 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-11-27 00:45
Mid-state auditions next saturday the 4th, Freaking out! Any tips, advice, etc? Oh boy, I'm going to die... :(
I will miss you all, you can blame it all on my reeds... because they are evil
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Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2004-11-27 00:55
Switch to Bass. Everyone knows it's the best instrument of the Clarinet family (just check SotW's forums and see how many are doubling on Bass Clarinet as opposed to Soprano, ha!), and with less competition, there are far fewer people who have to meet with an unfortunate accident for you to be first chair.
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2004-11-27 00:58
Practice at least 3 hours a day, 1 1/2 hours at a time. Concentrate for half your time on the rough spots (use the 5 and 1 method to get these under your fingers), and half the time on running through your entire program. If you practice and notice a small improvement each day then your anxiety will decrease and confidence will improve.
The 5 and 1 method - for only a few hard-to-play measures at a time - play this through at a very slow tempo, slow enough that it feels ridiculous but you're sure you won't make ONE mistake. Play it (with your metronome) at that speed 5 times over. Bump up your metronome 12 beats or so, play it once, being extremely careful to not make mistakes. Back the metronome off by 10 beats, and play it through 5 times again, then increase the tempo by 12. Little by little you're increasing your speed and each time you're playing it right.
This is similar to what we used to do in typing class, working on accuracy, then working on speed. But you have to be sure you're not reinforcing errors, so at the slow speed be absolutely sure you're playing it right with the proper timing and articulations. That way you're reinforcing correct playing in your brain. Do this enough and your brain won't know another way to play it except the right way.
As others have said many times before, practice so that these pieces are SO familiar to you that you can play them while whistling Dixie. Then during your auditions expect to make a couple of mistakes and don't freak out about them.
Others will have great ideas...
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Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2004-11-27 01:05
Still, odds are there's less Bass Clarinet players than Soprano Clarinet players that you have to beat up to succeed. Where practice fails, what you learned from watching Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers always succeeds.
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Author: jArius
Date: 2004-11-27 01:12
I'd never heard of that 5 and 1 method. It's a good idea! I should start using it.
(Ugh, it's so hard to type with wrist braces on. Check the post "Rehash: 'my thumb rest is killing me!'" to see what I'm talking about.)
Jeremy Bruins
Proud member of the too-much-time-on-my-hands club.
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Author: msloss
Date: 2004-11-27 03:17
If you don't know your parts yet, it would pretty much a lost cause at this point. However, my guess is you have put in a decent amount of time sorting out the technicals and know what is on the page. Now you need to step back and start thinking about the music and not the notes. Decide what you want to do with phrases, consider how the parts fit in with the ensemble or accompaniment. Give yourself straight run-throughs WITHOUT STOPPING. If you make a mistake, keep going. The one sure way to reinforce a stumble both for yourself and the jury is to obsess over it. Move on and keep playing the music. You'll be fine.
And contrary to a lot of recommendations you may receive, don't overpractice the music. If you are going to spend the time doing anything, spend it on fundamentals of tone, fingers, pitch, etc. The better your fundamentals are, the easier any piece of music will flow. The truly great musicians can pretty much sight read anything tossed in front of them and do it with artistic flair because the mechanics are incidental. They can focus on the MUSIC.
Good luck.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2004-11-27 04:03
what brenda said....
i tell my students to all but memorize the audition music (high school), and totally memorizied (middle school). tis a bit late for that now, i start them on the all region music 3 months before the auditions.
i use a variation on what brenda said - 3 in a row.
and i bump the metronome one setting. 40-44-48-54-58-60-63-66-72-76-80-88, etc on my metronome. 3 in a row perfect. you screw up the last note the 3rd time through, you start the count over again. an articulation mistake on the last note on the 3rd time though, start over again. perfect means perfect - no errors at all.
maybe today you practice from 40 to 66 on the metronome. tomorrow start back down at 60 working up to 76 or so. following day back it off to 72 then up to 92, etc.
practice downbeat to downbeat on the tough measures. say beat 1 to the first note of the next measure. then start on the first note of the next (2nd) measure through the first note of the 3rd measure. e.g., make sure you practice the connections between the difficult passages.
easier measures, you might combine 4-8 measures, or a phrase at a time, and repeat the 3 (or 5) in a row bit.
read brenda's post again, especially that part about starting super slow so you dont reinforce errors. very important that you do not practice mistakes, if you do they'll become permanent.
