1. Use the "off-season" (January - July) where you're not in the middle of marching season and in the middle of preparing etudes to address the weaknesses in your playing. If your high range sucks, work on that. If your tone sucks, work on that. If you've never played anything in the Key of 'E' before, spend time getting really good at playing in that key so that way if one of the etudes ends up being in that key, you'll already be familiar with it and have a head start once the etudes come out. 2. Practice tons of solos and etudes in the off-season. Don't just learn the UIL concert music and think that's enough. Don't just learn your solo & ensemble stuff and think that's enough. Find tons of stuff to play and practice it until it sounds halfway decent, then move on to something else and practice that too. By reading tons and tons of new music, you'll increase the speed at which you're able to learn the etudes once they come out, because you'll be more familiar with a greater number of rhythms, patterns, musical phrases, and ideas. 3. Already know your scales? Cool...practice them faster. Your speed level of scales will be relative to the speed at which you can play the fast etude in that particular key. Building your scales to an even faster speed will allow you to function in that key at a faster speed for those faster etudes. 4. +1 for using the tail end of your summer break after the etudes come out to put in a sizable chunk of your grinding. I remember having an hour lunch break during August band camp, and I would eat for 10 minutes, practice etudes for 40 minutes, then chatted with friends for the last 10 minutes. I would do this every day and it didn't really cut into anything else I was doing.
Im a 2x TMEA all-state trumpet. Here’s my advice 1. Put in more work than others 2. Practice for consistency, then for contrast 3. Play the music like you are telling a story 4. Don’t compare yourself to other kids, compare yourself to the best players in the world. You want to match them, not other kids
I had to audition as a freshman got 17th in region and 7 all staters as well as #1 trumpet player were an obstacle, do u have any tips considering that I’m a freshman and pre area is in like 1-2 weeks
I'll give one tip. I was an All State Trumpet player this year for San Antonio for 5A Symphonic Band, when you're in the audition room, do not intentionally try to outplay everyone else. That is the goal but you need to be constantly thinking about what you're playing in the piece and make it intentional. Making your tone correct, make sure you're breathing correctly, make sure its musical and clean. Focus on making that song you've been working on for months become the best thing you've ever played in your life. If you're thinking and stressing too much about the audition at that moment you'll mess up. Practice playing in front of other people and it should help with dealing with the nerves and stress. Nobody goes into an Area audition and be like "Yeah im for sure making state" everyone is just as nervous as you. Keep your mind positive, keep practicing *SMARTLY* and know how to play the music.
Tight rhythms, really make sure your rhythm is perfect, dynamic contrast as well, tips for the Audition, no matter what happens do not stop, if you hit a wrong note keep playing, the things they look out for are rhythm and dynamics
from a 2x all state clarinet: during the “off-season” (jan-july) 1. practice all your scales and arpeggios. a lot of the etudes have the same patterns and they’re a lot easier to learn when you have the fundamentals down 2. for endurance and breath control, try to do long tones at a slow tempo for the whole range of your instrument every day. this helped me play for longer periods of time without breathing and helped me develop a more open, pure tone. 3. try to learn tons of music and expand your repertoire when the etudes come out in july/august: 1. get to work before school and summer band starts. it’s good to have a head start 2. learn the technical etudes beat by beat super slowly. when i was learning the music, i played down each etude’s individual beats at 60 bpm. this helped me come up with the best fingerings and gave me a chance to write down notes in my music when i came across something more tricky 3. consistency is the key. you don’t have to do anything crazy like five hours day, but aiming for about one hour of practice outside of band class is a good rule of thumb. it’s better to have constant, shorter, more quality practice sessions than to