How did you get into All State?

[ThaZhangsta]

I'm a freshman in high school and next year I REALLY want to make all state. I currently practice about 8 hours a week and plan to continue that until Auditions are over next year.

If there are any all staters out there that could help me, that would be AWESOME.

How did you prepare your music?
How much did you practice?
How much competition was there?

I play tuba (of course)

[Biggs]

I'm a freshman in high school and next year I REALLY want to make all state. I currently practice about 8 hours a week and plan to continue that until Auditions are over next year.

If there are any all staters out there that could help me, that would be AWESOME.

How did you prepare your music?
How much did you practice?
How much competition was there?

I play tuba (of course)

What state? Makes a hell of a difference.

[Tubadude999]

I'm principal with the Georgia 9/10 All-State Orchestra (Sophomore). I disagree with the notion that the whole thing is a crapshoot, but the chair placement certainly is. That is to say, if you get first chair one year, don't expect it the next, because you probably won't get it. But any who, on to the practicing. I started in July (When the etudes are published), and didn't relent until January, at the auditions. As a general rule of thumb, don't orient your practice around a specific goal (i.e. All-State), orient your practice around becoming a better player, with various auditions playing a role in you becoming a better tubist. Also, it's not necessarily the AMOUNT of practice you get in, it's the effectiveness of the practice you get in. Do you take lessons? Do you do a standard warm-up? Do you work out of any method books? I use my etude to guide the technique I work on. Don't let the etude consume all of your practice. If you get it, you get it, and if you don't, you don't. Just be as dedicated as you can be, practice hard, but don't over-practice, and let the music flow. Don't be so concentrated on technique that you forget to be musical. Those are just a few of my suggestions. Feel free to message me and I'll give you my email if you need anything! Good luck!

[Tubadude999]

Oh and the competition is pretty hectic where I come from. There aren't THAT many tuba players in Georgia, but there are quite a few that are extraordinarily talented.

[Tubadude999]

Just out of curiosity, what would you do differently? It's always good to get a fresh look at my practice routine.

[ThaZhangsta]

I live in Austin, Texas. I attend Westlake High School

[ThaZhangsta]

I do have a private lesson teacher. He challenges and encourages me but not a whole lot, and he does so somewhat unenthusiasticly.

Based on our results this year the area wasn't hard 3rd chair got 2nd to last and first chair got 5th to last

Btw I got 11th at area auditions, which I thought was horrible, I had a really bad day.

[ThaZhangsta]

I didn't make area, I got 11th chair in area auditions...

[THE TUBA]

In no particular order

* Know your "automatics." By this, I mean scales, terms, solo, and other things that should be automatic in your audition.

* Play with good time. Practice with a metronome every day until you are rock solid on pulse for everything you'll have to play at the audition.

* Play with good intonation. Know where the "bad notes" are on your horn and work to push/pull or lip them in tune.

* Play with a good tone. Never louder than lovely, never softer than supported.

* Play with musicality. Musicality is often what separates the great from the very good. Do everything that is on the page and then some.

* Practice sightreading. There are some excellent books out there modeled after the sightreading examples found in all-state auditions. Try to duplicate the audition sightreading procedures so you'll know what to expect.

* Practice auditioning. Don't let nerves ruin your preparation. Practice playing your audition in front of live audiences.

* Eliminate as many variables and question marks as possible. Don't leave anything up to chance when it comes to audition day.

* Have fun. Try not to worry about getting first chair or making all-state--you can't control what the other players will do or how the judges will view you. All you can do is try to give your best, most representative performance at the audition. If you make it, great! If not, it isn't the end of the world. Hopefully, you'll find something rewarding in the process regardless of if you get the result you want or not.

[rodmathews]

I was second chair tuba in the top Texas All-State band in 1986, as well as the outstanding soloist at the state solo/ensemble contest. The biggest things that helped me were:

1) A great private lesson teacher (David Dunford, my middle school band director who was also a tuba player).
2) Some supplemental lessons with Bill Rose.
3) Larry Campbell's recordings of the etudes. I think he still does these - GET THEM. His son Steve is principal tuba of the Minnesota Orchestra, and Larry is an amazing tuba player and musician.
4) Lots of focused practice.
5) Some "almost made it" experiences the previous two years, which made me really want it.

My younger brother made the All-State Band in Texas three times, and almost made it as a freshman. He followed almost the same recipe, and it really chapped his *** that he missed the cut as a freshman! You sound like you might be in a similar mode, which is great fuel for the competitive fire.

Good luck - it's an admirable goal.

Rod

[Biggs]

I lived in Massachusetts, which was crucial to my success at All-State auditions.

[k001k47]

How did I get in there? Hell if I know. . . I suck!

[b.williams]

I lived in Massachusetts, which was crucial to my success at All-State auditions.

Hi. What do you mean?

[tbn.al]

I practiced my butt off and made it into All-State without a private teacher. But that was in 1964. I don't think that is realistic anymore. Kids just play better now, way better. My orchestra just accompanied a 9 year old violinist in the Vivaldi Concerto in G last Saturday. She played way better than I ever have at any time in my life. She's still a half dozen years from being eligible to compete. It's not fair. It really isn't.

