Getting into conservatoire
I desperately want to study jazz (guitar) at either royal Welsh, Laban, guildhall, ram, or Birmingham, (or anywhere else tbh) but am not sure how high the standard is to pass the audition. My comping and voicings are fairly solid, and I play in many bands alongside playing bass and piano, as well as drums for local am dram musical theatre productions; I feel quite experienced but my soloing on bebop or any sort of quick changes feels pretty mediocre as I struggle to outline the changes without it getting in the way of playing good melody's and lines. I think I often compare my solos/level of playing to people who are either currently studying at conservatoire or have studied, but I don't really have a reference point to just how good you have to be to pass the audition. How much do conservatoires actually value a) soloing capabilities b) being able to play quick, improvised lines that perfectly outline the changes and c) good comping/general musicality? Earlier this year I got into the top combo of the national youth jazz collective short course but DIDNT do well enough to get into the long course (if that helps give any indicator of skill) Thanks for any tips ahead of auditions 🙂