have extremely long sessions only a couple times a week. 4. practice with a metronome. especially in the beginning when you are still in the “learning phase”. make sure you are also playing rests in time, it adds points 5. if possible, make sure your lesson teacher(s) and band directors are pushing you in the right direction. a good teacher goes a long way when preparing for auditions 6. also perform in front of an audience as many times as possible!! volunteer to play in your class or at church or something to get used to the performance mindset and anxiety. before the auditions: 1. dont practice much if at all the day before. the morning of just check if your instrument works but don’t go overboard. in previous years, i’ve made the mistake of nervously practicing the mornings of and freaking myself out when i messed something up. 2. pack anything that will keep you distracted in the audition room. i may sound boring but i like to bring dictionary definitions so that i can just copy them down in my best hand writing to pass the time lol. other options can include books, sketchbooks, coloring pages, homework, or anything that can keep you occupied quietly that’s not an electronic device 3. it may not be relevant but i like to bring bananas with me and eat one right before i go into the audition room while i wait in the hallway lol 4. don’t go in hungry and don’t forget your water. (you’ll be in there for a while, as a clarinet player it’s crazy with how many of us there are😭) 5. at this point, most of it is mental. you’ve done all the work required and all you have to do now is go in there and do your job and play just like how you’ve practiced. it’s ok to be nervous, you don’t have to change how you feel or attempt to stop being nervous because in my experience that only made it worse. just let the anxiety happen and trust your training during the audition: 1. don’t change anything about the way you play in practice vs in audition. if you sit when u practice, sit when you audition, if you stand, stand. don’t try to do anything you haven’t attempted before, just do what you’ve done a million times before this 2. maybe try to go slower than you think you need to. many of us naturally speed up as we play, especially when we get nervous so starting off slow and safe is wise. (and also, it may feel slow to you when auditioning, but more often than not you’re playing just as fast if not faster than you’ve practiced due to nerves anyways) 3. let the subconscious mind and muscle memory take over. maybe make a plan to think about something other than music when youre playing. 4. don’t compare yourself to the other people in the room. i don’t even like to listen to anyone play, i tend to block them out or not look towards the person playing until it is nearing my turn. i never usually remember how my competitors did after an audition and it has worked for me but keep in mind everyone works differently too 5. relax!! it’ll be ok no matter what happens! you’re still a worthy musician who put in all the hard work and effort and improved at their instrument even if you dont get the results you want. it can be hard, and i definitely understand because i made state sophomore and senior year but missed it by a hair my junior year. it was tough but it also motivated me to work even harder for senior year. good luck to everyone auditioning next year! you got this!
@@Zion_they shouldn’t, don’t be worried about memorizing it, one of your goals should be (if you are bad at memorizing) by the end of your practicing, you should have it memorized, not saying the point of your practice should be memorization … but when you really know a piece inside out, that is when you can really apply dynamics and accents!!!
coming from an all stater this year (1st Chair) PRACTICING IS FUNDAMENTAL! I’ve practice during my rehearsal time during school, and after school…. sometimes even at night when none of my family is home. secondly SINGGGGG or PLAYYY in-front of your director…. THEY will help you sooo much for what techniques you should incorporate into your music, I went and lemme tell you…. Got first chair all 4 rounds! Finally, GET CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK…. Meaning if you have a friend who is also doing the process along with you, maybe you can ask a friend “hey can I sing or play my all state music with you” not only will you get criticism and approve on it, but the end goal is to be better than before. anyways! good luck next years and hope to see y’all at TMEA NEXT YEAR!
