Music for Tryouts

1) "Bamboo" from Cirque du Soliel (a fast paced percussion, tribal type sounding)

2) Some clips from Lord of the Dance, Riverdance, or Feet of Flames (can be fast and upbeat, or slow and emotional)

3) A waltz by Chopin (depending on the waltz, this can be nice and sweet to catchy and upbeat)

4) Something from the group "Toybox" (which is a type of happy go lucky upbeat music)

5) "Affirmation" from Savage Garden

6) "Dizzy" by the Goo Goo Dolls

7) Something from the cello quartet, Apocalyptica (which plays Metallica music on four cellos...VERY cool)

8) "Grasslands Chant" from the Lion King (lots of African chanting)

9) A clip from "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Liszt

10) Any version of "Bittersweet Symphony" (classical music turned into a pacey, upbeat music)

11) "Blue Ridge Saga" by James Swearingen (big band)

12) "All-Star" by Smashmouth (which you know what it is...)

13) A clip from Mozart (which can range from slow and sweet to fast-paced and catchy)

14) One of the themes from the Starcraft game (depending on the type: Terran, Zerg, or Protoss, is usually a techo/rock sounding music...I'd personally recommend one of the Terran themes...it's got great orchestration)

15) A song from a broadway show (West Side Story is commonly used, but it's still nice)

16) "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega (I'm pretty sure you know what this is)

17) "Birdland" (you can use a jazz version of this popular high school pep band song and it works really well)

18) "Back Here" by BBMak (I'm pretty sure you know what this is too)

19) Something from the NBC television movie, "The Tenth Kingdom" (ranges from slow to fast paced)

20) "The Smurf Theme Song: Techo Version" (pretty weird, but it's got a good tempo)

21) "The Feather Theme" from Forrest Gump (nice, delicate music)

22) "Flight of the Bumblebee" by N. Rimsky-Korsakoff (this is the song that they usually play in movies when they fast forward the film so the people are moving really really fast...pretty good, I think)

23) "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid (hehe this is pretty good one...I played this in my percussion ensemble group, and it sounded really cool. If you can find a percussion ensemble version, that would be great one to do a routine to)

24) "Jumping Jack" by the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies (Big Band swing music; great tempo! I used the first 1 minute and 7 seconds of this for my captian tryout routine...it's great)

25) "Raindrop Prelude" by Chopin (sounds like the title...delicate but has a nice deep rich section in the middle for dramatic flair)

26) Techno can be used if you like the fast paced part of it. You can find many versions and songs from techno. Personally I can't stand it, but hey, it's your audition. Go for it! :)

27) A song from Disney's "Tarzan" is usually really cool to use. Lots of percussion!!

28) Michelle Branch is a great artist to get guard songs from!

29) Patty Griffin's "Living with Ghosts" - Great acoustics, slow paced, emotional song

30) Excerpts from Blast! shows are great pieces you can use! :) I would cut them down a little, these songs are often very long...

These are only suggestions if you are truly truly stumped and have no idea what music you want to use. Never use a song someone has told you to use because "they like it". You need to find a song that you personally like and can perform to. But be open to suggestions. Look around.

One general tip I stick by is to try not to use "recent" or "popular" musics or radio hits. You know what I'm talking about. Everyone's singing them, have the CD, or whatever. If you want to use this type of song, go right on ahead, power to ya! But, if you're undecided or indifferent, I'd advise to try out a instrumental song. I find that these work better and help out more for the emotional aspect for your routine.