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For band, we must audition to see if we'll be in the upper or middle band. The audition will be the final for this year. We will be graded on scales, tone, a prepared piece, and sight reading, among other things.

That's all fine and dandy. I do have a small problem, however. It's not with the grading system, yet it is.

The current freshmen will not be required to play all 12 scales. They shall only have to play the 6 simpler scales. The other points are waived and given as a "freshman bonus" of sorts.

I still do not have a problem with the system. But then...

If a freshman is able to play the other 6 scales, if I remember correctly, they get additional bonus points. This is where I disagree with the system.

Being freshmen, they're new and could have much potential. Thus, learning the scales should simply come with time. It's understandable that they might now know them now. This already can give an unfair advantage, but I don't much mind. The scale still evens out. By giving another set of bonus points for knowing the scales anyway changes the scales. They basically get an extra chance. In fact, ideally, the scales would be necessary either way (at least for audition purposes, not the final), to ensure that the best musicians are chosen for the upper band.

If I knew all of my scales and did two octaves each, then I'd get a rather nice score. If a freshman had a similar tone, did extra octaves here and there, but only knew 9 scales, the score would be comparable. While not receiving as many points for extra octaves, the extra scales would balance it out. Thus, the weaker musician gets a boost.

Now, sure, one can get extra points for adding octaves to the chromatic and major scales. I don't have a problem with that, as anyone can do it. Whether freshman or junior, the opportunity is open to both. On the other hand, only freshmen would receive points for playing all 12 scales.

For the purpose of the final, I could understand the placing of the bonus points. However, the replacement points are unnecessary for this section. I would instead scale it to a smaller total, that is, unless it's intended to be a softer scale.

For the purpose of the audition, I would only add extra points if the person plays more than one octave and only proportionally to the increase an upperclassman would receive. The first octave for those scales should be completely disregarded. The "freshman bonus" should stay in this case in order to correctly scale the results.

I apologize for the lack of organization. I was a bit distracted.

This came up as I thought about the audition... Danny... Who will it be?