The Gauntlet

Every year, we publish the full set of challenges undertaken by that year’s Gauntlet Skills Camp cohort, as a resource for future Gauntlet students. While each summer’s set of challenges is unique, they test the same skills and a particular challenge may repeat over different sessions, often with some variation. Every Gauntlet is scored out of 100 total points, and consists of 30 challenges from 10 different musicianship skills.

Past Gauntlet Challenges

2022

  1. Perform a series of given notes on your instrument — Technique (2 points)

  2. Name excerpts and composers from the following classical canon music — Repertoire (3 points)
    Bolero (Maurice Ravel)
    Overture No. 3: Air [BWV 1068] (Johann Sebastian Bach)
    The Rite of Spring, Introduction (Igor Stravinsky)
    Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
    Piano Concerto No. 1, Allegro Non Troppo (Tchaikovsky)
    Miserere Mei, Deus (Allegri)
    Symphony No. 9 [“From the New World”], Allegro con Fuoco (Dvorak)
    Tritch Tratch Polka (Johann Strauss Jr.)

  3. Name the notes in several given major or minor scales — Harmony (2 points)

  4. Memorize and perform a given rhythm, despite distraction — Rhythm (2 points)

  5. Perform a given whole-tone scale in eighth notes at 160 BPM — Technique (3 points)

  6. Identify heard intervals — Pitch (3 points)

  7. Arpeggiate a given triad — Harmony (2 points)

  8. Sight-read a single-note line with 1/8th note subdivision — Reading (3 points)

  9. Memorize and rap Rakim’s 68 bars from “Microphone Fiend” — Rhythm (4 points)

  10. Improvise over a 12-bar blues — Improvisation (2 points)

  11. Execute a canon with other players — Ensemble Work (2 points)

  12. Analyze a given chorale — Harmony (3 points)

  13. Sing requested excerpts from the following American standard tunes — Repertoire (3 points)
    I am a Pilgrim (Traditional/Merle Travis)
    Amazing Grace (Traditional/John Newton)
    Body and Soul (Heyman/Sour/Green)
    I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash)
    Lift Every Voice and Sing (James Weldon Johnson)

  14. Improvise over “When the Saints Go Marching In,” illustrating the chord changes — Improvisation (3 points)

  15. Transpose (by hand) “Pretty Mimi” for Bb and Eb instruments — Reading (2 points)

  16. Perform “Prelude from the Cello Suite No. 1” in G (J.S. Bach) on your instrument, scored for expressive and relaxed performance — Performance (5 points)

  17. Analyze the given jazz arrangement of “Come and Stand in My Heart” — Harmony (3 points)

  18. Compose a traditional fiddle tune in jig time — Composition (2 points)

  19. Sing given intervals accurately and promptly — Pitch (3 points)

  20. Write a fugue on a given subject — Composition (3 points)

  21. Count to a minute, despite distraction — Rhythm (4 points)

  22. Answer questions about, and perform requested excerpts from, a memorized jazz chart (“For All We Know”) — Repertoire (4 points)

  23. Execute pocket breaks with one/two other players — Ensemble Work (3 points)

  24. Repeat a given phrase ascending chromatically, then descending in whole steps — Technique (5 points)

  25. Melodic and Harmonic Transcription — Musicianship Skill: Pitch (4 points)

  26. Write a list of short paragraphs drawing insightful parallels between two of following songs — Composition (5 points)
    Black Cow, Steely Dan
    Casa Bey, Mos Def
    The Master’s Call, Marty Robbins
    Circle Round the Sun, James Taylor
    Bag Lady, Erykah Badu
    Fables of Faubus, Charles Mingus
    Morning Tears, MFSB
    Smoothie Song, Nickel Creek

  27. Perform the melody of, and improvise over the changes from, “My Foolish Heart” — Improvisation (5 points)

  28. Sight-read in sixteenth-note subdivision — Reading (5 points)

  29. Perform a chosen song on your instrument — Performance (5 points)

  30. Arrange and perform a given piece with a given group — Ensemble Work (5 points)

    Average score in 2022: 31.5