Florida All-State Season Tips
Some of my most treasured middle and high school memories revolve around the numerous trips to Tampa for intense rehearsals culminating in a grand performance at the Florida All-State Festival. Friendships were made, lasting memories created, and my cup of personal and musical growth overflowed. This (extended) weekend was truly one of the highlights of my school year from 8th-12th grades.
Now is the time of year students embark on the audition process for the Florida All-State Choir and I enjoy working with auditionees in our lessons by honing in on our ear training, sight-singing, and overall musicaianship skills. I have taken the time to put together a one-stop shop for your All-State preparation needs. Below you will find links to resources that will help you ace the musicianship and sight-reading portions of the All-State Exam. Current students may also access additional resources through the student portal's "Online Resources."
Sight Reading
Sight Reading Factory: Here, you can easily access pre-made sight reading examples that follow current FL All-State requirements for both MS and HS levels. Pre-made databases have examples randomly populated for easy practice. It also will play along with you to aid in the learning process until you build the confidence to try it on your own! This is a subscription-based program, but well worth the fee for what it provides. An easy-to-use app is always accessible and you can track your progress throughout.
Musicianship Test
Musicianship Prep (unofficial All-State Prep Website): This page provides links to practice websites (mostly pre-made MusicTheory.net examples) and will serve as an invaluable tool for all subject areas: Key Signatures, Time Signatures, Chord Quality Recognition, Major and Perfect Intervals, and Vocabulary. If you haven't already bookmarked this site- do so now!
Musictheory.net - this is a customizable site to cover all the basic (and more advanced) musical theory concepts. I have used this website for many years in the private studio because it is easy to navigate and customize.
Rehearsal Tracks
Congratulations on passing the first round of examinations!
As you move onto the next stage, I find the most valuable tool a candidate can have is part-dominant rehearsal tracks made by Choral Tracks. This year’s tracks can be found here. The same link usually is updated from year to year when new files are released, but if the link doesn’t work, simply search “Florida All-State” in the search bar.
You will need to know what District, Choir, and Voice Part in which you will be auditioning, so clarify that with your director. Some schools have a budget to offer these recordings up to the students for free, but if not, I still HIGHLY recommend spending the $13.99 (at the time of writing) on the resources. Two-ish weeks is generally all the time you have to learn over a handful of challenging choral repertoire and this makes that process far more enjoyable!
To all of those taking the musicianship and sight singing tests…
