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Author: PortBluePickles
Date: 2014-05-08 05:47
Hi there!
I have an audition next weekend for the Las Vegas Youth Orchestras. I was in the Symphony this past year, but my goal is to get into the Philharmonic. I'm practicing productively every day, but I always get SUPER nervous during auditions. I shake like crazy and it affects my tone and my fingers of course.
Does anyone have any advice on how to stay calm during an audition, or just any audition tips in general?
Thank you so much!
--Emily(:
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2014-05-08 05:55
Eat a banana about an hour before you play. Bananas apparently have a natural beta-blocker which can calm much of what you describe. I have recommended them to students for years...and although I don't get nervous when I perform, I had the opportunity to try using this remedy to audition for a big fellowship a few years back. It worked.
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2014-05-08 05:58
Some audition rules: (this is all on the day before and the day of the audition)
1. No coffee, caffeine, soda, etc. This ramps your heart rate up, and raises the effect the adrenaline has on your body when you do get nervous.
2. Hydrate the day before and the morning of an event. This keeps your body at its best.
3. Practice slow breathing exercises to get your heart rate down.
4. Visualize everything, from the first thing you do the day of to the end of the audition. If you can vision it, it can happen!!
5. PLAY IN FRONT OF PEOPLE BEFOREHAND.
You MUST MUST MUST do mock auditions for other people. Do it for your teacher, your band director, your friend, your cousin, your neighbor, anybody. Just get out your clarinet and pretend they are your judges, your audience. This helps so much with nerves.
6. If you go to church, pray about it. Prayer can give you a sense of peace about the stressful situation. Otherwise, meditation is useful in the same respect.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-05-08 07:32
There are some good self help books such as "The Inner Game of Tennis," and "The Soprano On Her Head." The upshot is to concentrate on some minutia of your sound (the vibrations in your fingers; the pretty sound in the hall).
If you get caught up thinking about mistakes that MIGHT happen or mistakes that HAPPENED (a few measures ago) then you are just making yourself nervous over stuff you cannot control. Focus on the sound you are making in the moment.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2014-05-09 04:43
Practice audition. Grab as many people you can (friends, family, other musicians), and have them sit there and literally grade you as you play. Tell them to right down during each piece when they hear something good or hear something bad.
The more you do it, the less nervous you'll get playing five feet from someone taking notes as you play, and the more you'll be able to ignore them and focus on the music in front of you.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Titus
Date: 2014-05-09 06:28
I know how that feels. Back in 7th and 8th grade, I used to get really nervous with region and state auditions.
Now, I just go in there with a confident attitude. It really does help. If you go in there like, "I practiced but I'm not sure If I'm good enough" type of attitude, chances are you will shake. I think everyone needs a "I practiced and I deserve to be here" type of mentality when they play.
It's definitely helped me be more successful.
Oh, and definitely get a good night's sleep. It's a weird thing for me, because lack of sleep doesn't affect my athletics, academics, anything. But If I don't get sleep before an audition, I play worse.
As for food, try not to get too much caffeine as above posters have stated.
What are your requirements for Philharmonic? Ours was pretty routine (scale, all state audition etude for that year, and sightreading).
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Author: PortBluePickles
Date: 2014-05-12 00:38
Titus-
Our auditions are pretty simple, just two etudes and sightreading. No scales, which is pretty weird. We do do scales for Honor Band and All-State though.
--Emily(:
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