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 Stressful audition time
Author: jonathan.wallaceadams 
Date:   2017-12-11 18:57

Hello all!
College pre-screening has passed and that means that I have more repertoire to learn over the next month!
I need:
Two etudes (and a third for All-State auditions)
Mozart mvt. 1
a solo of my choice (von Weber Concertino)
and two orchestral excerpts

I have until Jan. 27th.

Currently, I feel very safe on the etudes. I only have the exposition of Mozart mvt. 1 down. Basically, I have half of the Mozart first movement, a whole nine-minute solo, and two orchestral excerpts to learn in a short time span (short for what I'm used to.) Suggestions for digesting all of this repertoire and keeping the stress from taking over over this next month? Thank you.

Just an aspiring student.
Buffet Tradition
Mpc.: Hawkins "G", Barrel: Moba, Reeds: Reserve 3.5+

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 Re: Stressful audition time
Author: kdk 2017
Date:   2017-12-11 20:05

Are the orchestral excerpts specified by the auditioners or do you get to choose your own?

The most obvious idea is to use as much as possible material you already know. Certainly you must be able to find etudes you've already learned. If you're choosing the excerpts, pick ones from works you are familiar with.

There's a good deal of repetition in the Mozart. Don't spend all of your time practicing it in sequence. If you need to play the entire movement straight through for the audition, save rehearsing that until you've learned all the separate pieces of it.

If you're learning the Concertino from scratch, you might consider instead using something else that you already have under your fingers. Unfortunately, there isn't too much economizing you can do in learning the Weber (if you don't already know it). Each section is unique from a technical point of view, although a lot of it is based on a relatively few scales and arpeggios which, hopefully, you already have learned well.

Karl

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 Re: Stressful audition time
Author: ClarinetRobt 
Date:   2017-12-11 22:53

I agree with Karl. If you don't have Concertino already under your fingers, I'd pick something else. It's a lot of music to absorb quickly. Each variations is its own animal and not a lot of patterns to make for quicker practice to master the entire piece. What solos have you planned in the past few years? I suspect you have something that would be equally terrific and definitely make you life less stressful.

If you get to pick your excerpts, obviously select ones that highlight your ability. If your a fast tonger, pick the MidSummer's Night Dream. If you have beautiful legato, pick the Beethoven 6, Mvt II. Quick fingers then pick the cadenzas from Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade or Capriccio Espanol. Those are classic excerpts they should love.

If everyone is playing the same all-state etudes from this year, it might a good strategy to go back a year or two and pick those. Judges get tired of hearing the same thing over and over. (Though they never tire of Mozart, LoL). It might be an interesting competitive advantage to differentiate yourself from the masses by playing a different set of etudes you already have under your fingers and can quickly freshen-up.

~Robt L Schwebel
Mthpc: Behn Vintage
Lig: Ishimori, Behn Delrin
Reed: Legere French Cut 3.75/4, Behn Brio 4
Horns: Uebel Superior (Bb,A), Ridenour Lyrique, Buffet R13 (Eb)

Post Edited (2017-12-11 23:02)

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 Re: Stressful audition time
Author: Philip Caron 
Date:   2017-12-12 20:47

Maybe plan on dealing with the stress; it's going to be there for sure. Work hard each day, put in plenty of hours of prep, then get a good night's sleep each night knowing you did your best that day. Tune out the negative and unnecessary in your life, at least temporarily. Eat with your brain. Find ways to fit in activity other than music, especially physical exertion. This is all common sense, but it still needs some commitment and plan. The idea is not to remove stress but to promote your body and mind's ability to use it.

Nerves can tune you up to perform your best; don't let the feeling of nervousness itself make you increasingly nervous. Major soloists are bursting with intense energy at performance time, but they channel it into playing well and being in a very unusual physical state, their peak - as opposed to getting into a negative feedback loop where the overload wrecks control. Sure it's uncomfortable, but go with it willingly; it's not about being comfortable. The changes in perception, temperature, breathing, time sense etc. are not to be feared, they're your body being ON.

Stress can be good; nerves can be good: you want them.

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 Re: Stressful audition time
Author: Richie 
Date:   2017-12-16 09:27

Find anybody to play for...it doesn't even matter who, but every time you play for someone, it gets that much easier on the actual day. When you get to about 3 days before the audition, don't change anymore significant things (the important one here is tempo); it will only contribute to the stress be detrimental to the hard work you've done for the past month.

Well, those are just things that have done a bit to help my anxiety in the past...Good luck on the audition!

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