Hi all.
I know it has been a while since my last post. It has been pretty busy here at NCSSM and my family life has been filled with a variety of spring sports leagues. It has not been uncommon for my wife and me to take 3 kids to 3 different sporting events or practices in one evening this spring. So, I apologize for my recent silence.
Today, I want to just give a few thoughts about school orchestras and adjudicated festivals. I recently served as an adjudicator for the North Carolina Eastern Regional Music Performance Adjudication Festival. It was such a pleasure and honor to observe my North Carolina colleagues with their kids. I know so many of them from NCMEA meetings and other events. It is always great to see master-teachers interacting with their daily students.
My role in this festival was to judge in the sight-reading room. This is hard duty as a judge. I heard around 40 orchestras sight-reading one of 4 different pieces, depending on their performance level. Believe me, there is only so much that one can say about a grade 1 or 2 piece that is being played for the first time by a group of nervous middle schoolers. The plan for me as a judge is always to find lots of positive things to say to the group and affirm the work that they have done. Then, I try to isolate on area where they can improve. I try to offer constructive suggestions for a more musical performance, stronger technique, or a more cohesive ensemble.
Following this adjudication festival, I had a couple of overriding thoughts. The first is a technique issue. It is now, quite common for orchestras to "shadow-bow" before sight-reading a piece. This is when the student holds the bow and moves it to the rhythm without touching the strings, simulating playing the piece. In and of itself, it is a great idea. But, I noticed that lots of students did REALLY odd things with their bow hold and I can't believe that this has a positive impact on their bow hold in the long run. As I make my way in to a variety of teaching situations throughout the area, one constant that I have noticed is an inconsistency of functional bow holds. (For a primer in teaching or establishing a good bow hold, follow this link.) My suggestion here is to simply not hold the bow during the "shadow bow" portion of the sight reading experience. Have the kids put the bow on the music stand and do the exercise exactly the same way. I don't even know if this is necessary for the violins and violas, but it definitely is for the celli and basses. I would have everyone put the bow down. The students can still focus on the kinesthetic experience of bowing and the associated rhythms. Instructors can still see the rhythmic motion of the bow arms. And, the potential bad habits of bow hold can be avoided.
The other over-riding thought that I have involves listening. Now, I know that it seems like a silly thing to say that listening is an important part of performance and sight-reading. But, in two complete days of adjudicating sight-reading, I only heard a handful of instructors remind their musicians to listen. Furthermore, it was very easy for me to identify the ensembles that had practiced the art of listening in the ensemble. We, as instructors, can get fixated on the nuts and bolts of notes and rhythms and simply forget to teach listening. I believe that many ensemble intonation problems are not so much a function of individual playing and technique issues, but are more a function of listening issues. We must know how to listen across the ensemble and build a chord from the bass, up. That, of course, also accentuates the importance of the role of the bass and cello section. I recently had the pleasure of working with our Physics Department at NCSSM on a unit on Sound and Frequency and, believe me, the physics doesn't lie. The fundamental tone has to be in tune (bass) and the 2nd harmonic does, too (cello). If they are out, the orchestra doesn't have a prayer of creating a beautiful sound. And, the upper strings must listen and adjust to the others around them in order to create that special string sound that we all know and love.
So, there are a few thoughts. I hope someone out there finds them to be helpful. I certainly welcome your thoughts and remarks on the issues of shadow bowing and listening across the orchestra.
It was definitely ah honor to work with all of you at the Eastern Regional Music Performance Adjudication.
Thoughts of a String Educator
Showing posts with label Eastern Regional Orchestra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eastern Regional Orchestra. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Miniterm 2010
Hi all.
Here at NCSSM, we just completed our annual "min-term." It is a 9 day, short session that permits students to focus on a single subject in an "in depth" manner. This year, I sponsored a course entitled "Eastern Regional Orchestra" The students that enrolled for the course were involved in the NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchesta, which I hosted at NCSSM this year. A few of the students were not able to perform in the group for various reasons and helped me with all of the administrative details throughout the weekend. For the first 2 days of mini-term, performing students were able to practice the literature to be performed and prepare for their seating auditions. The event itself, ran from Friday evening through Sunday evening. Then, for the remaining 5 days of the course, we attended a variety of concerts, watched numerous DVD's of famous symphonies, and studied the history behind the works that we were witnessing. The following are excerpts from the journals that students kept throughout the mini-term. I asked them to write thoughtful entries about the work they were doing and the music they were witnessing. I think you will agree that the expectations of the assignment were met with flying colors!
