Accordion

Rik Cornelissen

See which subjects you take per academic year in the Accordion curriculum.

In addition to the general admission criteria, there are also specific admission criteria for each instrument. For admission to the course with the accordion as your major, you will prepare five pieces that are slightly different in character and tempo. You are free to choose the style of the pieces, so you can play any kind of jazz, Latin or pop music as well as a mix of various styles. During the audition, you will perform a minimum of two and a maximum of three of the prepared pieces. You do this preferably with your own band or, if that is impossible, with students of the Academy of Music.

Important aspects, which can be part of the audition and are taken into account in the assessment, are the following:

• Of the prepared pieces, at least three jazz standards or works by jazz accordionists must be played, such as A French Touch, Nuages or Bluesette, supplemented with pop, tango, personal compositions or other repertoire. At least two of the five prepared pieces must be performed with a rhythm section.
• After a brief preparation, improvising on a provided chord scheme with deliberately selected harmonic and melodic material.
• The aspects, which the committee will take into account in the entrance examination, are: command of the instrument and posture, improvisation, phrasing, articulation, tone, dynamics, interpretation, ensemble, timing and tempo.
• Playing an accordion with melody basses is not necessary, but desirable.