All-State posting
Tennessee All-State band audition requirements
Concert-band scales and etudes are set by the three regional associations (East, Middle, and West Tennessee), so students need their region's posting.
MTSBOA | Middle, online round 1, band grades 9-12 and jazz grades 7-12
Start with one passage
Check MTSBOA's Middle, online round 1, band grades 9-12 and jazz grades 7-12 requirements for your instrument. Audition date: confirm with your director.
Begin your etude with a short passage. Confirm the official packet with your director.
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Last checked October 6, 2026 | Official source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o9H93XZ8rcr5B37R4wh8ookKxv17saIp/export?format=txt
What to work on this week
Use this plan for your next round, a solo, or next season. Not taking another audition? Choose music with your director and use the same steps.
- 5 minutes - Read before playing. Find the required passage in the official packet. Mark its start and end. Count through a rhythm that needs attention.
- 10 minutes - Work on one small chunk. Choose a few notes or a short phrase. Play slowly enough to follow the notes and rhythm.
- 10 minutes - Connect two chunks. Practice the next small section. Then join the sections, paying attention to the connection.
- 5 minutes - Record and listen. Record the joined passage. Follow the score while listening. Write down one thing to revisit.
Dated tryouts
MTSBOA Mid-State Round 1 runs online October 5-16, 2026 for band grades 9-12 and jazz grades 7-12, and October 26-November 6, 2026 for band grades 7-8; each audition costs $14. Round 2 is Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Wilson Central High School; doors open at 7:00 a.m.
Source Read September 23, 2026.
All-East Senior auditions are Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Bearden High School. On-time registration closed October 1, 2026; preview was October 16, 2026; the last day with a penalty is November 1, 2026. Fees are $10 per student and $25 per school.
Source Read September 23, 2026.
All-West Jazz and Band auditions are Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Collierville High School; registration closes October 23, 2026. The 2026-27 audition PDFs are posted.
Source Read September 23, 2026.
Published scoring rubric
Document season: 2026-27 (2027 handbook).
TMEA All-State Ensembles Handbook (2027), jazz audition rubric, page 15This page reports what the official organization posted. Virtunity does not write audition requirements.
Confirm every date and requirement with your director. Organizations update packets.
TMEA
Tennessee Music Education Association (TMEA)
2026-27 materials are posted.
The full requirements were not readable from a public official source.
- Ensembles
- 9th and 10th Grade Concert Band, 11th and 12th Grade Concert Band, Jazz Band (9th-12th Grade), 11th and 12th Grade Symphony Orchestra, 9th and 10th Grade String Orchestra
- Season
- 2026-27
- Audition window
- Selection auditions are held by the regional affiliated associations; the state handbook does not publish their dates. The regional calendars provide the dates in the dated tryouts below. All-State ensembles rehearse and perform at the TMEA Music Education Conference January 13-16, 2027, Gaylord Opryland Resort, Nashville.
- Instruments
- winds, percussion, and jazz rhythm section
What the organization posted
Concert-band scales and etudes are set by the three regional associations (East, Middle, and West Tennessee), so students need their region's posting. Concert band and orchestra chair-placement auditions are done by video submission from excerpts assigned per instrument; wind and percussion students selected for the Symphony Orchestra receive all sectional parts, winds in the Concert Bands receive the 1st part and percussionists receive all parts for the chair audition. All-State Jazz Band auditions are recorded at the regional jazz clinics and only members of the regional clinic jazz ensembles may audition; each student is recorded on a separate continuous track and plays prepared pieces first, then 8-measure sight-reading with 30 seconds to silently preview, then improvisation - winds, bass, piano and guitar play two choruses of F blues followed by one chorus of B-flat rhythm changes, while drum set players play 4 measures of basic groove plus 8 measures with stylistically appropriate fills in swing at 220, funk/rock at 100, and samba at 120.
Notes
Read September 23, 2026: TMEA's All-State page, https://www.tnmea.org/about-6, links the 2027 handbook and names the regional destinations: East Tennessee (ETSBOA), https://etsboa.org/; Middle Tennessee (MTSBOA), https://www.mtsboa.org/; West Tennessee (WTSBOA), https://wtsboa.website/. The handbook does not supply regional concert-band scale and etude lists or selection dates. The conference date and venue are posted at https://www.tnmea.org/. Tennessee TMEA is separate from Texas TMEA. Source: https://wtsboa.website/2026/07/31/all-west-audition-music/. Source: https://wtsboa.website/about-wtsboa/constitution-and-by-laws/.
Retrieved from the organization's page on September 23, 2026.
TMEA All-State Ensembles Handbook (2027)Practice for TMEA with your audition tempo, tuner and drone on one screen
Virtunity is a practice app built by a band director. Set up each scale and excerpt, then work it up a step at a time.
Scan with your iPhone to get Virtunity
Practice now in your browser: free tuner, metronome and droneHow it fits each part of this audition
- Scales
- Set up each scale in Virtunity and practice it with the metronome at your audition tempo, with the tuner and drone in the same window. Scale Checker confirms scale notes on your iPhone. Notes only. Not tone, rhythm or a complete performance.
- Prepared etudes and excerpts
- Keep the PDF in your Music Library and set the piece up in practice with the metronome, tuner and your notes beside it. Start under tempo: good reps in a row move the tempo up a step, and Keep lets you stay at the old tempo.