Peace,
Scott
Today I began to appreciate our guest conductor more. Last night, I felt like it was harder to communicate with him in comparison to conductors in the past. I know that, especially after coming to NCSSM, I try to have good eye contact with conductors at Honors and ERO, but it wasn’t really happening. Sometimes, I didn’t even feel like watching him even helped. But today, things started to piece together. We actually started sounding better than yesterday. I particularly liked his method of “matching” our bows. We got a much better sound as a section this way, and it’s definitely something I’ll use in the future. I also really enjoyed how even when he talked to a certain section about one particular section, the whole orchestra could learn from what he was saying.
I also liked our lesson on sostenuto. I liked the idea of always having this strong tone, but just adjusting the bow speed according to the kind of note or sound we wanted (for example, just changing bow speed but maintaining that tone). I felt like our whole section sounded better after learning about this technique.
Tonight we went to hear Tuskegee University’s Golden Voices Choir at Duke Chapel. It was a wonderful concert! It had been a few months since I’d been in Duke Chapel, so I was once again blown away by how beautiful a place it is. And the choir further magnified that beauty. Every time the choir finished a piece, their voices lingered in the air, filling the room with the last remnants of the music. I feel as though I could have listened to that sound alone for hours.
In all honesty, one of my favorite parts of the concert was watching the director, Dr. Barr. It was so interesting to see him truly leading the choir. With his gestures, he was able to control dynamics, tempo, phrasing, etc. Every eye in the choir was directed toward Dr. Barr, and I could hear his motions directly translate into the sound being produced. I believe it was this unity, this attention to detail, that made the music so powerful.
Our concert was really, really fantastic. The Hanson was so moving, and the theme has been stuck in my head all day. And the audience apparently liked William Tell a lot. The cello soloist messed up a little in the beginning, I know I messed up on my English horn solo (even though we both had done better in rehearsal), and for some reason my tongue was feeling sluggish once the Allegro Vivace (after the English horn and flute solo ended) began…but at the end, even before the conductor had cut off our final note, the audience was cheering and standing up. It’s the first time at a concert like this one that I’ve seen such a great reaction. Usually, despite how good the performance is, the parents stand and clap mostly because they’re parents, but I felt like today, they were ordinary, enthralled audience members.
I remember playing the last page of the William Tell. It’s when we begin accelerating, and everyone is loud and exciting and teetering on the edge, but not quite falling. It’s moments like those that make me love symphony orchestra so much, and playing overtures like William Tell so much. The brass and percussion sounds just surround you, like a tsunami wave of boldness and brightness. The strings in front of you are doing something insanely fast, while the bass players to your left are rounding out the bottom with their strong, deep sound. And even though the piccolo is about to tear apart your eardrums, even though you can’t really hear yourself because your instrument is totally lost among the countless other instruments, you feel like you are part of something so much greater, something that thousands of musicians before you have experienced with that exact same piece of music. I’m waxing poetic, I know, but it was definitely a concert I won’t forget.
While listening, I got a strange impression of the performance. We sat towards the back of the concert hall, and the orchestra was on the small side. As a result, all of the pieces sounded small and relatively soft. In a way, I felt a bit of a distance between myself and the performers. I guess I am used to hearing orchestral concerts by large ensembles that fill the concert hall and surround the listeners with sound. That this performance gave an impression of smallness and didn’t fill the hall made me feel like I was a part of another world; I didn’t feel like I got into the music much. I think there are two types of listening – active listening and passive listening. The first is what happens when I am really engaged in what I am hearing and I feel like I am a part of what I am listening to. Passive listening is what happens when I feel like I am a disconnected observer in a different world. In all honesty, my experience at this concert was more passive listening than active listening.
