I am only a sophomore in high school and I have taken many auditions for our
senior honors district band and orchestras around the state. I prepare my
music in an orderly fashion and I am completely prepared when I enter the
audition site. I have noticed that my nerves are on end when I go into the
audition room. When I have an audition, I am kind of excited about it, but not yet
nervous. When I go into the warm-up room my heart begins to race. Once I had
an audition and I was so nervous that my entire embouchure was shaking as I
played my audition music. What is the best way to deal with nervousness before
an audition?
First, practice taking auditions. This means take more of them, or pretend that
you are in an audition when you practice. My teacher advised me to do this
when I was practicing and I found it helped a lot.
Second, learn to work with the nerves. I still get them, but I know what to expect
and what to do to control them. I make sure I breathe, and I am prepared to work
with shakey lips in big solos.
My teacher told me that a student of Isaac Stern's asked him how to best
prepare for auditions. Stern told him to run up 3 flights of stairs as fast as
he could then jump on top of a wobbly chair and play the most difficult yet
magnificent solo he knew as beautifully as anyone has ever played it. Then
repeat 3 times a day for the rest of his life, and eventually he would be prepared
for auditions.
Margaret
Margaret Dikel JCCSO Librarian / Horn / Webmaster 11218 Ashley Drive, Rockville MD 20852 301-881-0122 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.jccso.org
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