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Band Results tmr

Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 10:18 pm
by TheTuba
uhhhhhhhhhhh

I did good in auditions, would give 8.5/10 in scales, 9.5/10 in chromatic, and a solid 10/10 in etude.

BUTTTTTT
sightreading was bull****

Reason was that they had same sight reading for ALL instruments(smart right?), So the tuba was the same as flute.

Let me just say that I cried on the inside when I saw it.

Offbeat eighth, dotted eighths, 5 measures of 16th notes w/ accidentals.

Keep in mind they give you "30 seconds" (Pretty sure she gave me 5 lol) to look at this monstrosity.

I gave up on figuring out the rhythms, and just focused on giving the the best sound I-can-ever-make right into their ears.


I sounded pretty good I think!
But, some seniors gonna probably do better than me and get 1st. Aiming for 2nd or 3rd right now.


From now on I pledge to do sight reading with only 30 seconds of time to look at it.

Thank you for reading all of the rambling.
I will Update tomorrow once results come out.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 11:09 pm
by Ken Crawford
TheTuba wrote:I will Update tomorrow once results come out.
I haven't felt this much anticipation since the Lost finale.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 7:38 am
by Three Valves
I always played my sight reading assignments REAL SLOW!!

It annoyed me that the 1st tuba was technically better than me but sounded like ****.

Whereas, my sight reading and scales suffered, but I had World Class Sound!!

:tuba:

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:36 am
by tubapix
When I was in high school and the band prepared for concert contest or all state/county/district... the director pulled ALL of the music cabinets into the band room and we read as many as we could in on hour for days. I got real good at sight reading real fast. To this day I would prefer to sightread a concert rather than hammer the same tunes over and over.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:48 am
by Northernlb
It is pretty common for sight reading to match across instrumentation. Just because you play the tuba, which in turn plays mostly whole notes and half notes in band music, does not mean there is not an expectation that the musician should be of the same high quality no matter what instrument they are playing on.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 9:46 am
by windshieldbug
bloke wrote:Many symphony orchestra "pops" concerts are performed after only one rehearsal, and with some of the music not rehearsed at all:
"Does anyone need to look at 'Blah-blah'?"
(silence, because everyone wants to go home and take a nap)
'Blah-blah' (which - yes - did not need to be rehearsed) does not get rehearsed.

This.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 10:13 am
by Tom
Band sight reading is a required element of the UIL governed "contests" in your state, so sightreading is just part of the psyche of Texas band directors. It is no surprise to me that your band director(s) include it as an element of your ensemble placement auditions at your school. http://www.uiltexas.org/music/concert-s ... -questions
TheTuba wrote: I gave up on figuring out the rhythms, and just focused on giving the the best sound I-can-ever-make right into their ears.
Well, that's too bad...the whole point of sightreading is to see what you can do with the rhythms. Your other audition requirements (scales/etudes/whatever) should have already demonstrated your command of the instrument including the ability to make a characteristic sound. That isn't to say you should ever sound "bad," just that sightreading in particular is about rhythm more than it is about anything else. Clearly that is the point that the UIL is trying to make in requiring it at contests (see link above) which is almost certainly what your band directors are emulating.

Same music as everyone else? No surprise there (at least to me). Seems irrelevant, honestly. Often the reason why is that the sightreading is pulled out of some full band method book that includes the exact same material transposed for each instrument in the band. They pick this stuff because it easy on them to just sit and listen to each kid in the entire band play the same piece.

What bloke was saying about "reading" on the professional level is right on (if you care to really know about what happens on the professional level). Choir directors often hire musicians to perform at churches with NO rehearsal at all, just the expectation that you can play the part and stay with the rest of the group. With the local contractors in my city, it's essentially unheard of to have more than one rehearsal, and even then it's a quickie read through of the pieces. Even in the full time orchestra setting (such as where I work), pops concerts are almost always done on one or two rehearsals (very, very rare for more than that). Touring shows (like the video game ones) and those that are such-and-such pop singer with orchestra are ALWAYS done on a single rehearsal only a few hours before the concert. I don't say any that to make you feel bad, just to provide some perspective on how valuable the skill is. As one of my primary teachers would say "your ability to rhythmize is required!"

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:13 pm
by TheTuba
Sorry if I seemed a bit too pissed off about the sight reading. In past JH auditions, sight reading was different, and I assumed it would stay the same way in HS. of course, I learned me lesson on that one....

On a Different note (haha get it)




FIRST CHAIR BABY

pretty sure my section (2 12th graders) will be pissed at a sophomore beating them.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:56 pm
by Northernlb
Great job, now go practice!
Speaking from experience as well freshman who beat out a senior and his brother who was a junior.

Great job and keep pushing yourself, practicing, and find yourself a private teacher if you don't have one.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 9:12 pm
by Three Valves
Now that the audition has been won, we need to know what tuba, mouthpiece and solo was used to update “the list!!”

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 9:13 pm
by TheTuba
sorry, this was a high school band placement audition.
I'll try to find other threads to bump if I have any questions ( still a bit of a newbie).

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 9:17 pm
by TheTuba
Three Valves wrote:Now that the audition has been won, we need to know what tuba, mouthpiece and solo was used to update “the list!!”

A pretty banged up Miraphone 186, a RT-44, and Blazhevich book #1 etude 6 was the audition material.

The most exciting part is that the HS bought 2 new Miraphones hehehehehehe................ :shock:

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 9:21 pm
by Three Valves
Nice.

I bet the ‘rents are ecstatic!!

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 9:10 am
by Will Jones
I’ve never been so sleepy as when I practiced piano in music school. I would wake up with the keyboard imprinted on my face.

I failed my proficiency exam....

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 12:05 am
by Ken Herrick
I remember an end of term jury at Northwestern - all the brass had the same sight reading, some uncommon transposition on trumpet or horn - forget which. I asked if they wanted the correct transposition, "That would be good" said Vince Chickowicz". When I finished he said, "I wish my trumpet students sight read transpositions that well."

Moral to the story - do a lot of sight reading and transposing on the fly.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 12:19 am
by windshieldbug
Ken Herrick wrote:I remember an end of term jury at Northwestern - all the brass had the same sight reading, some uncommon transposition on trumpet or horn - forget which. I asked if they wanted the correct transposition, "That would be good" said Vince Chickowicz". When I finished he said, "I wish my trumpet students sight read transpositions that well."

Moral to the story - do a lot of sight reading and transposing on the fly.

8)

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 5:26 am
by b.williams
Ah yes, sight reading. Sight reading was part of my military band audition. Then we played the same music for 5 years. :shock: Many people can play the gig but to win the audition there has to be a discriminator.

Re: Band Results tmr

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 9:23 am
by Donn
Will Jones wrote:I’ve never been so sleepy as when I practiced piano in music school. I would wake up with the keyboard imprinted on my face.

I failed my proficiency exam....
I guess we can rule out hypnopedia as an option for learning the piano. Bummer, just thinking about it I'm ready for a nap.