this late in the process, you should be playing the entire piece through, focusing on the music - phrasing, dynamics, breath marks, etc.
interesting book that covers some of that method, or something similar:
http://www.howtomakefirstchair.com/
amazon.com carries it
i dont recommend the cd, just the book. and i dont work for the publisher or know the author, i just like the book.
good luck
-paul
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: pewd
Date: 2004-11-27 04:47
ah, then you're down to playing it all the way through, without stopping , like mark said.
mark sells a pretty cool cd with some fine clarinet playing on it btw.
and concentrate on not getting nervous, and staying calm.
make sure you understand all the style markings on the piece - tempos, dynamics, articulations, etc.
make sure you have plenty of reeds, 4 good ones broken in , in your reedguard on audition day.
eating a banana 30 minutes before helps calm you down too. or maybe thats an old wives tale.
lots of sleep the night before.
-paul
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-11-27 06:53
Forget the notes. The time for them is past. Now is the time to think like a performer, not a technician. Play through the passages and try to invest as much of yourself, as much character, as you can into them. Go for rhythmic energy and accuracy: play each downbeat to the next, and always be thinking of where your fingers are going, and not where they are. Play it for some other people, start to finish, without stopping, no matter what happens.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-11-27 15:55
On the technical material, just do the best that you can up until audition day.
If, on audition day, you have your pieces in good shape, DON'T practice them to death in the warm-up room. It could knock loose what's already settled in. Instead, find some quiet time and just go throught the piece mentally.
No need to retreat to another instrument. Here in Virginia, our All-District and All-State bands meet on two levels. Both have many more openings for regular clarinet than on bass clarinet. Most players who scam their way in, do it on E-flat clarinet.
Remember that you haven't been playing that long, and making mid-state might be a lot to expect this year. Don't forget to get to know some new people while you're there. These auditions are day-long conventions of people who share your interest. I can't think of a better place to make some new friends.
Preparing for these auditions is a year-round process, and we can talk about that after you do your audition and share your experiences with us.
Allen Cole
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-11-29 17:09
plcg (da) -
It's always a good idea to taper off the day before the audition. Give your lips time to heal and the notes time to meld together. It's like stew -- better after a day of rest.
At the audition, play a little slower than your best speed. If you play really even, it will sound faster than blue-streak-but-sloppy. If they want it faster, you will already have played the passage once and will be prepared to do what's asked.
Count to three and take a good breath before starting anything. If you're interrupted, let the person finish. Then count to three again before restarting. Jumping in counts against you. Interrupting is even worse.
Do exactly what you're told, even if it seems dumb. Anthony Gigliotti said that audition committees often ask a player to start out in the middle of something, just do see if s/he can follow directions.
Count like mad, especially during rests. Anyone can be a virtuoso on the fast notes. There are very few who can be virtuosos on rests -- that is, counting the rests and coming in exactly on time at the next entrance.
Ed Palanker says the most frequent thing auditioners get downgraded on is rhythm. Technique, tone and intonation are of course important, but playing evenly and precisely is what gets you the job.
Oh, and notice the change in title. You can't just think your way to success, but when you've done the work, anticipating failure can hold you back.
This is serious. Pardon me for saying so, but I think your name and subject line show that you're bringing yourself down. You'll do better if you can give yourself some respect.
Good luck. Let us know how you do.
Ken Shaw
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Author: SimpsonSaxGal
Date: 2004-11-29 17:29
i know a kid that made all state all four years on bass clarinet. a girl of very similar talent made it 2-3 years on regular clarinet.
i believe both of them are now studying engineering or something definitely not music-related.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-11-29 17:59
Bah. Ken beat me to mentioning that Rhythm is the #1 thing as well as the rests. Sigh. Gotta be quicker next time.
Since it's an audition, and everyone's pretty much stated everything on the audition piece, I'm going to chime in with my two cents. While you don't wanna practice it like mad while waiting, there's nothing wrong with just noodling around in order to keep your fingers/chops warmed up. Don't go into the audition and start playing the piece completely cold. Whether it be some other piece, licks from other pieces you've played, etc. etc. (am I allowed to use "licks" on a non-guitar forum?! )
Also, there'll probably be a sight-reading part. And chances are they've picked something you haven't yet seen.