- A recorded audition
- Practice the run-through. Record a final take and listen back in Review before you record the real one. A saved take stays private until you choose to share it with a connected teacher.
- Tone and intonation
- Every judge listens for these. The tuner shows your note and how sharp or flat it is, and the drone gives you a steady reference pitch for long tones.
- Tempo
- Tap tempo finds a marked tempo, and subdivision clicks keep your eighths, triplets and sixteenths even.
For students 13 and up. Virtunity helps you prepare. Your playing on audition day earns the chair.
How All-State auditions work in Tennessee
Concert-band scales and etudes are set by the three regional associations, so you need your region's posting: East Tennessee (ETSBOA), Middle Tennessee (MTSBOA), and West Tennessee (WTSBOA). These are the regional destinations named on TMEA's All-State page, checked September 23, 2026. Your band director can confirm your region.
The Tennessee Music Education Association runs the 9th-10th Grade Concert Band, 11th-12th Grade Concert Band, Jazz Band, 11th-12th Grade Symphony Orchestra, and 9th and 10th Grade String Orchestra. The string orchestra is strings only. Its state handbook sets eligibility, quotas, and procedure; it does not publish the regional concert-band scale and etude lists or selection dates. The regional calendars provide the dates in the dated tryouts below.
Students selected for an All-State ensemble then do chair-placement auditions by video submission on excerpts assigned per instrument. The Jazz Band works differently: auditions are recorded at the regional jazz clinics, only members of the regional clinic jazz ensembles may audition, and the recording includes prepared pieces, 8 measures of sight-reading with 30 seconds to preview, and improvisation over an F blues and B-flat rhythm changes (drum set players demonstrate swing, funk/rock, and samba grooves instead).
The All-State ensembles rehearse and perform at the TMEA Music Education Conference, January 13-16, 2027 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville.
Tennessee audition questions, answered
- When are Tennessee All-State auditions?
- Selection auditions are held by the regional affiliated associations. The state handbook does not publish their dates; the regional calendars do. East registration closes October 1, 2026, Middle high school band and jazz registration October 2, 2026, and West registration October 23, 2026. East Senior, Middle Round 2, and West Band and Jazz list Saturday, November 21, 2026. See the dated tryouts for sites, fees and Middle Round 1 windows. All-State ensembles meet January 13-16, 2027 in Nashville.
- What scales and etudes are on the Tennessee All-State audition?
- They are assigned by your region, not the state. Each of Tennessee's three regional associations sets the scales and prepared etudes for its own selection auditions, and those lists are not published on the state site, so ask your band director for your region's requirements.
- Is the Tennessee audition live or recorded?
- East is live Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Bearden High School. Middle Round 1 was online October 5-16, 2026 for band grades 9-12 and jazz grades 7-12; its file rules are not on the calendar. Middle Round 2 is live Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Wilson Central, doors 7:00 a.m. West is live and screened. All-State chair placement is by video submission. All-State Jazz is recorded at the regional jazz clinic by the Regional Jazz Chair, not uploaded by the student. The handbook asks for .wav files on separate seamless tracks, labeled last name, first name, instrument, school. The student states name, school and instrument, then plays without talking.
- Is there sight-reading on the Tennessee audition, and how long do I get?
- Jazz sight-reading is 8 measures with 30 seconds to study silently or by air-playing. West gives a brief amount of time, the same within each instrument. East and Middle do not publish their sight-reading study time. Chair-placement videos are judged by three musicians per instrument. The jazz rubric in the 2027 handbook, page 15, is Prepared 34, Sight Reading 33, Improvisation 33. West auditions use a screen.
- When will I find out if I made Tennessee All-State?
- Middle prints Round 2 Results Released October 30 for grades 9-12 and jazz 7-12, and Round 2 Results Released November 20 for band 7-8. West results are posted as soon as possible in the director packet and are official only at the clinic (February 11, 2027, Cannon Center; clinic registration by December 11). East does not publish a results date. All-State Jazz results have no date. Ask your director.
- What if I miss a rehearsal after I make Tennessee All-State?
- The handbook's Appendix I requires all rehearsals and concerts, excuses a student one hour before their own school group performs, and gives a warning or dismissal. Alternates may replace a member from the same area. A jazz seat forfeits any other All-State ensemble. The conference is January 13-16, 2027 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Nashville.
- What All-State ensembles does Tennessee have?
- The 9th and 10th Grade Concert Band, the 11th and 12th Grade Concert Band, the Jazz Band for grades 9-12, the 11th and 12th Grade Symphony Orchestra, and the 9th and 10th Grade String Orchestra. The string orchestra is strings only. Wind and percussion students can be selected for the symphony orchestra as well as the bands.
- How does the Tennessee All-State Jazz Band audition work?
- Auditions are recorded at the regional jazz clinics, and only members of the regional clinic jazz ensembles may audition. Each student records prepared pieces, then 8 measures of sight-reading with 30 seconds to preview it silently, then improvisation: two choruses of F blues and one chorus of B-flat rhythm changes. Drum set players demonstrate swing at 220, funk/rock at 100, and samba at 120 instead.
- How should I start preparing?
- Get your region's scale and etude list from your band director first, since Tennessee assigns materials at the region level. Then build the scales slowly enough that accuracy and a good sound never break, and treat the sight-reading and improvisation components as skills to practice on a schedule, not to cram.