Today started off with a messy rehearsal. I felt discouraged by the fact that I did not have a good audition, but I understood that it was my fault for not practicing all of the music. Our conductor put the most effort into the Steel City Strut. By the looks and reactions of everyone in the room, I could discern that I was not the only one who struggled with this particular piece. The orchestras rehearsed from 9 AM until lunch. When lunch time arrived, I met up with some of my old Governor’s School friends and had a wonderful meal at Bali Hai. We took advantage of every second together and got back just in time for sectionals. The person in charge of coaching the cello section did not come on time and we wasted almost half an hour. I was beginning to feel irritated, but she finally arrived, and we began rehearsing right away. When we got started, my opinion of her changed almost right away. She was very efficient and had great strategies planned out. We worked quickly and her way of coaching got our heads to click. The improvement we made in less than an hour was mind-boggling. I was amazed by how much we accomplished in the little time we were given. Another break was given and I stocked up on some snacks and refreshments. Rehearsal resumed at 3:30 and I thought the orchestra was a hundred times better than what we started with. Instead of working on just getting the note and rhythms, the conductor actually began to work on dynamics and details. She said that we played too loud, as if we were “smashing baby chicks”, and that made my day. Things were looking much better and I began to feel a little better about everything. After rehearsal was over, I took a nap to rejuvenate myself and went to the pizza dinner. The food was great and I met many new people. The final session of rehearsal for the day resumed at 7 PM and continued until 9 PM. By this time, everyone was exhausted and sick of the music. It was a long day of music from 9 AM to 9 PM, but it was worthwhile. I gained a lot today and also had a great time with friends. I went to bed feeling happy and excited for the next day.
Today was a very long day. I have participated in many other clinics such as All-District, All-State Jazz, and so on, but this clinic seemed to last all day (which it did). I guess what separated this clinic from all the rest was that there was a considerable amount of resting for the brass sections. When we were asked to play, we asked to play in a really unusual style that I had never played before. Always I had been told to properly attack the note and be in time, but what he asked us to do was really follow the sound and not so much to the beat. We were to have a “horizontal” style of playing in that our phrasing and rhythm would stretch over the sounds of the strings, which was necessary for us to be coinciding. After a few trials and error, I think the brass really adapted to this style of playing and made the sounds of the ensemble sound that much better. We were all watching the tips of the string player’s bow to visually watch the beat and play off that instead of counting in our heads. I think this was one of the most valuable things that I will take away from this experience, as I will be able to apply this style of playing to future works with the orchestra.
Today, we took our trip to the Ludwig drum factory!
I found it interesting how so much of the work was still done by individual people rather than automated robots. Like the guide said, they aren’t exactly mass producing many generic products, so that plays into it. Still, it was touching to see local people putting on the parts and working on each portion of process by hand.
Even though I don’t play drums, I felt like I got a real treat going to the factory. It was amazing to see how much detail and care was put into creating each part of the drums, from treating the veneers in the climate-controlled room to the gluing and painting process. Like Mr. Laird mentioned to us all, it was interesting to see how all sorts of sciences contributed to making these drums. Right now, my plans are to continue with a degree in either general chemistry or chemical engineering, depending on which school I end up attending. That said, the science behind the glue and paint was particularly interesting to me (I found it really interesting that they used UV light to activate photoreceptors in the paint to finish the painting process!). Chemistry appeals to me in that its involved in everything, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear. All sorts of things you’d expect to be pretty simple involve lots of chemistry… and these drums have a lot of chemistry behind them too! It was awesome seeing the science involved in creating these drums.
The piece we studied today during our afternoon meeting was called Fantastic Symphony by Hector Berlioz. I really enjoyed this piece because it was interesting to imagine during the different movements what the conductor was thinking as he wrote it. The article definitely made the piece a lot more interesting because we knew the background story. I also noticed how in the beginning of the article it mentioned that Berlioz was “suffering from unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson” and then later in the article when describing the Shakespearean actress it said “by this time had become his wife.” I couldn’t help smiling at those details.
The concert we attended was a graduate recital of Yooju Han. Although I do not personally play the flute, I had a fantastic time listening to her performance. The first piece, Sonata in G minor “La Lumagne”, Op. 2, No. 4 by Michel Blavet was interesting because of the interaction between the flute and the harpsichord. I was looking forward to hearing Peter Schickele after hearing that he was an interesting composer and I was not disappointed. I loved the performance that they gave of having Yooju Han play off stage on the left and then off stage on the right and then in the dark in the middle of the stage during the piece Spring Serenade. She was very talented.
Here at NCSSM, we just completed our annual "min-term." It is a 9 day, short session that permits students to focus on a single subject in an "in depth" manner. This year, I sponsored a course entitled "Eastern Regional Orchestra" The students that enrolled for the course were involved in the NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchesta, which I hosted at NCSSM this year. A few of the students were not able to perform in the group for various reasons and helped me with all of the administrative details throughout the weekend. For the first 2 days of mini-term, performing students were able to practice the literature to be performed and prepare for their seating auditions. The event itself, ran from Friday evening through Sunday evening. Then, for the remaining 5 days of the course, we attended a variety of concerts, watched numerous DVD's of famous symphonies, and studied the history behind the works that we were witnessing. The following are excerpts from the journals that students kept throughout the mini-term. I asked them to write thoughtful entries about the work they were doing and the music they were witnessing. I think you will agree that the expectations of the assignment were met with flying colors!
