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Just curious. When we interviewed him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERr70HBFAVc" target="_blank) he mentioned that he slows down every excerpt by HALF for a week, I think. Then gradually ups the tempo until audition day.

Wondering if anybody has ever tried this full-bore and had success with it.

On a side note, I was fortunate enough to hear a mock audition of his shortly before he won Boston, and it was absolutely stunning. Beyond stunning. One of the most inspiring things I've ever heard.

Working on this approach now, we'll see

I studied with Mike at NEC and learned this.

I used it for a recent audition for the Calgary Philharmonic. I advanced to the semis.

2 months later, I used it for my audition for a position with the Canadian Armed Forces. I won.

It's a very demanding preparation that involves constant use of metronomes, drones and score study. Every day is mapped out with exactly what you'll do and how you'll do it. It's a great tool and it certainly took my playing to another level.

It's top secret though...

I would love to hear details if you're interested in sharing!

Don't worry, I won't tell anybody.

bloke wrote:
Where's the job?

KC sub list. I should mention I don't know Mr Roylance's program. Just slowing things way down to hear what's working and what's not.

This was how I prepared VW mov't 3. Three times perfectly, then up the tempo another notch. It was tedious; especially for those listening. And it wasn't just a week. And it worked.

I find it especially interesting that Mike did this - because I know that he didn't have any real technical issues with 95% of the excerpts before he slowed them down. So obviously it was to perfect all of the fine details, like perfect attacks, pitch, and time?

What do you guys find to be the real advantages to slowing down excerpts? Not just talking about fast, technical ones either.

MonsterOil wrote:What do you guys find to be the real advantages to slowing down excerpts? Not just talking about fast, technical ones either.

Consistency of sound across different pitches particularly. It's eye-opening to have someone slow down a part to see how their sound goes from particularly good to decent to mediocre.

And like the stuff you already mentioned: perfect attacks, pitch, and time.

Bud Herseth said that practicing slowly was his secret. I heard an interview with one of his students who said Herseth told him that he practices more slowly than anyone he knows. If he made a mistake when he was practicing, he would say to himself, "you have to play this slowly enough that even you can get it right." Worked pretty well for him.

The following is an excerpt from a Doctoral Dissertation that discusses audition prep, based on the teachings of Dan Perantoni, Warren Deck, and Mike Roylance.

Orchestral Tuba Audition Preparation: The Perspective of Three Successful Teachers

Golden A. Lund University of Nebraska-Lincoln, glundtuba@gmail.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

When preparing for orchestral auditions, Roylance has a specific 10-week plan he has students follow. He describes the process as a systematic approach that allows the student to gather the tools they need and put them through an appropriate funnel. Combining aspects of various teachers’ influences, input from James Jenkins (the timpanist in the Alabama Symphony), and aspects of a marathon-training program, Roylance was able to devise his own training regimen. He first has students get the audition list and divide it into high taxing, low taxing, and not taxing categories. Then students divide the entire list into three lists equally weighted between the selected categories. These three lists are then put into three different envelopes. During the first cycle, Roylance has the student practice at half speed. Each day during this first cycle the student practices from a different envelope with no favoritism spent on any one excerpt. He feels that half speed helps the student to develop the melodic and rhythmic aspects of the excerpts and to “put things under the microscope.” In this phase, Roylance suggests using a metronome and a tone generator. During the next cycle, students speed things up over the course of nine days. For example if the half speed is at 60 beats per minute, then the student might start playing it at 80, then move to 100, and finally up to 120 (full speed). The next cycle is what Roylance terms a check cycle. During this cycle, if things don’t feel right, the student slows down and gradually brings it back to tempo. The fourth cycle is the first time the student records himself or herself. This cycle becomes the mock audition. Students are instructed to record their playing and walk away, but to also focus on listening. During this phase students start combining the envelopes for playing and spend extensive time mentally digging into the listening. Then, once the student is doing the entire audition list, Roylance has the student do about 20 mock auditions for peers. This phase is designed to make the student feel the discomfort of auditioning and try to become desensitized to it.

James Jenkins is no timpanist. He's one of the best tubists on earth and Mike's (and my) college professor.

Reptilian wrote:James Jenkins is no timpanist. He's one of the best tubists on earth and Mike's (and my) college professor.

This was a direct cut and paste from the online PDF of the dissertation. As we are all likely aware, Andrew Miller is the tubist in the ASO and James Jenkins is the tubist in Jacksonville.