some tips from an old (2015-2017) 3x TMEA 6a all stater on a highly competitive woodwind instrument: 0) (because it’s not strictly practice related) start doing physical exercise if you aren’t already! Some sort of cardiovascular exercise will get you into great shape, allowing you to practice more and focus for longer hours without getting tired. I’d recommend running 15 miles a week and upping this by a few miles every few weeks if you are an absolute beginner - consistency is most important. 1) MAKE A SCHEDULE. maybe you want to get all of the music under your fingers by mid august for example. break down the process to make sure you have everything solid by thanksgiving break. start hammering in details so that you have really polished etudes ready by region. repeat the process before area (because IMO area is the hardest and most nerve-wracking audition in the entire process) 2) this is the most important: PRACTICE PERFORMING. performing in front of groups is a skill that can be learned and improved upon. getting in reps in front of crowds (maybe your teacher's studio, or a local masterclass, or friends and family, or your school's band, whatever) is crucial practice for nerves. all of my worst auditions were the ones where I didn't play enough in front of groups during my preparation. 3) remember that when you're entering the audition room, the work is done. you've put in the effort and had a great prep season, now it's just time to show it. relax and enjoy being the best in the room! bring a coloring book or something - by now I'm sure you have your audition routine down to a T. 4) during the months between july and February ( or whenever area is for you), make sure you're playing other stuff! if the only music you've learned the past 8 months was 3 etudes, you've done something wrong. 5) take scheduled long-term breaks! each of the 3 years I made state, i took 3 1-week long breaks between july and February, all pre-planned and scheduled with my teacher. not a break from music altogether, i still made sure i was playing at least an hour a day and that i was playing other stuff, but it should be a break from your etudes and a general deload from your playing. 6) remember that all-state is NOT a test of who the best players are in the state and that people who put their entire personality and self-worth into the fact they made it are losers. several of the best players i knew didn't ever make it and went onto have successful auditions at major music schools and conservatories (the auditions that ACTUALLY matter). the people who constantly talk about region results and firmly believe that bob is better than joe because he beat him at region or wherever are NOT your friends. there are many national and international competitions out there that are far more prestigious and important than texas music educators association all state. go try your hand at some of those if you want, and don't get sucked into the toxicity! 7) if you made it: congratulations! Now it’s grind time. The space between gaining access to your all state excerpts and the convention is absolutely crucial. When I was doing this, I had anywhere from 25-30+ excerpts to learn every year, and barely 3 weeks to learn them. You should be in fantastic physical condition and prepared to practice well over four hours a day if you want to make sym orch. Categorize your excerpts however you want and learn them by category. Get lessons with orchestral musicians who have played all of these pieces/prepared these excerpts for professional auditions. Make use of orchestral recordings. Record your own excerpts. These 3 weeks are really grueling and you should be practicing a lot, but make sure you’re getting physical exercise too!
Great advice! Practicing lots of fundamental skills during the summer before etudes are released will really help when learning a bunch of excerpts in a short time
The biggest thing that helped me so much (x2 6a all state) was recording myself, finding every recording of the etudes and comparing them. Ask yourself, what makes them sound like they beling in a professional orchestra that im not doing. Oh one last thing, in the audition room, BREATHE. I always take atleast 10 to 15 seconds to tap my foot through the hardest section while taking deep breaths, and i swear no one else does it but ive gotten first chair in every room from doing that
Tips: dont be distracted and keep consistent. I had to delete instagram and snapchat after region and that really helped me focus and keep my eye on the prize. Extra tip: its always worse when you perform your etude, whether that be for the audition or a recording or for a friend, 99.99% of the time, a full runthrough is going to be worse when you need it to be perfect, so don't expect it to be and just let the music flow through. Of course this is after the practice and consistency thats required to have these tips even work in the first place
All of these talented students have great answers, but they are missing one really important thing that I think matters the most. I know state is taped (unless they changed the requirement), but I think a taped auditon is considerably easier than playing LIVE audition rounds. I failed my first professional LIVE violin audition due to my inability to control nerves. So what happened was I played all the fast excerpts well, but my slow excerpt (Mozart 39 2nd mvmt) went to garbage due to shaky bow and lack of confidence. I worked on orchestral excerpts for over a year, created numerous video recordings, played for many audiences, and still, the audition environment felt extremely tense and I walked off the stage feeling annoyed with disbelief that I played less than half the quality of how my audition tapes went...
I am a 1x IHSMA All State Tuba, and here is some advice. Practice as much as you can. Try to memorize some parts of the music also helped me retain my skills but I don't know if that would work for everyone. Also, if possible, start working on it as early as you can.