Peace,
Scott
Today I began to appreciate our guest conductor more. Last night, I felt like it was harder to communicate with him in comparison to conductors in the past. I know that, especially after coming to NCSSM, I try to have good eye contact with conductors at Honors and ERO, but it wasn’t really happening. Sometimes, I didn’t even feel like watching him even helped. But today, things started to piece together. We actually started sounding better than yesterday. I particularly liked his method of “matching” our bows. We got a much better sound as a section this way, and it’s definitely something I’ll use in the future. I also really enjoyed how even when he talked to a certain section about one particular section, the whole orchestra could learn from what he was saying.
I also liked our lesson on sostenuto. I liked the idea of always having this strong tone, but just adjusting the bow speed according to the kind of note or sound we wanted (for example, just changing bow speed but maintaining that tone). I felt like our whole section sounded better after learning about this technique.
Tonight we went to hear Tuskegee University’s Golden Voices Choir at Duke Chapel. It was a wonderful concert! It had been a few months since I’d been in Duke Chapel, so I was once again blown away by how beautiful a place it is. And the choir further magnified that beauty. Every time the choir finished a piece, their voices lingered in the air, filling the room with the last remnants of the music. I feel as though I could have listened to that sound alone for hours.
In all honesty, one of my favorite parts of the concert was watching the director, Dr. Barr. It was so interesting to see him truly leading the choir. With his gestures, he was able to control dynamics, tempo, phrasing, etc. Every eye in the choir was directed toward Dr. Barr, and I could hear his motions directly translate into the sound being produced. I believe it was this unity, this attention to detail, that made the music so powerful.
Our concert was really, really fantastic. The Hanson was so moving, and the theme has been stuck in my head all day. And the audience apparently liked William Tell a lot. The cello soloist messed up a little in the beginning, I know I messed up on my English horn solo (even though we both had done better in rehearsal), and for some reason my tongue was feeling sluggish once the Allegro Vivace (after the English horn and flute solo ended) began…but at the end, even before the conductor had cut off our final note, the audience was cheering and standing up. It’s the first time at a concert like this one that I’ve seen such a great reaction. Usually, despite how good the performance is, the parents stand and clap mostly because they’re parents, but I felt like today, they were ordinary, enthralled audience members.
I remember playing the last page of the William Tell. It’s when we begin accelerating, and everyone is loud and exciting and teetering on the edge, but not quite falling. It’s moments like those that make me love symphony orchestra so much, and playing overtures like William Tell so much. The brass and percussion sounds just surround you, like a tsunami wave of boldness and brightness. The strings in front of you are doing something insanely fast, while the bass players to your left are rounding out the bottom with their strong, deep sound. And even though the piccolo is about to tear apart your eardrums, even though you can’t really hear yourself because your instrument is totally lost among the countless other instruments, you feel like you are part of something so much greater, something that thousands of musicians before you have experienced with that exact same piece of music. I’m waxing poetic, I know, but it was definitely a concert I won’t forget.
While listening, I got a strange impression of the performance. We sat towards the back of the concert hall, and the orchestra was on the small side. As a result, all of the pieces sounded small and relatively soft. In a way, I felt a bit of a distance between myself and the performers. I guess I am used to hearing orchestral concerts by large ensembles that fill the concert hall and surround the listeners with sound. That this performance gave an impression of smallness and didn’t fill the hall made me feel like I was a part of another world; I didn’t feel like I got into the music much. I think there are two types of listening – active listening and passive listening. The first is what happens when I am really engaged in what I am hearing and I feel like I am a part of what I am listening to. Passive listening is what happens when I feel like I am a disconnected observer in a different world. In all honesty, my experience at this concert was more passive listening than active listening.
