forum @@@band people or ppl good at auditioning for things lol help

Started March 04, 2019 by @flora.books

tune

yall i have an audition for this band thing in like a month but ive never auditioned for anything before and i have like hecka stage fright and ngl i suck at the piece :) any advice????

Okay, so I'm not in band, but I am a theatre kid who used to have stage fright!

Okay, so you gotta choose something you're confident in to audition with. Think to yourself "If worst comes to worst, what's a song I can remember?" and go with that one. As for stage fright, (this probably isn't the right word but) disassociate. Become whatever character you're playing. Become a cog in the band machine, one with the others. Think of yourself as less of an individual and more of just part of a whole.

No, no, no, sorry Jynnie, you do not want to dissociate. Dissociating means becoming distracted and even spacier.

o.0 wait i like that advice thank u very much but ew i have to play like this specific etude thing they gave me i don't get to choose so im #notconfident :( it's fast!! i suck at it!! many sixteenth notes!!

wait sike no disassociating?

wait sike no disassociating?

Nope, believe me, as someone who dissociates a lot, it is not fun.
At lease when I do it, I become distracted by every little thing and I tend to act like I'm high.

Wait you're not supposed to do that?
Shit, I hecked up.
Nevermind.

Wait you're not supposed to do that?
Shit, I hecked up.
Nevermind.

The rest of your advice was pretty good, just no doing that.

ahh ok do you have any other advicee :)) i get nervous like really easily i tried to record myself playing today and i even got nervous at that?? im screwed yay

ahh ok do you have any other advicee :)) i get nervous like really easily i tried to record myself playing today and i even got nervous at that?? im screwed yay

Okay, first off, always know that your actual playing will and is sounding better then the recording, it's the same thing with singing. If you sing into a recorder, it's going to come out sounding off pitch and wobly.

hm yeah i was just trying to hear what it sounded like a bit

Don't do it from a recording, just don't/

Yeah, definitely do it in person.
Also, it might be good to have a backup song as well, in case someone else does the song you were going to, or you haven't quite perfected a note or two.

I've been in band & auditioning for stuff for 4 years, so here we go:

• Practice. A lot. If your audition is in a month, you have plenty of time to perfect your etude, or at least be somewhat confident in your abilities. Confidence –> less stage fright.
• Don't just practice your etude. If this is like most band auditions, you'll also have to play scales and sight-read. As someone who has disregarded those parts before… don't do it.
• Practice consistently. 15 minutes a day all month is much better than 3 hours the day before.
• Chill. On your audition day, it is what it is. Your skills aren't going to magically get much better or worse than you're used to if you've been practicing consistently. There's nothing else you can do.
• If you do happen to bomb the audition (it happens; sometimes auditions don't accurately represent you as a player and it sucks), it's ok! You'll have gotten through it, and there will be more auditions.

Also, on recordings: You should definitely record yourself when practicing and listen back for mistakes. Recordings help a lot with pitch, timing, and note accuracy. However, they suck for tone quality, so if you sound bad, don't worry; everyone does.

ALSO: Practice with a tuner and metronome! It really helps!

thank you all a ton!! i have a bit of a track record for being incredibly unconfident in my abilities but we'll see how it goes! i've been practicing a heck ton for a while and i reeeeaaally hope i dont fail :D

IF U MAKE A MISTAKE, IGNORE IT. MOVE ON. PLAY CONFIDENTLY. THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO PLAY TIMIDLY!!! IF THEY MAKE CONVERSATION, GO WITH IT, THEY'RE TRYING TO LIGHTEN YOUR MOOD!!!
<3 best of luck dear