The Fundamentals of Successful Auditions

The Fundamentals of Successful Auditions

by Spencer Prewitt and Eric Salazar

Whether you’re preparing for honor band, chair placement, university scholarships or professional auditions, your success always depends on how well you play. When preparing for auditions it can be useful to break down what it means to play “well” into individual fundamental skills so your progress can be measured and tracked over time. It’s also helpful to have a clear and consistent plan for improvement, as well as more than one practice strategy for improving each area. The chart below is by no means exhaustive but rather attempts to give a starting point for your own journey toward excellence. When practicing, use this chart to ask yourself critical questions.

Technique

Is your technique smooth and even?

• Practice your scales.
• Use practice rhythms; for example, dotted eighth/16th and 16^th/dotted eighth.
• Work with a metronome.
• Play technical etudes such as Jeanjean’s Vade-Mecum.
• Record yourself and listen critically.

Articulation

Does the quality of your tone change when you articulate?

Does your articulation speed ability meet the demands of the music?

• Ensure you are tonguing with the desired part of the tongue on the desired part of the reed.
• Check that you’re using enough air.
• Make sure your tongue isn’t pressing too hard.
• Keep your embouchure pressure consistent.
• Use a metronome to build speed slowly to increase endurance.
• Use a metronome to tongue quickly in short bursts to build raw speed.
• Record yourself and listen critically.
• Check with a tuner that pitch doesn’t change when you articulate.

Intonation

Are you sharp or flat? By how much?

• Use a tuner when you practice.
• Use a drone and practice your long tones and music with it.
• Practice singing melodies to build your listening skills away from the instrument.
• Record yourself and listen critically with a tuner nearby.

Rhythm

Is the rhythm of your technique even and clear?

Is your pulse steady?

• Practice with a metronome on the beat and the back beat. For example, rather than the click landing on each beat, have it land on the “and” of each beat.
• Use drum beats (searchable on YouTube).
• Count your music aloud and make sure rhythm is steady and clear away from the instrument.
• Record yourself and listen critically.
• Put a metronome to your recording for an added level of scrutiny.

Tone Quality

Is your tone quality consistent between registers?

Is your tone rich, vibrant, resonant and free?

• Use enough air to fill a large room with sound.
• Be aware of how your tongue position affects the quality of your tone.
• Record yourself and listen critically.
• Listen to other great clarinet players to refine your taste in tone quality.

Expression

Is your phrasing clear?

Are you accurately executing the markings on the page?

Do you have a clear musical image in mind?

• Practice long tones in varying registers with varying dynamics to mimic the physical gestures needed real-life musical contexts.
• Play etudes and music in a variety of moods and characters to improve your ability to create musical images (i.e. pick something and play it happy, then sad, then reticent). Pay attention to the difference in the way you shape your phrases and use your air to make these changes come to life. Improvising in this way will force you to make musical decisions without any instructions from a teacher, conductor or composer. Over time this will foster confidence in your ability to interpret and express your individual creativity.
• Record yourself and listen critically. Make sure that you can really hear the dynamics, moods and colors you’re working to achieve in your performance.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but please feel free to visit the BuzzReed Facebook page and comment with some of your own ideas on fundamentals you like to focus on and how you like to practice them!

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