Audition tips?

[ibebikz]

The etude selection for the Texas All State audition music was released a few days ago. What are some tips you may have for auditioning for all state band. Any and all responses are appreciated

[DaTweeka]

Here in Georgia, the number one rule with these etudes is; don't treat it like real music. Our etudes last year were written by a flautist. The whole point of these are not to determine your worth as a musician, but to determine your placement among other high schoolers. The focus here is on total technical perfection. Do not disregard any articulation, dynamic, or tempo marking. It sucks, but that's how you get placed, at least in GA.

[euphoni]

The etude selection for the Texas All State audition music was released a few days ago. What are some tips you may have for auditioning for all state band. Any and all responses are appreciated

-Put in more practice hours than anyone else.
-Play long tones, scales, lips slurs, articulations, tonguing exercises every day
-Play as much music as you can get your hands on
-Spend a significant amount of time learning the audition music; practice slowly and use mental practice with fingers
-Observe every single detail in the music
-Know what to expect in the audition (scales, audition piece, sight reading, etc)
-Visualize and 'hear' yourself playing a perfect audition
-Have a mock audition beforehand with your band director, friends or parents

Good luck!

[WoodSheddin]

Here in Georgia, the number one rule with these etudes is; don't treat it like real music. Our etudes last year were written by a flautist. The whole point of these are not to determine your worth as a musician, but to determine your placement among other high schoolers. The focus here is on total technical perfection. Do not disregard any articulation, dynamic, or tempo marking. It sucks, but that's how you get placed, at least in GA.

Treat it like real music. Flautists are real musicians. Send a convincing musical message within the boundaries of the ink on the page. Every marking is there to give the judge an opportunity to hear you read music. What you choose to do with what is not marked on the page gives the judge an opportunity to hear you make music.

[Manbrass]

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[pgym]

Download the Performance Guide for your instrument.

Euphonium

Tuba

Every time you work on an etude, read through the relevant section before you begin to remind yourself of what the judges will be listening for, then DO WHAT IT SAYS.

Record yourself, then listen to the recording critically, evaluating your performance against the criteria set out in the Performance Guide to identify areas for improvement. Be tough on yourself. Remember: the judges aren't going to cut you any slack. If you don't hear it in the recording, the judges won't hear it when you play it live.

Oh ... on the question of technical perfection vs. making music, listen to this TED talk by Benjamin Zander. I trust you'll get the point.

[k001k47]

Invest in a nice recording device; you'll know why as soon as you listen

[Biggs]

When the Earth was cooling and I was trying out for all-state band (in a non-Texas state), sight reading separated the men from the boys. Practice sight reading. Read something new every day. Read in all keys. When you make a mistake, practice continuing with the piece as if nothing had happened.

If Texas does not require sight reading, disregard this advice. If Texas does require sight reading, don't say I didn't warn you. There were plenty of people who could play the etude near-perfectly sitting at the bottom of the section (or worse, at home!) because they weren't fluent in Gb major.

[AHynds]

Here's a tip that has worked well for me in the past. When you're about 15-20 minutes out from the audition, take a nice, but brisk walk around the area. Don't do a couple of sprints or anything really tiring, but just do enough to get everything limbered up. I find that it always helps to get your lungs and muscles used to doing a little work before going into an audition. One of the physical manifestations of nervousness is a slightly elevated heart rate, and getting used to that sensation beforehand seems to help calm things down during the audition itself.

[Roger Lewis]

I think I've posted this before, but perhaps it's worth repeating.

Several physiological things happen as you get ready to go on stage and also once you start performing. You're probably going to be nervous as the "fight or flight syndrome" will be kicking in. What's going to happen is your visceral muscles (in the abdomen) will tense up so, when you go to take that first big breath, you only get half of what you are used to getting. So you now have less stored energy to work with. The next thing is all your senses become more more acute, so the first notes you play will sound really loud to you - so you pull back - even though you are playing at the dynamic you've practiced at.

So, you don't have enough air and you are playing softer than you have ever practiced the piece and you are bound to have some little thing go wrong (that will sound HUGE to you). Now time stops. Your mind goes crazy and freezes at the moment of the mistake and you are totally focused on that one point in time (while still continuing to play but without any real concentration on what you are currently doing), which causes another "accident" and another frozen moment in time. This is the beginning of what I call the performance "death spiral".

1. Breathe bigger than you think you need to. It will help relax the abdominal area (and practice doing this long before you show up to play the audition).
2. Start louder than you think you need to.
3. Stay in the present and toss off the errors and keep focused on what you are doing and where you are going with the music.

