Klarinet Archive - Posting 000351.txt from 2000/12

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Upcoming Audition
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 20:18:29 -0500

On Wed, 6 Dec 2000 19:53:18 EST, Lordbob563@-----.com said:

> I have an audition for my area's Regional Honors Band this Saturday. I
> know my material and am very confident but i have a tendency to choke
> in the audition room. This is a problem i have always had but now it
> has become even more vital that i lose this fear as auditions for
> college are a few mere months away. Can anyone help me?

OK, just one simple thing. (Well, it's simple to say, but it requires
great courage to do.) As you approach the audition you will probably
feel what you call, bad. It's worth going with and accepting that
feeling, because trying to resist it will make you do the things that
will interfere with your performance.

So, if you feel unusual sensations in your body, don't try to change
them. In fact, breathe deeply, *which will probably intensify them*.
If you can, revel in this intensification. (That's where the courage
comes in.) The sensations themselves don't interfere with your ability,
but the attempt *not to feel them* may well interfere with your ability.
(Tensing your body, for example, is a good way not to feel things. But
that has other undesirable effects that you don't want.)

A little mantra to say to yourself is: NERVOUSNESS plus BREATH equals
EXCITEMENT.

And excitement is appropriate to what you are doing.

The other thing to know is that your ability to play doesn't require
your conscious mind. Recall how many times in practice you played
well, thinking of what you were going to do that evening, or what you
were going to eat.

Trust that 'other' bit of you, and concentrate on your breathing.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Is knowledge knowable, and how do we know?

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