 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Crazi Clari
Date: 2000-10-23 23:52
Hey everyone~ it's almost that time of year again: yep you guessed it, District Band Tryouts :-). This is the first year i'll be auditioning (i'm a junior) and i was wondering if anyone has any good techiques or things to do to try and calm down the butterflies in your stomach- any suggestions would be appreciated =) thankz.
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2000-10-24 00:28
OK, this is the way I look at it. When you're nervous, you play worse. If you want to play your best, you cant be nervous. It sounds really simple, but its true. I think you have to see somebody else make mistakes when they're playing nervous to really get it. I watched a girl do a piccolo solo during state solo/small ensemble contest last year, and she was visibly really nervous. her whole body was shaking, it made her make several mistakes. When they posted results, she got a II. It just kind of hit me then. And you absolutely have to be completely ready for your audition, know your music and scales and everything else you have to audition on frontwards and backwards. My director has told me numerous times, when youre nervous before an audition, it's your practice that carries you through. It's very true. Last year when I auditioned for all-state, I had a water bottle with me all morning. I must have filled it up 2 or 3 times, without, well, using the facilities. When it was finally my audition time, i had to GO. Really bad. That at least got my mind off what I was doing. Thats about it. Hope I helped!
-Ashley-
PS- the only other thing i can think of is about an hour and a half before your audition, get your instrument out, play through everything, then put it away again. You get this major adrenaline rush because you tend to play it well that day. I do at least. It gets you really excited and you just plain play better, and it calms your nerves. I wish you the best of luck in your audition, if you make it thats great, if you dont its not the end of the world. Auditions like that are purely the judges opinion, the best people dont necessarily get in. I'm still trying to accept that after I was rejected for all-state band on saturday, its my senior year and it was my last chance to audition :( But really, go in, be confidant, think that your the best thing since sliced bread, and if they dont accept you its their loss. Some of the best players in the world didnt make all-state or all-district (I'm not too familiar w/ any all-district band that you have to audition for, they just have all-state here). But anyway, good luck, you will be fine. Let us know how it turns out
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Author: Crazi Clari
Date: 2000-10-24 00:35
Hey thanks alot for all your advice~ it's very much appreciated :-) all i can do right now is practice hard and keep my fingers crossed! thanks again- i'll keep you posted on how things go =)
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Author: Daniel Bouwmeester
Date: 2000-10-24 01:54
Dear Clari,
Nerves is a topic lot's of musicians have to deal with..... nerves can kill your performance completely, or make it even better....
It's not only musicians like you that are nervous, but most of us are....
The best example is Yehudi Menuhin, the famous violinist....
Menuhin has from very early age, been a genious on his violin, and has started a solo carreer very young... (around ten years old).... During all his youth he has played lot's of concerts, playing every piece perfectly.... No he was not nervous... playing in a full crowded opera house was like drinking a milk bottle for him.
At one point in his life, when he was an adult, he started asking questions about his past years, about his carreer as violinist. And realised he hasn't had the youth he wanted, he realized that playing in front of thousands of people was not easy.... And he had a depression.... this depression became a phobia, and after that, he was not able to play a note in public anymore so nervous he was.... He then stopped playing for a while.... went to India to do yoga and different relaxing techniques.... And after much effort, he managed to get over it...
I don't think you can get rid of stress totally... But, you can use it to improve your music....
My most stressful experience have been playing solo in youth contests and playing Mozart's requiem with a professional orchestra..... Why ?
Usually because I was afraid of not doing well enough.. Or because I was afraid of sharing your music (my feelings) with people you don't know.
But.... during the contests, the pieces I worked on... I could play them near to perfect.. I mean, I was not limited by my technique..... The only obstacle I had, was stress.... stress because I was afraid of not playing well enough, and stress because I was going to share something very personal (my feelings) with an audience I didn't know.
