 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Asain
Date: 2006-11-22 18:46
In a few weeks, I will be competing in my first high school all region auditions. If I make top 16, I will be able to compete for all state. Does anybody have any advice for auditioning? Like how to not be nervous and such.
The music we are trying out on is #10, page 11 in the Rose book, #17 in the Rose book, and Diminished 7ths excercises up to high Ab.
Thanks!
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Author: pewd
Date: 2006-11-22 19:15
know the pieces so well you won't miss a single note ; then you won't have reason to be nervous
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: juan
Date: 2006-11-22 19:42
I just went throug that stage and basically know that it's not all about the speed for scales and sight reading. Attack the sightreading mainly by dynamics and that'll do . I made all state doing this.
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Author: SVClarinet09
Date: 2006-11-22 20:41
Welcome to the club! I just had auditions a few weeks ago for All County. In January, I have All District and we have to make Top 6 for State Tryouts. Anyways what I did was, I slowed my scales down to a reasonable tempo(QN=120) I usually played around 140 or so. Make sure, like that article stated, that you have a good reed. I had a 7 reed cycle. 5 minutes before I got called into audition, I picked the best reed. For your solo piece(s), practice them every night. If you are allowed to bring in a copy of the solo, highlight dynamics, key changes, accidentals, hard rhythms, and anything else you find necessary. Make sure you play at a reasonable pace, never play faster then what the solo suggests. As for sightreading, use up ALL the time they give you. First check for your key signature, time signature, tempo, and then check your rhythms. If you have a fast rhythm, slow the beginning down to play the faster rhythm at a reasonable pace. Finger your notes as you go through the piece. Count out loud or in your head to make sure you are going to play the right rhythm. When you play the piece, don't EVER stop, keep going even if you skipped a measure or line. Once you're done with the audition, say thank you to the judges and walk out calmly.
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2006-11-22 21:18
Play it through a million times. Play it by yourself, record yourself and listen back, play for your parents, play for your friends, play for your dog, play for your teachers, PLAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES/RIVALS/COMPETITION, play for fellow music students. Just play them for anybody and everybody you can! That way, it'll be less intimidating when you're playing for a judge. Especially try playing for someone you are intimidated by are feel is better than yourself playing wise-this always helped me a great deal.
I know for the Missouri All-State, it was pretty much just the kids who didn't get very nervous and knew their stuff made it. If you let your nerves get the best of you, you probably won't make it. At least here in MO, that's how it seems to be. But, keep in mind, the judges WANT to hear great players and great auditions. The judge is on YOUR SIDE. They are silently rooting for you. Do they want to sit through 100+ horrible auditions? No! They'd rather hear 100 great ones!
And with Rose and technical drills, always practice slow and work up speed. Then in your audition, I would try to err slightly on the slower side because your nerves will get the best of you and make you play faster than you normally would. For tempos for the pieces, right before you play, hear the music in your head so you can get an appropriate tempo. And remember, a little slower and perfect is better than faster and sloppy.
Good luck and best wishes!
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Author: jmberch
Date: 2006-11-23 00:39
one of the most important things in an audition...and most overlooked...is scales. usually, i know for me, that is the first thing the judges here. play the scales forte and play them confindently. something that helps me greatly is when i walk into the room....and people are outside waiting there turn...i pretend they want to hear me, that they're here to here me, and the judge really wants to hear me, i guess you can say cocky...but most of all, this is your time to show off. You've practiced for hours and hours, this is your performance, your chance to show what you know.
hope this helps
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Author: SVClarinet09
Date: 2006-11-23 02:33
i know this might sound stupid, but when i registered, i registered with my competition. as we stood outside i talked about how i could double tongue and they talked about how theyve been to all state for the past 4 years. we sat and talked waiting for our turn. i went first and made them real nervous. going with my competition makes me want to do my best to show them they have to worry about me. its like psyching them out sorta.
