10 Tips to Make the Most of Your Audition Day
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I remember waking up and having a mixed sense of nervousness and excitement. It was the morning of my first audition day. I got showered and dressed, double-checked my bags for everything I needed, ate some breakfast, drank some coffee, and headed out the door.
Looking back on my three audition days from two years ago, I think I did a good job of making the most of the day. This can mean different things to different people, but I knew that all I really wanted was to play great and enjoy my time. Here are some things that I did that made the day that much better!
Tip 1: Take Care of Yourself
Audition days can be a stressful event. I totally get that, but you should be careful to take care of yourself in these moments. For me this meant making sure I got a decent amount of sleep, eating nutritious food, drinking water, and drinking a bit of coffee.
If I didn’t do these things, I would struggle to play and focus at a high level, which is a necessity at an audition. Ultimately, try and keep some sense of normalcy and routine, don’t change how you treat the day because of a big event.
Tip 2: Don’t Overpractice During Warmup
Don’t fall for this trap. Really think about all of the hours upon hours you have already put into your repertoire. I would venture to say that you are not going to make any serious gains, from trying to have a full practice session the day of the audition.
There are also some other drawbacks. You might fatigue yourself before you even step into the audition room. You might start a negative mind game with yourself. And lastly, you could use that time for other more useful things. I’ll talk more about this last one later!
A quick and easy thing that you could do is use a pre-planned warm-up routine. Something that is preferably short and sweet. It should warm up the necessary muscles, calibrate your body to the instruments, and touch on some tricky spots in your repertoire.
Tip 3: Sit in on Rehearsals
The first thing I had to do at my audition was grab an audition packet pretty early in the morning, and then I had a whole lot of nothing to do for a couple of hours.
Luckily the professor at this school invited the auditionees to come and sit in on a percussion ensemble rehearsal, which we all decided to do. To tell you the truth, I was blown away. This ensemble was playing super well, the teaching was great, and their was an awesome energy in the room.
It helped confirm that this school was a great choice to audition for. It also gave me some extra insight into how rehearsals were run, what was expected of students, and the vibe of the studio. After a bit of time, the teacher let us know that we could stay and watch the rest of the rehearsal or go upstairs and practice until our audition.
Since I had a couple of hours until I had to play I decided to stay and watch, which worked out for me because the group had to take a long break so I got to meet and have conversations with all of the graduate percussionists, who are now my current colleagues.
Tip 4: Avoid Listening to Other People Play
One bad habit of mine that I have been working to break is listening to auditions and juries immediately before mine. It was something that would always increase my anxiety and worry right before I had to play.
I know, I know. It is tempting to listen to someone’s run of Velocities, but it will do you no good! So maybe bring your best noise-canceling headphones, download some shows on Netflix, and distract yourself whenever possible. You could also leave that area of the building and hang out somewhere else, get coffee, or talk to some students in the building.
Tip 5: Try to Have Fun in Your Audition
This might sound counter-intuitive, but this could ease your anxiety and improve the audition panel’s perception of you.
For all three of my auditions, I told myself to just act the way I would in a normal lesson with my current teacher. During a lesson, I’m going to be super focused and playing to the best of my ability, but I’m also going to be telling jokes, laughing, and smiling. All in all, I’m not trying to keep my personality stifled in any way.
I can tell you that this will help you feel less nervous because I believe the panel will reciprocate in some way. They will most likely be thinking about how your personality would fit into the studio anyways. If you had two people with identical playing ability audition for you, but one was more fun to be around, I imagine most people they would pick
Do this within reason, make sure that it stays professional.
Tip 6: Don’t Freak Out if Something Goes Wrong
Everybody has at least one or two things that go wrong in an audition. It’s okay! My favorite example of this was starting my bach and immediately hitting two wrong notes. Not exactly my idea of a perfect audition, but I laughed it off, started over, and played a fantastic run.
If I had gotten bogged down by those wrong notes it could have derailed my audition by putting me in a bad headspace, but I shook it off and moved on. If something happens the best thing you can do is quickly adjust and continue playing at a high level.
It’s also worth mentioning that if you played something poorly and you know you can play it better, you can get the opportunity to play it again. The panel may give you a second shot, or if it’s within reason you can even ask for it!
Tip 7: Record Your Audition
I’ve made this habit for a couple of years now because it allows me to get a clear representation of how I sounded in each audition. In the heat of the moment, things can become a blur and you can forget how certain things went. Having a recording allows you to know exactly how the audition went.
Another great thing is more often than not you will receive comments and critiques in your lesson from the panel. Having the ability to listen back, write this down, and fix it before your next performance is going to be useful in the long run.
Tip 8: Participate in Hangs!
At one of the schools I auditioned for, the studio had just finished the percussion ensemble concert and as tradition, they had a party. Luckily for me, the friend I was staying with was the host of said party, so whether or not I liked it I was going to be involved.
But I will say it was a ton of fun! I got to meet many amazing people, who are now at the very least acquaintances, got to talk to the other auditionees who are some great friends now, and got to relax after a stressful audition day. To my surprise, the professor also showed up to hang out! I got to strike up a long conversation with him and by the end of the night, I truly felt like I made a friend.
Ultimately, I ended up getting a spot in the studio and I remember talking with the friend I stayed with who let me know that the teacher noticed and appreciated how well I fitted in with the studio. With this information, I came to the conclusion that this is sort of stuff may be just as important as your actual playing.
Tip 9: Send a Quick Followup
After having a truly awesome experience auditioning at my first school, I decided to send a quick note to that professor. I mentioned that I had a blast playing for him, loved listening to the ensembles, and had a great time hanging out with the current students. Mostly, it was a thank you for the opportunity to audition because he could have easily given it to someone else at such a selective school.
While I did this with no intention to receive anything of value, the teacher e-mailed me back, let me know I played a great audition, and informed me that I was one of the top contenders for the one spot he had open. While he couldn’t give me any more information because of another upcoming audition day, it was such a relief to hear. This was the first real confirmation that all of my hard work was paying off!
I suggest you do something similar. Let them know you appreciated the opportunity and tell them some stuff you liked about the school. This could help set you apart from other auditionees, but make sure it is genuine.
Tip 10: Don’t Be A Jerk
I put this one last because I think it is super important. Even you are the most amazing musician no one will let you into the studio if you are a jerk.
One instance that caught my attention during an audition was one particular conversation. One of the other auditionees was talking to a couple of guys in the studio and was trying really hard to brag about his accomplishments. What I gathered from other people was it came off really poorly and people were not super jazzed about the possibility of sharing a studio with someone like that.
All in all, just be cool. Studiomates probably care less about your playing and more about whether like being around you.
Good Luck!
I hope that this article and the rest of the blog posts in this series about school auditions have proven helpful for you. If you have any questions feel free to leave them down below. I’ll try my best to answer them or get someone who knows more than I do to answer it!
