Tips for not getting nervous for All-State Auditions?!
Question: This past Saturday i had my GMEA All-State Band Auditions
and i got REALLY nervous and i sorta messed up on my scales...even though i practiced 2 months.
any suggestions how not to?
Answers: This past Saturday i had my GMEA All-State Band Auditions
and i got REALLY nervous and i sorta messed up on my scales...even though i practiced 2 months.
any suggestions how not to?
Hmm, if you already had your auditions, then I don't think it's necessary to get tips. Whatever, I'll share my story anyway. (:
I had SCSBOA (Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association) All-Southern Honor Band Auditions on the 2nd of December, and I play the clarinet. I too practiced a lot, to the point where I had my audition piece perfectly memorized. The scales were easy peasy, including the bonus scales. I was all ready, but when I got there, I started to get quite nervous.
The audition location was 1400 ft. in elevation, compared to my city's 150 ft. It was very cold there, but the sun was out, so I immediately started warming up. We were allowed to practice in the school's lunch area and cafeteria. I was an hour early, so I had plenty of time.
The hour went by rather quickly, and pretty soon I was sitting in my audition room. I gave the judge my cassette tape and copy of the music. She asked me a few questions, then told me to start when I was ready. I messed up on my chromatic! My fingers got mixed up, which never ever happened before, and I became panicky. But I had to go on, so I started again from the top.
My piece was great. I was allowed to play it memorized, even though it doesn't affect the total score in any way. I could hear the scribbling of the judge's pen, but I tried to ignore that. The room I was in was a US History room, and my mind began to wander off to my project due in a few weeks. Then I remembered I have to concentrate, or else I'd mess up! The whole ordeal was pretty tough, with my mind and eyes wandering all over the place.
I was out of there in no time. The judge thanked me for trying out and complimented me on my tone and playing. I let out a huge sigh. I was finally over with the auditions!
My school's band director kept asking me if I had gotten my results in the mail throughout the week. My mom surprised me with a big, white envelope a couple of days after the audition.
We were both shocked at how quickly the results had come. Inside, there were registration papers, a schedule, and some other information, along with the pieces the Honor Band would be performing. It didn't say what chair I was, though, for some strange reason.
When I told my band director, she was overwhelmed! She gave me a hug and told me that I was her first student to be in the All-Southern band.
So that's the end of my story, haha. As you can see, the whole thing was pretty good for me!
These are some things that I did to keep me from getting overly nervous:
-Take deep, even breaths.
-Go to the bathroom. Seriously, you gotta go when you're nervous!
-Walk around, sit down, or do whatever you feel like you want to do before your audition.
-Don't pay attention to the others around you, even if they are better than you. Just pay attention to your own solo!
You can find plenty of other tips at my state's organization's website: http://scsboa.org/honorgroups/pdf/AUDtip...
I hope this helped! :)
picture them all in under wears
or just try really hard to forget about everything else and concentrate on your music
thats what i do and it works
=]
honestly, i really think you can't help getting nervous. Its just how you deal with pressure. My best advice is to just try your best and take a few breaths...yeah it's corny but what else is there?
just tell yourself it's no big deal, just some band thing...it works for me. and if you mess up, it is important that you forget about it and dont get imbarrassed or it will only make you mess up more.
well just dont try that underwear thing. it doesnt work. when i was in drama at my old school, i would just concentrate on what i was doing, oh, and never look straight into the audience. instead look at the back wall, it will still look normal to the ppl, but it wont be as distracting. good luck!!!!!!!!!!! :D
deep breathing exercises before the events help
alot. and at the time of starting repeat some few word then take off.