Today started off with a messy rehearsal. I felt discouraged by the fact that I did not have a good audition, but I understood that it was my fault for not practicing all of the music. Our conductor put the most effort into the Steel City Strut. By the looks and reactions of everyone in the room, I could discern that I was not the only one who struggled with this particular piece. The orchestras rehearsed from 9 AM until lunch. When lunch time arrived, I met up with some of my old Governor’s School friends and had a wonderful meal at Bali Hai. We took advantage of every second together and got back just in time for sectionals. The person in charge of coaching the cello section did not come on time and we wasted almost half an hour. I was beginning to feel irritated, but she finally arrived, and we began rehearsing right away. When we got started, my opinion of her changed almost right away. She was very efficient and had great strategies planned out. We worked quickly and her way of coaching got our heads to click. The improvement we made in less than an hour was mind-boggling. I was amazed by how much we accomplished in the little time we were given. Another break was given and I stocked up on some snacks and refreshments. Rehearsal resumed at 3:30 and I thought the orchestra was a hundred times better than what we started with. Instead of working on just getting the note and rhythms, the conductor actually began to work on dynamics and details. She said that we played too loud, as if we were “smashing baby chicks”, and that made my day. Things were looking much better and I began to feel a little better about everything. After rehearsal was over, I took a nap to rejuvenate myself and went to the pizza dinner. The food was great and I met many new people. The final session of rehearsal for the day resumed at 7 PM and continued until 9 PM. By this time, everyone was exhausted and sick of the music. It was a long day of music from 9 AM to 9 PM, but it was worthwhile. I gained a lot today and also had a great time with friends. I went to bed feeling happy and excited for the next day.
Today was a very long day. I have participated in many other clinics such as All-District, All-State Jazz, and so on, but this clinic seemed to last all day (which it did). I guess what separated this clinic from all the rest was that there was a considerable amount of resting for the brass sections. When we were asked to play, we asked to play in a really unusual style that I had never played before. Always I had been told to properly attack the note and be in time, but what he asked us to do was really follow the sound and not so much to the beat. We were to have a “horizontal” style of playing in that our phrasing and rhythm would stretch over the sounds of the strings, which was necessary for us to be coinciding. After a few trials and error, I think the brass really adapted to this style of playing and made the sounds of the ensemble sound that much better. We were all watching the tips of the string player’s bow to visually watch the beat and play off that instead of counting in our heads. I think this was one of the most valuable things that I will take away from this experience, as I will be able to apply this style of playing to future works with the orchestra.
Today, we took our trip to the Ludwig drum factory!
I found it interesting how so much of the work was still done by individual people rather than automated robots. Like the guide said, they aren’t exactly mass producing many generic products, so that plays into it. Still, it was touching to see local people putting on the parts and working on each portion of process by hand.
Even though I don’t play drums, I felt like I got a real treat going to the factory. It was amazing to see how much detail and care was put into creating each part of the drums, from treating the veneers in the climate-controlled room to the gluing and painting process. Like Mr. Laird mentioned to us all, it was interesting to see how all sorts of sciences contributed to making these drums. Right now, my plans are to continue with a degree in either general chemistry or chemical engineering, depending on which school I end up attending. That said, the science behind the glue and paint was particularly interesting to me (I found it really interesting that they used UV light to activate photoreceptors in the paint to finish the painting process!). Chemistry appeals to me in that its involved in everything, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear. All sorts of things you’d expect to be pretty simple involve lots of chemistry… and these drums have a lot of chemistry behind them too! It was awesome seeing the science involved in creating these drums.
The piece we studied today during our afternoon meeting was called Fantastic Symphony by Hector Berlioz. I really enjoyed this piece because it was interesting to imagine during the different movements what the conductor was thinking as he wrote it. The article definitely made the piece a lot more interesting because we knew the background story. I also noticed how in the beginning of the article it mentioned that Berlioz was “suffering from unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson” and then later in the article when describing the Shakespearean actress it said “by this time had become his wife.” I couldn’t help smiling at those details.
The concert we attended was a graduate recital of Yooju Han. Although I do not personally play the flute, I had a fantastic time listening to her performance. The first piece, Sonata in G minor “La Lumagne”, Op. 2, No. 4 by Michel Blavet was interesting because of the interaction between the flute and the harpsichord. I was looking forward to hearing Peter Schickele after hearing that he was an interesting composer and I was not disappointed. I loved the performance that they gave of having Yooju Han play off stage on the left and then off stage on the right and then in the dark in the middle of the stage during the piece Spring Serenade. She was very talented.
