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Post by stickshifty on Jan 31, 2009 0:38:06 GMT -5
What do you do other than practice?
For me...
- I always find a recording of my audition music (if available). And I put the tracks on my iPod and listen to them a lot. For me, being able to hear everything (not just my part) is just as important as being able play it.
- Two weeks before I start taking 1000mg of Lysine daily. Audition weeks are stressful enough without getting cold sores.
- I have to have all my clothes washed and steamed and set out like 2 days before. I like to eliminate the stress of "OMG where are my pants?!" on the morning of. And I always dress up. Makes me feel more confident lol.
- My dad usually has to come with me. I'm such a Daddy's Girl and he's really calm. Even though my mom plays horn and has a ton of experience and advice to give me, we always end up snapping each other's heads off. Very tense times in the Shifty household. And he always has to tell me, "First chair, last chair, no chair, I'll love you no matter what" [/sappy].
And I have an audition playlist to get me "in the right mind frame."
- "Lose Yourself" by Eminem
- "Circus" by our bff Brit-Brit
- "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor
- "Stronger" by Kanye West
- "Everything Will Be Alright" by The Killers
- "So What" by P!nk
- "One Song, Glory" from Rent
- "Don't Stop the Music" by Rhianna
- "Great DJ" by The Ting-Tings
So anyone else got their pre-audition rituals?
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Post by fluttietuttie on Jan 31, 2009 12:12:49 GMT -5
I always bring my iPod. I pick happy songs, that help me not to freak.
I go to the bathroom, constantly, just to escape the noise in the auditorium.
I only practice trouble spots, and nothing else. If I practiced everything, I would start freaking out.
I always text my friends, too, to keep my mind off of the audition.
That's some of mine. =D
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Post by bluescalesdragon on Jan 31, 2009 22:39:15 GMT -5
I get the audition piece(s) about 6 months before the audition. (Tryouts for all state band and jazz are the same day)
About two weeks before and up to the audition, I practice the pieces for about an hour each day until my parents throw me out of the house.
I freak out unnecessarily at the auditions. I go to the bathroom constantly, also to escape the noise. I pace outside the audition room. I finger through the pieces like a maniac during that stupid hour of waiting outside the audition rooms because it goes sooooo slow. What I hate is that everyone else is so chill while they're waiting but I'm the one freaking out. Anyone else ever feel that way?
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brassqueen1988
Band Nerd
But this I know, if I must die, I am a brother of KKPsi
Posts: 404
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Post by brassqueen1988 on Feb 4, 2009 12:40:57 GMT -5
What do you do other than practice? For me... - I always find a recording of my audition music (if available). And I put the tracks on my iPod and listen to them a lot. For me, being able to hear everything (not just my part) is just as important as being able play it. That's what I do too. ;D I really find that listening to the music before a festival not only makes auditioning on my part a bit easier, but also helps my overall performance at the festival. I like to eat bananas before my auditions. I don't know the specifics of this, but banans have some chemical in them that is suppose to help slow your heart rate. |
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Post by tubachick11 on Feb 7, 2009 18:51:03 GMT -5
I get my music on my iPod too! I haven't done enough auditions to have a true ritual yet though.  |
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Post by ~*Not~a~Stalker~* on Feb 11, 2009 23:26:55 GMT -5
I don't have a ritual, but...well, hold on.
-ahem-
You have The Killers on your playlist!!
And it's not even like, Mr. Brightside or Somebody Told Me. It's a not-well-known song.
Sorry. I just..they're my favorite band, and it excites me. Now I feel like I need to say something On-Topic.
Um.
Well, I don't get nervous. I get angry. The day before or so I being snapping at everyone for the smallest things. It's my way of dealing with stress I guess. It get's especially bad right after I've auditioned, and everyone is doing that whole, 'OMGZ I DID SOOO BAD I'M GONNA DIEEEEE UGHHH' thing, you know? Because after I audition I don't want to talk about it, at all, and I hate hearing other people do it, even though they aren't doing anything wrong.
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zirbo
Band Geek
Posts: 62
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Post by zirbo on Feb 12, 2009 0:56:52 GMT -5
I haven't auditioned much, but I get recordings, listen , listen, listen, go on youtube, and PRACTICE. generally a week before the audition i practice like crazy, but a couple days before i don't practice as much. Dunno why, but it seems to help me, choose my best reeds, and try not to freak out. I generally am good about not stressing over it.
The day of I eat a good breakfast, then a quick warm up before with longtones, a few overtones, vibrato exercises, play through scales, then the harder sections of the piece. Sit outside the audition room with everyone else, wishing my last name wasn't at the end of the alphabet...
During auditions i just try not to lose my embouchure while playing....That's what happens when I'm super nervous.
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Post by the_sousabone on Feb 16, 2009 0:16:31 GMT -5
I memorize all my audition pieces. And I always warmup on arpeggios that never resolve to the octave. I like to memorize them because my first audition I was so nervous I had blurred vision and couldn't read the music. So memorization it is. I usualyl practice about 4 hours a day the month before auditions. And I just learned to keep myself calm. I can't explain it. I just don't get upset.
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Post by trumellotonium on Feb 16, 2009 23:14:17 GMT -5
By the time I get to an audition I have already long since accidentally memorized everything I'm playing for it. I have several recordings of my audition pieces and have listened to all of them, but when I get into my audition room (having already taken my pre-performance dump that seems to come no matter what or for whom I'm performing), I do exactly the same warmup I do every day, INCLUDING BREATHING! People always forget to do a breathing warmup. Once I'm warm, I sing through my pieces, I finger but don't play the technical stuffs, and right before I leave my warmup room I play the opening to my first piece, just for a confidence booster.
It's all about frame of mind. Right before I went in, I had just listened to a guy before me playing the same stuff, and his mom had told me he was just accepted at Juliard. That could have really freaked me out, but rather than "how am I supposed to compete with that?" I thought to myself, "It'd be pretty cool to go to school with that guy."
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Post by uscsummermusiclvr on Mar 3, 2009 20:57:06 GMT -5
For me, I always also have to have my father there along with my friend who always get 2nd chair flute. They both tell me that I always sound good, that I am playing perfectly (even when I know I'm playing it WRONG ahaha) and yeah...
Another thing is that I HAVEEEE to ask my DAD all my terms to help me remember them. I dunno how it helps, but it just does. Cause, he's NOT a band person XD AT ALL. So, I guess by me having to say all the definitions to him, it helps me remember? Ahaha. I dunno (:
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Post by brassdancer on Mar 3, 2009 21:25:07 GMT -5
I don't warm up. Sounds weird, but I've NEVER warmed up before an audition. I will usually pull my mouthpiece out, keep it warm in my pocket and right before the audition I blow a few scales. I just firmly believe in not playing before one. If the audition piece CALLS for a warmup like something high, I do warmup ... but I'm so superstitious about it.
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Post by bandgeek101 on Mar 4, 2009 23:12:19 GMT -5
I put it on finale notepad, convert it to an Mp3, and listen to it with that horrible computerized sound so as not to put my brain to a specific style of playing it. This is how I learn the music too.
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Post by tubachick11 on Mar 5, 2009 0:28:14 GMT -5
My new thing, as of today, is to clean my mouthpiece. Thirty minute to and hour soak in lemon juice and then a thirty minutes soak in boiling water.  It's quite lovely. |
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? 
It's quite lovely.