Being a sophomore I already decided that playing my trombone is my passion. As anyone I want to make All-State. I don’t the fact of me being a sophomore or I’m competing in Texas or whatever to affect me. I just want to go to that competition and play some music. Piece of Advice: PRACTICE!!!
![Words of advice from a TMEA All-State Symphony Concertmaster [Q&A] - Steven Lu](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iKVzM5_-aH8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Words of advice from a TMEA All-State Symphony Concertmaster [Q&A] - Steven Lu](/img/tr.png)
1. Use the "off-season" (January - July) where you're not in the middle of marching season and in the middle of preparing etudes to address the weaknesses in your playing. If your high range sucks, work on that. If your tone sucks, work on that. If you've never played anything in the Key of 'E' before, spend time getting really good at playing in that key so that way if one of the etudes ends up being in that key, you'll already be familiar with it and have a head start once the etudes come out.
2. Practice tons of solos and etudes in the off-season. Don't just learn the UIL concert music and think that's enough. Don't just learn your solo & ensemble stuff and think that's enough. Find tons of stuff to play and practice it until it sounds halfway decent, then move on to something else and practice that too. By reading tons and tons of new music, you'll increase the speed at which you're able to learn the etudes once they come out, because you'll be more familiar with a greater number of rhythms, patterns, musical phrases, and ideas.
3. Already know your scales? Cool...practice them faster. Your speed level of scales will be relative to the speed at which you can play the fast etude in that particular key. Building your scales to an even faster speed will allow you to function in that key at a faster speed for those faster etudes.
4. +1 for using the tail end of your summer break after the etudes come out to put in a sizable chunk of your grinding. I remember having an hour lunch break during August band camp, and I would eat for 10 minutes, practice etudes for 40 minutes, then chatted with friends for the last 10 minutes. I would do this every day and it didn't really cut into anything else I was doing.
I freaking love you thank you so much I hope I can make it in again 🙏
you guys aren't on marching band during that time :(. I am on marching band april to december :(
Im a 2x TMEA all-state trumpet. Here’s my advice
1. Put in more work than others
2. Practice for consistency, then for contrast
3. Play the music like you are telling a story
4. Don’t compare yourself to other kids, compare yourself to the best players in the world. You want to match them, not other kids
I had to audition as a freshman got 17th in region and 7 all staters as well as #1 trumpet player were an obstacle, do u have any tips considering that I’m a freshman and pre area is in like 1-2 weeks
I'll give one tip. I was an All State Trumpet player this year for San Antonio for 5A Symphonic Band, when you're in the audition room, do not intentionally try to outplay everyone else. That is the goal but you need to be constantly thinking about what you're playing in the piece and make it intentional. Making your tone correct, make sure you're breathing correctly, make sure its musical and clean. Focus on making that song you've been working on for months become the best thing you've ever played in your life. If you're thinking and stressing too much about the audition at that moment you'll mess up. Practice playing in front of other people and it should help with dealing with the nerves and stress. Nobody goes into an Area audition and be like "Yeah im for sure making state" everyone is just as nervous as you. Keep your mind positive, keep practicing *SMARTLY* and know how to play the music.
Tight rhythms, really make sure your rhythm is perfect, dynamic contrast as well, tips for the Audition, no matter what happens do not stop, if you hit a wrong note keep playing, the things they look out for are rhythm and dynamics
I’m kinda new to this by dynamic contrast what do you mean?
@@holographchrome6115 really loud and really quiet, pp is really soft while ff is really loud
from a 2x all state clarinet:
during the “off-season” (jan-july)
1. practice all your scales and arpeggios. a lot of the etudes have the same patterns and they’re a lot easier to learn when you have the fundamentals down
2. for endurance and breath control, try to do long tones at a slow tempo for the whole range of your instrument every day. this helped me play for longer periods of time without breathing and helped me develop a more open, pure tone.
