Church Music Requirements for Division of Music Admission and Scholarships

The Bachelor of Music in Church Music and Bachelor of Musical Arts with a worship arts advising emphasis are rigorous music degrees. Music degrees are configured with the assumption that students entering the programs have been studying music and developing musical skills at some level before college work begins. It is not uncommon for students with interest in studying worship leadership and music ministry to have musical experiences limited only to church services and ensembles. While church music experiences are very important, they do not always adequately prepare students to be music majors. Therefore, to make sure the BMCM or BMA(WA) will be a good fit for the incoming student, they must audition and be accepted into these degrees. Even if a student has not studied music formally (for example, taking private music lessons, being in school band or choir, or studying music theory), that does not mean they cannot be a music major and study church music at OBU. But the lack of those prerequisite activities may also have a significant impact on their ability to be successful music majors.

The purpose of the audition is to determine the natural musical ability of the student, their level of musical performance, how much remedial work might be necessary in the area of performance, and to recommend (or not recommend) that the student be accepted into the degrees.

Therefore, to make sure the BMCM or BMA(WA) will be a good fit for the incoming student, they must audition and be accepted into these degrees.

Requirements for the prospective church music student audition:

• The student needs to determine what they believe their primary area of musical performance might be (voice, piano, guitar, trumpet, etc.)*

*Guitarists will need to study classical guitar as music majors. Traps players will study a wide range of percussion techniques and instruments. Bass guitar will not be considered an appropriate primary instrument.

• Prospective church music or worship arts students should prepare audition music to perform and scales in keeping with established OBU Music Division guidelines that apply to their area of primary performance. Remember that the goal for the student in an audition is to sing or play their instrument (or both) to showcase their musical strengths. See the links below to access those guidelines. An accompanist can be provided at the student's request.

• Voice Audition
• Keyboard Audition
• Instrumental Audition

• In addition to the established audition guidelines, all prospective church music and worship arts students will be vocalized (even if they are instrumentalists) to determine vocal range, quality, pitch matching, and pitch memory. This may be in addition to the actual audition in the primary area of performance.

To schedule an audition or for more information please contact:

Church Music Coordinator