 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sara
Date: 2001-01-27 03:08
After, All those auditions for region, and then again for all state, my teacher and I started looking for a new piece for my to play. We picked out two pieces-Flight of the Bumble Bee by Rimsky-Korsaoff and Serenade by Alfred Reed. I was wondering how hard these are in terms of level of hardness. I'm just curious of where I am in the scheme of things. But moreso, because the chic who sits next to me, in first, made region band and I, sitting second, made a high all state chair, keeps bragging that she's playing grade 5 music. I would just like to be able to say something like that back to her. But if I can't, I would just like to knew what level other people would say that I'm on. Well thanks for reading all my rambleing!!
Sara
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Author: Melanie
Date: 2001-01-27 04:57
Sara,
I don't know how those pieces rate in terms of difficulty, but I do know from experience that many times it's not how difficult the piece is, but instead how musical it is played that makes the difference. She can play all of the super hard solos she wants, but if she doesn't play them well, that hurts her. In many auditions, judges are looking for details like correct articulations, intonation, rhythmic accuracy, and musical phrasing, so they don't go by labels i.e "Oh, Jane Doe played this really hard solo _____, and she tried her best, so let's go ahead and give her a high chair. E for Effort!" It's like scale auditions: judges generally don't care how fast you can play them if you can't play them evenly.
The fact that you made all-state and she is in region band also speaks well of your playing abilities.
BUT: (I'm going to paraphrase some Mom Advice here) Just because the first chair girl brags about her ability doesn't make it right. It's important for you to realize your own abilities, but let others figure it out for themselves. If you are a better player than her, the others will see that without you reminding them. I'd just ignore her, but I know that's not always possible.
I didn't really answer your main question, but I hope this helps a little bit! I sat next to a huge ego once, and I just sat back and bit my tongue, but it was really hard at times.
Good luck!
Melanie
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-01-27 05:11
Just a tiny aside:
Recently I've been on an interview team, interviwing a lot of people for some positions within my company. One person's resume' read "IT Guru" (IT=Information Technology) as a job description.
A guru in my profession is never a self-given title, but one bestowed as a mark of respect. No self-respecting guru would ever call themselves one.
It ended up being a blot on the resume' and one of the factors in us not extending that applicant a position.
The moral being - what people say about themselves tells you something about their inner selves.
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Author: Cathy
Date: 2001-01-29 04:04
Sara, I did Serenade with my high school band last spring and I had a lot of fun doing it. At first glance it looked hard with 64th notes and some really high stuff but with practice it wasn't nearly so bad. The hardest part actually was not going too fast on all those runs and getting ahead of the band. Honestly I have no idea what grade level it is but it is such a lovely sounding piece that I would recommend it just for the enjoyment of it.
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Author: Rich Gordley
Date: 2001-01-31 20:41
I was on an audition committee years ago for a young artist's competition with a semi-professional concert band. One of the competitor's played Reed's Serenade and won. Not with a blinding display of technique, and this was certainly not the most difficult piece we heard that afternoon, but with a singing tone and style that was just ravishingly beautiful. Moral: it's not what you play, but how you play it.
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