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Re: How to practice Mozart

Author: nellsonic
Date: 2018-06-16 11:43

GenEric, yes - northern San Diego County. You are more in the central coast area if I remember correctly from previous posts? Beautiful area. I spent a few days in Ojai, Ventura, and Carpenteria last week.

To answer your revised question, Mozart will tell a judge almost everything they need to know about you as a player within seconds. Can you play with beautiful tone that is well controlled and yet exciting throughout a range of dynamics? Do you do what it takes to understand and conform to the stylistic norms of the period of the piece? Can you articulate cleanly and consistently, both legato and staccato? Do you play with accurate rhythm and an appropriate steady tempo? Are you as careful about how notes end as how they begin? Are you in tune? Can you do all this and also shape a phrase beautifully and with distinction? Do your fingers move accurately and smoothly?

I was a judge for the All Southern middle school sax auditions a number of years ago. I believe we took 10 altos. The top 2 or 3 stood out but the next 15 were also very polished and close in ability. The difference between being in the middle of the section and not making it all was very small. Any of those 15 would have done great but half of them missed out. On another day it might have gone their way. Since then it's only gotten more competitive and I am often surprised by how my students end up ranking in relation to each other. Auditions are only a snapshot of a particular day through a particular lens. So often sight-reading is the determining factor in live auditions like All-Southern.

You do your best and move on, gaining invaluable experience along the way and hopefully getting to play in great groups at least some of the time. The most successful in this are usually the ones who study with a good teacher, make the most of their practice time each week, and keep taking auditions no matter what. Just a bit of perspective in case it helps. Starting early is always a great idea, so kudos to you for being on it and seeking answers.

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How to practice Mozart new

GenEric

2018-06-16 03:43