In the past 10 months I have started playing the flute again. A lot of you know my story.

I was a music major about 20 years ago (percussion)and then life got complicated and I got married and moved around a bit so I quit and got a job etc....... I was always intending to finish my degree. Now, with all the classes that you can take on line, I am thinking that I might be able to finish.

I have been studying on and off with a fantastic flute teacher. I tossed out the question of maybe going back to school and finishing my music degree, but this time on the flute.

I know I can't compete with the people going to larger universities, but I am going to go to a small local college that offers music degrees. She thinks that I can get accepted to the music program.

Besides all of the scales major and minor, what kind of pieces do you think might make me stand out? I don't want to play the same old run of the mill stuff for my audition, but I don't want to play something too far out there.

I can sight read at the 12th grade high school all state level.

I am not up to Carmen fantasie.

I am almost good with Carneval of Venice.

Any ideas?

I have another year to work on my playing.

Thanks.

Thanks for your input.

My instructor knows the flute insturctor at the college. She was told that there is not a set auditon. They just want to hear the major scales. (no minor? I had to play them at a larger school.)

They want to hear sound flute playing.

This is just what I need. I am still not the greatest and probably never will be, but I want a degree in something. I am one of those people that has to enjoy what they are doing or I will not do well. So I am going to try and finish up my music. If I hadn't started flying airplanes, I am sure I would have gone back to school many years ago.

Any other ideas?

I like the Faure because the entire piece is short and shows all that needs to be shown...The Debussy is also a good choice, although there is a lot of controversy when it comes to the interpretation, so if you fall into the camp that distorts the rhythm a great deal and the judge wants to hear what Debussy actually wrote, it can work against you..

I think that the schools music program is fairly new. Most of the people who go to this college have other jobs and work on their degrees mostly on line. I heard a rumor that they only have one person that is studying flute.

This is fine with me. I just need a piece of paper that says that I have a degree from an acreddited school for my job.

I am really hoping to excell at this. I would love to be really good. Right now I am probably your average flute player.

What do you guys think about Danse de la Chevre? It's got a lot of technical parts to it and some complex rythems. It's different. I am sure that it is not usually played for auditions. Do you think it might be too far out there. I am pretty good with rythems since I was a percussion major the last time I was in school.

Then to make sure that I play something traditional, my instructor gave me some Handel Sonatas to look at. No.3 and No.V. Five looks to be shorter, but I am wondering if it has been played to death.

I want them to be great and I have about 8 months to perfect them.

Danse de la Chevre is a good choice. It is technical without being frightening and gives you a great opportunity to show off some musicality. Besides which it's a fun piece to play!

If you decide to play Syrinx please play it as written. Apparently Debussy himself wanted it played as written. This has got to be one of the most butchered pieces in the entire flute repertoire due to some outlandish interpretations of the rhythm, tempo and dynamics.

If you are looking for something a bit more traditional I would seriously consider either the JS Bach A minor Partita or the CPE Bach A minor Sonata, both for solo flute. Both are beautiful pieces to play and demonstrate of a bit of technique and a lot of musicality. I like both works a lot more than any of the Handel Sonatas FWIW.

Good luck!