[bort]

Getting into All-State in Texas sounds harder than most college auditions!

I auditioned for All-State in Maryland, but didn't make it. I only had like 4 or 5 days to prepare, I'd never even heard of "All-State" until my director told me the week before "hey, do this." The only thing I remember about the audition was that I knew both of the judges, and that totally messed with my head. Looking back, I shouldn't have auditioned, I wasted my time and theirs. I'm sure I had the ability to make it, but lacked the preparation. Eh, everything turned out ok in the end.

Later, I judged for the Maryland all-state middle school band, and that was really interesting. There were some great players, and there were also some kids who were beginning-level players who shouldn't have been there. I know there is value in "the experience," but I think there's a limit to what's reasonable there.

[tbn.al]

Not hardly on topic but here is a utube of Kearston and her little sister. Amazing stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e85KjCaLJio" target="_blank

[Eflatdoubler]

Texas is very competitive. In the Greater Houston area they only take the top two from region to area, and then the top two of the area auditions make state. Our region is very competitive the top two have always been the ones to make it to state. Kudos to your student who made second chair- that is quite an accomplishment.
One of my students made it (got 6th this year, a three year all stater so far as a junior) and another missed the area cut by one chair again..
Be glad it isn't bass trombone- only 1 person from the area moves on!

It is a shame that some regions/areas are so stacked and some are weaker, but that is the way it is.

My advice to the students preparing- record yourself! You would be surprised by what you are/aren't doing.
It isn't about being the strongest player- it is about paying the most attention to the details of the music.
There are usually some colleges that offer advice and recordings on how to perform the pieces. Listen to them and seek out the masterclass days that most colleges have for HS students as they prepare for the region auditions. The books that the etudes come from get released by June, and the cuts get released right during the Texas BandMasters Association in July. Start practicing then.
There is a wide range of tempo markings given for the etudes. Remember- style and quality trumps speed.

Texas does a good job of making it a level playing field by having the same etudes for everyone and also having 5 judges per panel in a screened audition.

I grew up in NY, and they just used our solo scores (out of 100 points) that we did in May to decide if we made all-state. It was one person judging and 10 points were sight reading, 10 points on scales (or so I remember) and the other 80 points were on the solo. If you were playing a class 6 solo and got a 99 or 100 you had a shot at all-state.
Some solos were musch more challenging then others, so it really was apples and oranges.

[ralphbsz]

Mostly, I'm thinking "all-state" is a mechanism for band directors to pat each other's backs/get of of teaching and get of of town for a couple of days, to encourage parents to buy more expensive instruments, to encourage kids and parents to say in band, and to encourage more kids to join the college marching bands (i.e. "become music majors"). The vendor fees (depending on which state, I suppose) also make a lot of money for the state secondary schools music associations.

There is also another factor I see in our area (California bay area, where getting into all-state is hard, because there is so much competition): School band directors use the number of students they get into the state or county band as a measure of how good they are. For that reason, they push their students really hard to audition. It is an item of pride for a local school or city that it got "12 students into state honors orchestra and 9 students into all-state band".

We also have to be careful to compare places of different sizes. Our county has a population of 1.8 million, with a very large youth music community (that's correlated with wealth, education, and immigrants from music-friendly areas). Getting into county honors orchestra is hard, because there are literally many hundreds of young violin or flute players. Now for a contrast: My son's middle-school music teacher always tells his students that he made state honors band in high school. While that is true, and while he is a very fine musician (and an incredibly good band teacher), there is a little detail he doesn't tell the students: He grew up in Montana, and the total population of that state is about half of our county.

[Rick F]

"Play with a good tone — Never louder than lovely, never softer than supported."

I love that!

[Colin Bentuba]

I'm principal with the Georgia 9/10 All-State Orchestra (Sophomore). I disagree with the notion that the whole thing is a crapshoot, but the chair placement certainly is. That is to say, if you get first chair one year, don't expect it the next, because you probably won't get it. But any who, on to the practicing. I started in July (When the etudes are published), and didn't relent until January, at the auditions. As a general rule of thumb, don't orient your practice around a specific goal (i.e. All-State), orient your practice around becoming a better player, with various auditions playing a role in you becoming a better tubist. Also, it's not necessarily the AMOUNT of practice you get in, it's the effectiveness of the practice you get in. Do you take lessons? Do you do a standard warm-up? Do you work out of any method books? I use my etude to guide the technique I work on. Don't let the etude consume all of your practice. If you get it, you get it, and if you don't, you don't. Just be as dedicated as you can be, practice hard, but don't over-practice, and let the music flow. Don't be so concentrated on technique that you forget to be musical. Those are just a few of my suggestions. Feel free to message me and I'll give you my email if you need anything! Good luck!

Yeah on the chair placement, don't expect repeats, no one does that.

Practice. Don't make anything you do uncertain. If you really know your stuff it will come off that way.