Friday, February 20, 2009
A quick thought on practicing
This will be a quick entry today. We depart at 4:30 the NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchestra Festival. I will be taking 13 of my students from NCSSM. This has been a busy week at school. We just completed the 2nd trimester of the year and all of my students have been taking exams this week. (In fact, I am giving a music theory exam as I write this!)
My students have been trying to prepare for the regional orchestra event in the midst of this busy academic week. So, practice time has been limited. I took a minute a few days ago to look up the three pieces that they are preparing on Youtube and send the link to them. The works are: Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations, Tsiolkovsky's Romeo and Juliet , and Dvorak's Carnival Overture. These are all great, well-known works and easily and quickly available on Youtube. I am amazed at the number of my students that hadn't thought to check out a recording before beginning to prepare the music.
This, to me, ought to be task #1 when preparing a new piece of music. When I am preparing a work that is new to me, I seek out as many recordings as possible. I play them in the car, in my home, when I can study a score, and when I can't. I try to just internalize the work as much as possible. Then, when I have time to practice, I actually know the end-goal.
It took me a long time to learn this. But, after years of experience, I am convinced that listening is the key to achieving real artistry in our playing (and, for me, conducting). It is the same with jazz. How can one aspire to be great without first listening to that studying the greats? Yet, millions of folks try to learn to play jazz without ever hearing John Coltrane, Miles Davis, etc. Weird.
Additionally, it just saves time! You won't be fighting with figuring out notes and rhythms. It is so much easier when you have that aural reference. I know that my students didn't have time for that this week. So, if that edge is available, why not take advantage of it?
So, to my students, and anyone else that may be reading this, put on a recording!! It will change the way your approach your instrument and preparation. And, it just might save you some time in the process.
Peace.
Scott
My students have been trying to prepare for the regional orchestra event in the midst of this busy academic week. So, practice time has been limited. I took a minute a few days ago to look up the three pieces that they are preparing on Youtube and send the link to them. The works are: Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations, Tsiolkovsky's Romeo and Juliet , and Dvorak's Carnival Overture. These are all great, well-known works and easily and quickly available on Youtube. I am amazed at the number of my students that hadn't thought to check out a recording before beginning to prepare the music.
This, to me, ought to be task #1 when preparing a new piece of music. When I am preparing a work that is new to me, I seek out as many recordings as possible. I play them in the car, in my home, when I can study a score, and when I can't. I try to just internalize the work as much as possible. Then, when I have time to practice, I actually know the end-goal.
It took me a long time to learn this. But, after years of experience, I am convinced that listening is the key to achieving real artistry in our playing (and, for me, conducting). It is the same with jazz. How can one aspire to be great without first listening to that studying the greats? Yet, millions of folks try to learn to play jazz without ever hearing John Coltrane, Miles Davis, etc. Weird.
Additionally, it just saves time! You won't be fighting with figuring out notes and rhythms. It is so much easier when you have that aural reference. I know that my students didn't have time for that this week. So, if that edge is available, why not take advantage of it?
So, to my students, and anyone else that may be reading this, put on a recording!! It will change the way your approach your instrument and preparation. And, it just might save you some time in the process.
Peace.
Scott
Friday, January 16, 2009
NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchestra
Many of my students will be auditioning for North Carolina Music Educators' Association's Eastern Regional Orchestra this weekend. All of the NCMEA students that are auditioning have prepared well and are ready for the audition. As I have been working with them leading up to the audition day, I have been reminded of several basic precepts that apply to an audition. There will be several hundred string players at the auditions that are vying for relatively few spots. Having judged these auditions for well over 20 years, it has become apparent to me that each player must separate themselves from the crowd by playing more than just correct notes and rhythms. The auditioner must point out to the judges that he or she has gone beyond correct notes and can truly demonstrate the music beyond notes and rhythms. So, here is a list of points to consider and prepare for when auditioning.
1. Play Dynamics. Simply put, in my years of experience, well over 50% of the auditions that I have witnessed have not included ANY dynamic contrast. So, the quickest way to separate yourself from more than half of the others is to simply point out the dynamics to the judges. Simple.
2. Make your dynamic swings significantly wider than you think you should. Play piano pianissimo. Play forte as a fortissimo. Make your crescendos really wide. Don't be shy. Judges will remember you if you do this.
3. Don't play like there is a metronome on. Feel the phrases. Be willing to communicate through your music. Take time at the end of a phrase. Drive to the end of a swell. Find the phrasing and demonstrate it.