Take some time to scan it over. They don't start grading until you start playing. Make sure you have the right meter and key to begin with (I've heard one thing that helps this is to quickly finger the scale without playing it before you begin). Keep the rhythm. Don't go back for missed notes or missed accidentals. Try not to say, "Oops" or "Sorry" at any point. Just plug along. And try to make it musical. Of course it's hard to do all these things all at once, but if you find yourself at a lyrical section, sing it out.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2004-11-29 19:23
I have to graciously pass along your compliments for the 5 and 1 method - it came straight out of the last pages of Peter Hadcock's book. He wrote that he wished he had figured it out many years beforehand when he was a student - so the sooner you learn it (or its variations) the faster you'll get where you want to be. I have a day job and simply cannot spend the time other students spend to learn their pieces and so have to make good use of the limited time available. Slow = Fast. Impatience often = slow as cold molasses and sometimes you end up never getting it.
Yes, I agree with the "take it easy" approach on the day before and the day of. Reviewing the difficult parts of the music and playing them way under tempo helps keep the nerves at bay.
If you know your music so well at this point, what about adding that next dimention to your playing by recording yourself? That could just unnerve you enough now so that by the time you're in there you're already used to someone (or something) listening to you.
You'll probably do pretty well. Believe in yourself, and follow the excellent advice given here.
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-11-29 21:49
ha, well I'm practicing my little tail off... Practicing during lunch and whatnot... got a sore throat last night, and so I stopped... But my downfall is my sightreading...
In the audition there are three parts scales first, then sightreading, then first prepared piece, then more sightreading (harder than the last), then second prepared piece, and then the last sightreading (which is the hardest)... And in order to move from place to place you have to make a certain score... I have the scales down, so I'll at least make it to the first sightreading... But who knows what can happen from there...
I suppose having self-confidence would help... But of course, overconfidence is what got me last year... so, who knows...
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-11-30 14:35
You learn sightreading by practicing scales and arpeggios. When you get them in your eyes and fingers, you recognize notes in bunches, by the familiar shape. You start your fingers playing them while look ahead to recognize the next shape.
It also helps to recognize what key you're in, and the underlying harmony. When you know that, you also know that only certain patterns can exist within the harmony.
Finally, I learned sightreading by sitting with my teacher and just running through stuff, never stopping. I'd drop out constantly and then jump back in, not feeling guilty about mistakes.
To repeat what I said, play the sightreading passages a bit slower than you think you're capable of. It's more important to get through than to go fast. If you drop notes, forget about them and forge ahead.
Have some fun, and make a new friend at the auditions.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-11-30 15:30
Follow Ken's advice very closely. Most auditions will allow you to set your own tempo for the sightreading, and you want to set it to the speed where you think you can get through it without mistakes.
Most kids blow their sightreading over the following:
1 - Paranoia about pitches. The essence of sightreading is RHYTHM, and this solves a lot of fingering problems as well. Let your EYES operate your fingers, and keep your mind on the timing.
2 - They rush fast-looking notes. Keep even the fastest notes even. At a metronome marking of 80-100, sixteenth notes are not much faster than the ticking of a watch. Don't go crazy. Lots of kids try to play eighths and sixteenths so fast that they actually fail to make room for all the notes in the passage. They literally trip over themselves in the name of speed.
3 - Be meticulous in counting your longer notes, tied over notes, and rests. Lots of folks get caught when they have been playing a fast passage and then don't know how to settle into a half note.
4 - When given 30-60 seconds to look over the piece, don't try to "practice" it. Be sure of the key and the meter (and look for changes in both), scan for awkward fingerings or rhythms, and decide how fast you can play the hardest part. THIS will be the tempo at which you play the entire piece.
5 - Don't be intimidated by how fast you hear someone else play. Put it where YOU will sound good. Speed does you no good if you make a lot of mistakes. The judges want to know whether you can play it right AT ALL, and are testing you as much on your judgement as on your skill.
6 - Kids often blow timidly because they're sightreading. Blow out nice and strong. Let these guys hear that you have a good tone.
7 - Note the 'change in title' a few posts back. Ego is your ally when the horn is in your mouth. Psyche yourself that you are going to be GREAT when you walk in that audition room, and play with confidence and attitude. You can resume being modest and humble when you take the horn out of your mouth.
One of the highest priorities in a temporary group is "keeping up." Most of these regional and state bands involve a lot of sightreading and a number of things will missed on the early tries. The judges are looking for players who can keep moving and stay with the band in spite of a few mistakes. When sightreading, leave your mistakes behind and keep jumping back on.
Allen Cole
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