 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Someone
Date: 2017-10-02 21:50
So, On Saturday, A small portion of our high school band went to Geneseo to try out for ILMEA. 11:30 rolls around, and I go for my audition on a Bundy contra-alto clarinet in slightly above good condition, as far as school instruments are concerned, So I play both Excerpts, And I'm fairly certain I did well. However, when I got to scales, I flubbed a lot of notes, but that's not the point. So I come to school today (Monday) and hear that I didn't make the cut. And now. I'm just sort of out of it. Is there anything I can do to return to my normal life, where I don't ignore my emotions?
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2017-10-02 22:29
"An amateur practices until he doesn't make any mistakes. A professional practices until he CAN'T make mistakes."
Just forget about it, move on, practice more effectively, and ace the next audition.
B.
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Author: Dori
Date: 2017-10-02 22:39
Right now you are disappointed with the results and disappointed with your performance. You are human which means you will make mistakes. Whether you were nervous or your concentration wandered, "it just wasn't your day". This does not define you as a player or a person. Admit to yourself that you wish the outcome was different, then pick up your instrument and enjoy playing again.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-10-02 22:58
One year, as I was heading into all-state chair placements, my school-owned bass clarinet decided it would be funny to roll one of its upper-joint pads out on the floor in front of me - preceding me and announcing my imminent entry into the audition room (where it, and I, were met by a handful of non-amused glares.)
Yeah, it happens. Don't let it bother you. Keep practicing.
By the time I found someone with a lighter and had the pad back in place, my nerves were shot and I didn't get first chair. In reality (though we hate to admit it to ourselves), there are times we get placed higher than we should, as well as times we get placed lower than we should. It usually averages out eventually. Hang in there and don't let it discourage you!
I learned too late (for me, at least) that if you put the practice in, do it right, and have "improvement" as the goal (instead of chair placement or entry into premiere groups), then you'll find yourself in high chair placements and premiere groups as a side-affect to the underlying goal of improvement.
Take care, practice well, and best of luck in your future endeavors!
;^)>>>
Fuzzy
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-10-02 23:45
Someone wrote:
> However, when I got to scales, I flubbed a lot of
> notes, but that's not the point. So I come to school today
> (Monday) and hear that I didn't make the cut. And now. I'm just
> sort of out of it. Is there anything I can do to return to my
> normal life, where I don't ignore my emotions?
All you *can* do is move on and concentrate on whatever is coming next. And sit down and practice your scales enough that the same thing never happens again.
Karl
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-05 00:37
Well when taking audition you should know up to 4 sharps and 4 flats major and all minors. Shouldn't take that long to learn. 5 or 6 months. Slur all of them articulate all of them slur 2 tongue tongue. Do these as your warm ups every day. Memorized. It's easy to memorize these relying on your ear. set the metronome. Oh and chromatic scales from the lowest note to the highest.
Always have a performance piece ready at all time. Your only fear now is sight reading, so practice this everyday by looking ahead a few notes to one measure at a time.
Your next audition will be just fine. You won't ever lose another audition if you are prepared.
This is your teachers fault not you. The band teacher or your private instructor.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2017-10-06 09:32)
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2017-10-05 07:53
> This is your teachers fault not you. The band teacher or your
> private instructor.
I don't know how we can really decide that without knowing much more than we do. To me, it's not really fair or productive to place blame like that from such a distance. I prefer to look at it in terms of responsibility.
We are all ultimately responsible for our own preparation, once we've been shown how to go about it and taught the basic principles. I'm sure the OP will draw some valuable lessons from all this and go on to greater success.
Anders
Post Edited (2017-10-05 10:00)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-06 09:59
nellsonic - good point. I thought about this before I wrote this. The person is searching for answers as "Someone," doesn't want to fail again.
He/she made the point of saying this, "Is there anything I can do to return to a normal life?" These are powerful words. These are not just words.
These mean something and we have to help. I stand by what I said. The teacher or teachers failed. Happens all of the time. Let's not let it happen now. This person shows great love towards music.
The person hasn't been taken seriously. IMO the teachers have failed and I think you would agree. We cannot let this happen again. His/her love for music is very strong. We must guide him/her in the right direction, which includes letting "Someone," know to start looking for that special teacher.
Every instructor should start teaching some scales after a few months of playing.
I believe in "Someone's." future. This person has that passion. With passion come great players.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-10-06 12:48
Bob, I rarely disagree with you, but this is becoming a pedagogical issue rather than one specifically about the clarinet. "Someone" says specifically that "...I play both Excerpts, And I'm fairly certain I did well. However, when I got to scales, I flubbed a lot of notes..." - the part of the audition, the "excerpts," for which his teacher's coaching would have had its greatest effect went well. He lost points toward his total score with scales.
Apart from listening to them regularly and providing fingerings when specific ones will make specific scale passages easier, there isn't much a teacher can do to help a student play the right notes in his scales. Scales are just something you learn or you don't learn. You learn them by practicing them. There's not much a teacher can do about teaching them. I think we might fail in advising Someone well by not pointing that out.
Someone may or may not have a good teacher. I agree with nellsonic, though, that blaming the teacher for Someone's flubbed scales may be unfair. Someone knows better than we do if he "flubbed a lot of notes" in his scales because his teacher didn't teach him what he needed to play them correctly or because he just didn't practice them enough this time around and nerves made the difference (which, apparently, they didn't in his "excerpts").
Karl
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2017-10-06 16:42
"Someone" had a bad day. We all have them, and the trick is to ensure that the bad days do not coincide with auditions. I presume that Someone did know and could play the scales, otherwise they would not have got as far as this audition. That being so, its hard to fault the teacher. The failure to play satisfactorily could have been due to nerves or possibly just lack of practice. A teacher could have advised a nervous student on how to deal with this problem, and may well have done so. Likewise a teacher could have picked up on a student who had not done the practice hours. The instrument may not have been up to the job, and this would be known to the player.
The fact is that only the best were chosen and on this occasion for whatever reason Someone was not the best. This can be fixed, but the fix mostly lies with Someone.
In the long run this is just a single audition. It's not the end of the world, it does not determine the course of Someone's life and does not define them as a person. It was just a bad day. Identify the causes and fix the problem and then get on with your life.
Tony F.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2017-10-06 21:57
There are really two dimensions to Someone's OP; the first is technical and the second is an emotional/maturity one.
A good friend of mine had an audition for a regional orchestra sub-clarinet job last weekend. He plays exceedingly well, has a graduate degree in clarinet performance, and has extensive professional clarinet performance experience. Everything went well except he admitted that he "inaccurately counted a series of measures..." He did not win the audition but said to me "there is also another audition for a similar position with (orchestra name deleted); I've been invited for that as well..." I know he will "bounce back" with no problem.
Somone, please note that my friend made a small mistake, lost the audition, did not mention the need to "return of his normal life", and is now focusing on the next challenge. You need to do the same thing; this is what a professional does.
Good luck.
HRL
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