3. try to learn tons of music and expand your repertoire
when the etudes come out in july/august:
1. get to work before school and summer band starts. it’s good to have a head start
2. learn the technical etudes beat by beat super slowly. when i was learning the music, i played down each etude’s individual beats at 60 bpm. this helped me come up with the best fingerings and gave me a chance to write down notes in my music when i came across something more tricky
3. consistency is the key. you don’t have to do anything crazy like five hours day, but aiming for about one hour of practice outside of band class is a good rule of thumb. it’s better to have constant, shorter, more quality practice sessions than to have extremely long sessions only a couple times a week.
4. practice with a metronome. especially in the beginning when you are still in the “learning phase”. make sure you are also playing rests in time, it adds points
5. if possible, make sure your lesson teacher(s) and band directors are pushing you in the right direction. a good teacher goes a long way when preparing for auditions
6. also perform in front of an audience as many times as possible!! volunteer to play in your class or at church or something to get used to the performance mindset and anxiety.
before the auditions:
1. dont practice much if at all the day before. the morning of just check if your instrument works but don’t go overboard. in previous years, i’ve made the mistake of nervously practicing the mornings of and freaking myself out when i messed something up.
2. pack anything that will keep you distracted in the audition room. i may sound boring but i like to bring dictionary definitions so that i can just copy them down in my best hand writing to pass the time lol. other options can include books, sketchbooks, coloring pages, homework, or anything that can keep you occupied quietly that’s not an electronic device
3. it may not be relevant but i like to bring bananas with me and eat one right before i go into the audition room while i wait in the hallway lol
4. don’t go in hungry and don’t forget your water. (you’ll be in there for a while, as a clarinet player it’s crazy with how many of us there are😭)
5. at this point, most of it is mental. you’ve done all the work required and all you have to do now is go in there and do your job and play just like how you’ve practiced. it’s ok to be nervous, you don’t have to change how you feel or attempt to stop being nervous because in my experience that only made it worse. just let the anxiety happen and trust your training
during the audition:
1. don’t change anything about the way you play in practice vs in audition. if you sit when u practice, sit when you audition, if you stand, stand. don’t try to do anything you haven’t attempted before, just do what you’ve done a million times before this
2. maybe try to go slower than you think you need to. many of us naturally speed up as we play, especially when we get nervous so starting off slow and safe is wise. (and also, it may feel slow to you when auditioning, but more often than not you’re playing just as fast if not faster than you’ve practiced due to nerves anyways)
3. let the subconscious mind and muscle memory take over. maybe make a plan to think about something other than music when youre playing.
4. don’t compare yourself to the other people in the room. i don’t even like to listen to anyone play, i tend to block them out or not look towards the person playing until it is nearing my turn. i never usually remember how my competitors did after an audition and it has worked for me but keep in mind everyone works differently too
5. relax!! it’ll be ok no matter what happens! you’re still a worthy musician who put in all the hard work and effort and improved at their instrument even if you dont get the results you want. it can be hard, and i definitely understand because i made state sophomore and senior year but missed it by a hair my junior year. it was tough but it also motivated me to work even harder for senior year.
good luck to everyone auditioning next year! you got this!
do the directors make you play anything from memory because i have really bad memory
@@Zion_they shouldn’t, don’t be worried about memorizing it, one of your goals should be (if you are bad at memorizing) by the end of your practicing, you should have it memorized, not saying the point of your practice should be memorization … but when you really know a piece inside out, that is when you can really apply dynamics and accents!!!
coming from an all stater this year (1st Chair) PRACTICING IS FUNDAMENTAL! I’ve practice during my rehearsal time during school, and after school…. sometimes even at night when none of my family is home. secondly SINGGGGG or PLAYYY in-front of your director…. THEY will help you sooo much for what techniques you should incorporate into your music, I went and lemme tell you…. Got first chair all 4 rounds! Finally, GET CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK…. Meaning if you have a friend who is also doing the process along with you, maybe you can ask a friend “hey can I sing or play my all state music with you” not only will you get criticism and approve on it, but the end goal is to be better than before. anyways! good luck next years and hope to see y’all at TMEA NEXT YEAR!