Just things that I have observed in my students over the years.

Best of luck to you.

Roger

[dwerden]

There are some great posts already in this thread! Let me share a blog post I did a while back. Here is the link, but I'll paste all the text below, too:
http://www.dwerden.com/forum/entry.php/ ... n-Audition

Most players have trouble dealing with nerves during pressure situations like auditions or competitions. Below are a few thoughts I recently sent to a student that might help you prepare.

- Practice well beyond where you thing you need to. If you get totally sick of the pieces, then divert some of your practice time to other exercises that will emphasize the same basic skills. For example, if there are long intervals in one of your pieces, you can find or make up plenty of long-interval exercises that will help you improve the same basic skills. If a piece has a passage in a key you find difficult, spend some time practicing other pieces or etudes in that same key. It will help keep you from getting tired of your "real" piece.

- Practice with distractions now and then. Have someone in the room listening as you go through the pieces. Ask them to walk around now and then to make sure you are not easily distracted. You will certainly be distracted by things while you are playing the audition, so it is better to get used to handling these things before you get there.

- Learn to play everything faster and slower than you prefer. This will help you survive if you excitement causes you to play faster or if you have an accompanist who gets you into a slightly different tempos.

- Record your practice now and then and try to listen objectively. You know what your strengths are and you should appreciate them as you listen. But also listen for your weaknesses and try to hear them as a stranger would. Are you breathing in the best places? Are you breathing too often? How is your rhythm? Do your tempos hold up throughout a passage/movement? Is your tone even from high to low? Is there life in the music? Etc.

- At some auditions and competitions you will be waiting in a "holding area" for a while before you play. So make that part of your practice now and then. After getting a full warm up, don't play a note for 10 or 15 minutes and then pretend it is your turn to play. Do a tuning note or two and then jump into your pieces, trying to play all the way through all pieces required.

Nerves are always the biggest problem in a competition. Harold Brasch used to say that the best way to overcome your nerves is to practice and practice and practice and...

Here is a great article written about trombone auditions. It from a few years ago, but is just as valuable today, and most of the reflections are applicable to euphonium and tuba as well as trombone.
http://www.trombone.org/articles/librar ... p?ArtID=38

[Jay Bertolet]

Definitely some very good information here for someone looking to play auditions. I'll add a couple of things:

I know many worry about nerves at an audition. While I understand for some that this is an issue, I wonder how often nerves play a part because the person isn't fully prepared. Dave Werden mentioned it in his comments and I agree completely. Practice the piece until there is nearly no possibility that you will make a mistake. So often what holds us back is adjusting our expectations of how we perform based on our experiences to this point. The good players realize that we improve over time and that our expectations of our performance level should raise as well. Think about it; if you went into an audition knowing that you knew the piece, could play it easily at any time, and had no apprehension about your level of preparation, how nervous would you really be? That should be your goal for preparation. If you don't feel that way, maybe you're not fully prepared. I have always believed that practice isn't just about physical improvements in your playing. It is also about psychological preparation and confidence level.

Others have mentioned reading 100% of what's on the page. That is really great advice and so often overlooked. I encourage my students to use a highlighter marker to accentuate every single marking in the music, except the notes. I expect my students to know the literal translation of every word designation in the music. If there are accidentals, have you carefully marked each one that carries through a measure? There are tons of things to miss and not missing any of them is a huge statement.

The flip side of not missing anything on the page is demonstrating your thorough understanding of it. For example, if there's a crescendo in the music, where exactly does your volume peak? Do you follow the notation of the crescendo and peak exactly on the note above where that crescendo ends on the page? Or do you reason out why the composer put that marking in there and deduce what the purpose of the marking is? Very often, understanding the markings and their purpose will give you genuine insights into how to interpret the music. Try to develop a synergy between your execution of the notes and the interpretation of the music you're trying to present. If those elements go hand in hand, the final product is usually really good. It's no different than doing a harmonic and melodic analysis of the piece to breakdown how the music is put together. More information is always better.

Ultimately, it is the creation of a big package of traits that defines how people perceive your playing. Make sure your playing reflects the traits you want associated with your performance. Good luck!

[ibebikz]

Thanks for all the great responses, im taking notes of each and every one

[swillafew]

An easy one: start playing in front of other people. People practice where they won't bother anybody and get distracted when they can see the audience. If your routine includes frequent performance for others, you will gain a lot of comfort and confidence.

At the audition: If you make a mistake, you still might be the best one there, so don't sweat it if you make some.