4. Bow placement matters. Whether it is a blind audition or not, your bow placement impacts the style of the excerpt. Seek out advise on proper bow placement for the style of the excerpt. Again, more than 50% of violin students will play every passage in the upper middle half of the bow. By simply seeking out the prper bow placement and implementing it, you will me more memorable.
5. Never stop practicing slowly. There is a category on many judges scoring system called "accuracy." For me, this is impacted positively by slow practice. I recommend that my students practice audition pieces at 1/2 tempo or below every day leading up to and including the day of the audition. A player is never too prepared to practice at a slow tempo. and, the statement, "I can play it fast, just not slow" is simply rubbish. If you can't play it slowly with accuracy, then you certainly can't play it fast with accuracy.
6. Practice your scales slowly, too. Accuracy is REALLY apparent when playing scales. 3 octave scales are part of most MENC auditions. Even once you know your scales, keep practicing them slow as well as fast. and remember, your bow placement and tone quality matters in scales, too.
7. Practice sight-reading. I recommend that my students practice sight-reading from an old sight-singing book that I own. It is always available for them to use. I try to give them a routine to use every time they sight read. We practice it together. It goes something like this:
1. Look at and consider the basic stuff - key, time signature, tempo, feel
2. Find the first key-related notes. The first c natural, the first B flat, etc
3. Take note of accidentals.
4. Take note of shifts
5. Take note of time signature changes or syncopation
6. Take note of articulations and dynamics
7. Audiate the piece. Hear it in your head. The actual pitches may be off, but you will have read the work through one time. When you play it, it will feel a lot less like sight-reading. Finger it, too, if that is permitted.
8. Go for it and don't worry about a mistake or two. If you have gone through this routine, you will have done it better than most!
I hope that you find this useful. If you read this and get something you can use, drop me a comment. I would lvoe to hear from you.
For now, good luck to all of my students this weekend and be confident. You are well-prepared.
Peace.
Scott
1. Play Dynamics. Simply put, in my years of experience, well over 50% of the auditions that I have witnessed have not included ANY dynamic contrast. So, the quickest way to separate yourself from more than half of the others is to simply point out the dynamics to the judges. Simple.
2. Make your dynamic swings significantly wider than you think you should. Play piano pianissimo. Play forte as a fortissimo. Make your crescendos really wide. Don't be shy. Judges will remember you if you do this.
3. Don't play like there is a metronome on. Feel the phrases. Be willing to communicate through your music. Take time at the end of a phrase. Drive to the end of a swell. Find the phrasing and demonstrate it.
4. Bow placement matters. Whether it is a blind audition or not, your bow placement impacts the style of the excerpt. Seek out advise on proper bow placement for the style of the excerpt. Again, more than 50% of violin students will play every passage in the upper middle half of the bow. By simply seeking out the prper bow placement and implementing it, you will me more memorable.
5. Never stop practicing slowly. There is a category on many judges scoring system called "accuracy." For me, this is impacted positively by slow practice. I recommend that my students practice audition pieces at 1/2 tempo or below every day leading up to and including the day of the audition. A player is never too prepared to practice at a slow tempo. and, the statement, "I can play it fast, just not slow" is simply rubbish. If you can't play it slowly with accuracy, then you certainly can't play it fast with accuracy.
6. Practice your scales slowly, too. Accuracy is REALLY apparent when playing scales. 3 octave scales are part of most MENC auditions. Even once you know your scales, keep practicing them slow as well as fast. and remember, your bow placement and tone quality matters in scales, too.
7. Practice sight-reading. I recommend that my students practice sight-reading from an old sight-singing book that I own. It is always available for them to use. I try to give them a routine to use every time they sight read. We practice it together. It goes something like this:
1. Look at and consider the basic stuff - key, time signature, tempo, feel
2. Find the first key-related notes. The first c natural, the first B flat, etc
3. Take note of accidentals.
4. Take note of shifts
5. Take note of time signature changes or syncopation
6. Take note of articulations and dynamics
7. Audiate the piece. Hear it in your head. The actual pitches may be off, but you will have read the work through one time. When you play it, it will feel a lot less like sight-reading. Finger it, too, if that is permitted.
8. Go for it and don't worry about a mistake or two. If you have gone through this routine, you will have done it better than most!
I hope that you find this useful. If you read this and get something you can use, drop me a comment. I would lvoe to hear from you.
For now, good luck to all of my students this weekend and be confident. You are well-prepared.
Peace.
Scott
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