Preparing for an Audition

Excitement is in the air!

You’ve just learned about an audition you’ve been dying to take, but how should you go about preparing for these when the possibilities seem endless?  Whether you are looking at auditions for school or for symphonies, the process is quite similar. I’ve laid out a few ideas below on how I’ve prepared for these in the past and what has worked best for me.

Gather materials

For orchestral auditions, sometimes the orchestra will supply you with your audition material and sometimes you have to find it on your own (a list of excerpts and solos will be given). I have found that having the Baxtresser Orchestral Excerpts book usually covers you for most excerpts that will be asked. There are sometimes a couple that are not in the book, but these can usually be found for free on IMSLP.

Preparing for a music school audition is a little more involved as each school will probably require different pieces of music.  These will usually not be supplied, but can be easily found online (although you will have to buy the sheet music). I found when choosing schools and preparing the repertoire, it was easier on me to find schools that had some rep in common. Obviously if there’s a school you’re dying to audition for, do it! But for some of the back up schools, it’s a good idea for time management to find some that have similar audition lists.

Listen to several recordings of pieces/excerpts

Only listening to one recording won’t necessarily give you an idea of how it goes, you might have just stumbled across that one recording where they wanted to play it differently. Listening to a variety of recordings will give you the best idea of how a piece goes. This also gives you a decent idea as to what tempos are acceptable as well as the mood of the piece and how it is portrayed by many different flutists.

Practice with a pencil and metronome

Start slow and be tedious with your notes, penciling in everything necessary. It is very difficult to break a bad habit once it’s formed. It is far easier to never let the mistake become habit in the first place.

Practice as if you are nervous

I was fortunate to have a master class with fellow Montana flutist Rhonda Larson.  One thing I remember very well, was her advice on dealing with stress and how to practice being stressed while playing.  She mentioned that she used to jog around the building to simulate what breathing might be like when you are nervous. Being short of breath from running is the same sensation as being short of breath because of nerves. This helps especially when you have a phrase where you aren’t sure if you can make it in one breath. If you can do it after a quick run, you can do it with nerves.

Perform for your friends and family as this performance style practice will make you nervous.

Record your practice

It is always smart to record your practice sessions or run throughs.  I have found that recordings show me my weaknesses that I didn’t even know existed, whether it is cracked notes I wasn’t hearing, or flubbed fingers, recordings show it all.  It is also helpful to record while practicing because for many people, the simple act of recording is nerve wracking.

Use any or all of these methods and you are guaranteed to be better prepared for your audition. Only you can put in the practice time and effort, but use these tools and you may just succeed!