Please note that this double stop exemption is ONLY for bass.

Sight Reading

The sight-reading selections will be 8 measures in length and grade II in difficulty.  New selections will be composed for auditions each year. Each student will be allowed a 30 second preview period to finger or air-bow but may not play their instrument. The judges will use a metronome to provide the correct tempo before the preparatory period begins, and again before the student begins to play. The metronome will not be used during the preparatory period or during the sight-reading performance.

Scales and arpeggios 

Students will play 2 scales with arpeggio: one will be chosen from the list below on the day of auditions by the judges, and the second is any melodic minor of the student's choice. Two melodic minor examples are shown on the sclae sheets below, but the student may pick any melodic minor. Students should perform all scales as sixteenth notes and arpeggios as triplets at a minimum tempo of quarter note = 50. Scales must be performed by memory. The tonic may be repeated in each octave. See below for acceptable bowing variations and scale sheets.

Violin: C, G, D Major 2 octaves; F Major 1 octave; any melodic minor of the student’s choice 1 octave. Slur scales 4 notes per bow and arpeggios 3 notes per bow. Violin Scale Sheet

Viola: C, G, D Major 2 octaves; F Major 1 octave; any melodic minor of the student’s choice 1 octave. Slur scales 4 notes per bow and arpeggios 3 notes per bow. Viola Scale Sheet

Cello: C, G, D Major 2 octaves; F Major 1 octave; any melodic minor of the student’s choice 1 octave. Slur scales 4 notes per bow and arpeggios 3 notes per bow. Cello Scale Sheet

Bass: C, D, F major 1 octave, G major 2 octaves; any melodic minor of the student's choice 1 octave. Slur scales 2 notes per bow and arpeggios separate bows. Bass Scale Sheet