When I played Mozart's requiem... I was stressed... because We had had only one rehearsal before the concert, Because I was the only amateur musician in the orchestra, because I was paid money and Mainly because Mozart wrote so perfect music that you're not allowed to play any mistakes.... The clarinet part (bassett horn actually) in the requiem is mainly made of empty bars and the rest is whole notes and half notes (which any beginner could play).....
My solution to that.. was to use the extra power you get from adrenalin (stress) to give extra strong music for your audience.... my audience ? which audience..... ? I usually tend to think about people I care for when I play.... and forget about the rest.... I just take off and land on a cloud in the sky...... After playing, I usually don't even remember how I played. Because I was in another world.
I think you should try that.... think of someone you love or care a lot for, when you play....
Forget about notes, forget about your fingers.... just say I love you with your clarinet and all the problems will dissapear...
Otherwise, to prevent catastrophes, I usually don't open my clarinet case the day of the performance.... I open it only 1 - 1.5 hour before the performance.... I take my instrument.... make sure the clarinet is working o.k., that my reed is o.k. and then 45 minutes before playing I start warming the instrument... Warming up... I usually.... hold notes very long.. by starting off pianissimo... crecendo to fortissimo and then back to pianissimo... and this for 20 minutes without putting too much effort in this.... Then... a couple minutes of warming up fingers by doing chromatic scales.... (not too long so you keep your fingers new for the performance)...... then 15 minutes before playing.... I sit down... breathe slowly... think of a beautifull landscape or a beautifull girl (yes I'm a guy you know)... and just think of nothing......
usually the hour before you play... is when you get the most effects of stress.... like diarea, shaking hands or problems with speaking.
I don't agree with Ashley and I don't recommend playing the piece at all the day of the performance, because you will find out that you haven't practiced enough, and it will increase your stress.....
I will tell you.... it's not very often that you manage to do what you want... but when this moment happens.. you will play beautifully....
And as Ashley said, don't worry if it doesn't go how you want to..... When Menuhin was having his depression, he would've probably not been able to play half as well as you will for you audition..
Good luck
Dan
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Author: Steve Hartman
Date: 2000-10-24 13:16
Dear Crazy Clari:
Don't keep your fingers crossed while you're playing!
Being well prepared is one of the best defenses against nervousness. At one of my first professional orchestra auditions, I literally got a pain in my stomach. Someone gave me a Tums or Rolaids and that helped a lot.
As far as your warmup routine before playing goes, that is really an individual thing. You may want to do a "dress rehearsal" for a friend or teacher. I once played in an orchestra that was accompanying the great pianist Emanuel Ax in a concerto. An hour before the performance, he was playing the entire concerto at half speed. Remember to breathe deeply and to take your time- don't rush or be rushed.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2000-10-24 16:08
I've never tried it myself, but I've seen other posts on this board suggest eating a banana beforehand.
My best advice is to take a few deep breaths before playing. Put the judges out of your mind and concentrate on your playing. If you have to think about them, remember that they are hoping that you do your best and they realize that people in your situation do get nervous. But, if at all possible, forget that they are there.
True story--
Years ago, I was scheduled to present the first technical paper of the morning at a technical symposium. When I awoke that morning I discovered that the alarm clock in my hotel room had not gone off when it was supposed to. According to my watch, I had already missed the authors' breakfast and it was about a half hour before my presentation was to start. I called down to the front desk to confirm the time and ask them to get me a cab, despite being only a few blocks from the meeting location. I hurriedly dressed, etc. and rushed downstairs with my slides. I caught the cab and showed up in time to drink a glass of juice before my presentation. The good news is that I was so relieved that I made it in time I didn't get the least bit nervous about making my presentation. It turned out to be one of the best talks I have ever given.
Now, I don't advocate showing up at your audition at the last minute, but I do advocate that you don't spend your time worrying about how you will perform, just relax, focus and do it.
--Don Poulsen
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Author: HTW
Date: 2000-11-02 03:40
The banana thing is indeed true, eat two of them 30 minutes before you play. Works like a dream. And don't practice your piece the day of. You know your piece, you're not going to learn it in the few minutes you have right before you perform. I've seen too many people think that, it's not good.
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