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Author: rgames
Date: 2006-11-23 03:05
For normal young people, there's no way to "not be nervous." The trick is to learn how to deal with the nerves, and that's a very individual process that you'll develop over years of doing auditions. Eventually the nervousness will go away but it'll take a while to figure out how to do that (maybe not until after college...).
Having said that, it's important to draw the distinction between Practice and Rehearsal. Practice is the process of working specific elements of the audition material. This is the part where you work slowly with a metronome/tuner and get the technical aspects as clean as possible.
Rehearsal is the process of assembling all of these practice elements into a coherent whole. You don't use a metronome or tuner during rehearsal - it's a "rehearsal" of the audition. Start at the top left and make the best music you can without stopping.
At the early stages of an audition, it's mostly practice; as you get closer to the audition, it's mostly rehearsal. Regardless of how effective your practicing is, it's best to switch focus to rehearsal some time before the audition.
In my experience, college-age musicians seem to understand the distinction and the importance of these two processes but most high-school-age musicians do not. The high-schoolers who are successful seem to be the ones who address practice and rehearsal in the appropriate amounts.
rgames
____________________________
Richard G. Ames
Composer - Arranger - Producer
www.rgamesmusic.com
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Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2006-11-23 03:44
There is something to the order you go in, if you can help it. For instruments where there are a lot of people, going in the first few is dangerous because they may downgrade your score to leave room for anyone who might be better than you. Going near the end can also be dangerous because they may have already given out top scores and you may have to really impress them to keep your score high.
The best bet is to try to aim to be in the 20-40% range from the beginning (if there's twenty auditionees, aim to go in the 4th-8th position). This way they won't be jaded and tired, too. Of course, if you really wow them it doesn't matter where you are!
-Randy
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-11-23 15:58
Asain -
There are many threads on auditions. Use Mark's great Search tool (above the first message here) and look for the word audition.
As you prepare, practice scales with a metronome to get them absolutely smooth and even. You have to get them into your muscle memory, and they have to be perfect. Super slow practice is the solution. Never go faster than perfect. The same goes for the Rose etudes.
At the audition, go a little slower than your maximum speed. You get a better score for playing without mistakes than you do for playing fast. If the judge wants to hear it faster, he/she will ask you to play it again and give you a tempo.
As I wrote in an earlier thread, Important thing # 0, ahead of everything else, is to FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. The first thing a conductor wants is to have everyone doing what s/he says.
If you're told to start in the middle of a phrase, or on an unimportant note two bars before a solo, you have to do that. Anthony Gigliotti said in a master class that if you start on the solo, you're immediately disqualified. Ed Palanker said the same thing in his audition articles in The Clarinet.
Greg Smith of the Chicago Symphony says that the most important five things in an audition are rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, rhythm and rhythm. Ed Palanker of the Baltimore Symphony wrote that inexact rhythm is the by far the most frequent cause of downgrading.
On rests, you have to count twice as hard. The temptation to think about the next entrance and just let the rests go by is almost irresistible. If you do this, you're 100% certain to jump in early. Doing this one thing right will put you ahead of almost everyone else.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: allencole
Date: 2006-11-23 18:53
I have only one piece of advice to add to the volumes of excellent advice online here:
RHYTHM! Make sure the judges know you have it. Don't use speed as an expressive device unless indicated in the music itself. Lots of students with great tone and fingers make ridiculous mistakes because of even a single rhythmic gaffe. Show just how great you can sound while staying in precise time with the band.
Allen Cole
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Author: Detru Cofidin
Date: 2006-11-25 05:05
Don't "not be nervous". The biggest auditioning tip I ever got, as simple as it is, was to just "walk in there and be yourself." Don't mimic, don't pretend, just play music. I don't know why this helped me so much, but it certainly helped me get into All-State as a sophomore. Notes are easy, music is what they look for.
Nicholas Arend
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Author: joeyscl
Date: 2006-11-26 04:47
the rose 32s or Rose 40? The last etude in the 40 is a stinker
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