Practicing is KEY!!! Listen and lock in to what your directors teach you, because teachers are legit cheat codes.
some tips from an old (2015-2017) 3x TMEA 6a all stater on a highly competitive woodwind instrument:
0) (because it’s not strictly practice related) start doing physical exercise if you aren’t already! Some sort of cardiovascular exercise will get you into great shape, allowing you to practice more and focus for longer hours without getting tired. I’d recommend running 15 miles a week and upping this by a few miles every few weeks if you are an absolute beginner - consistency is most important.
1) MAKE A SCHEDULE. maybe you want to get all of the music under your fingers by mid august for example. break down the process to make sure you have everything solid by thanksgiving break. start hammering in details so that you have really polished etudes ready by region. repeat the process before area (because IMO area is the hardest and most nerve-wracking audition in the entire process)
2) this is the most important: PRACTICE PERFORMING. performing in front of groups is a skill that can be learned and improved upon. getting in reps in front of crowds (maybe your teacher's studio, or a local masterclass, or friends and family, or your school's band, whatever) is crucial practice for nerves. all of my worst auditions were the ones where I didn't play enough in front of groups during my preparation.
3) remember that when you're entering the audition room, the work is done. you've put in the effort and had a great prep season, now it's just time to show it. relax and enjoy being the best in the room! bring a coloring book or something - by now I'm sure you have your audition routine down to a T.
4) during the months between july and February ( or whenever area is for you), make sure you're playing other stuff! if the only music you've learned the past 8 months was 3 etudes, you've done something wrong.
5) take scheduled long-term breaks! each of the 3 years I made state, i took 3 1-week long breaks between july and February, all pre-planned and scheduled with my teacher. not a break from music altogether, i still made sure i was playing at least an hour a day and that i was playing other stuff, but it should be a break from your etudes and a general deload from your playing.
6) remember that all-state is NOT a test of who the best players are in the state and that people who put their entire personality and self-worth into the fact they made it are losers. several of the best players i knew didn't ever make it and went onto have successful auditions at major music schools and conservatories (the auditions that ACTUALLY matter). the people who constantly talk about region results and firmly believe that bob is better than joe because he beat him at region or wherever are NOT your friends. there are many national and international competitions out there that are far more prestigious and important than texas music educators association all state. go try your hand at some of those if you want, and don't get sucked into the toxicity!
7) if you made it: congratulations! Now it’s grind time. The space between gaining access to your all state excerpts and the convention is absolutely crucial. When I was doing this, I had anywhere from 25-30+ excerpts to learn every year, and barely 3 weeks to learn them. You should be in fantastic physical condition and prepared to practice well over four hours a day if you want to make sym orch. Categorize your excerpts however you want and learn them by category. Get lessons with orchestral musicians who have played all of these pieces/prepared these excerpts for professional auditions. Make use of orchestral recordings. Record your own excerpts. These 3 weeks are really grueling and you should be practicing a lot, but make sure you’re getting physical exercise too!
Great advice!
Practicing lots of fundamental skills during the summer before etudes are released will really help when learning a bunch of excerpts in a short time
The biggest thing that helped me so much (x2 6a all state) was recording myself, finding every recording of the etudes and comparing them. Ask yourself, what makes them sound like they beling in a professional orchestra that im not doing.
Oh one last thing, in the audition room, BREATHE. I always take atleast 10 to 15 seconds to tap my foot through the hardest section while taking deep breaths, and i swear no one else does it but ive gotten first chair in every room from doing that
I’m a sophomore rn, I just made all state tuba in 5A division, hopefully the chair test audition goes well 🤷♂️
Tips: dont be distracted and keep consistent. I had to delete instagram and snapchat after region and that really helped me focus and keep my eye on the prize.
Extra tip: its always worse when you perform your etude, whether that be for the audition or a recording or for a friend, 99.99% of the time, a full runthrough is going to be worse when you need it to be perfect, so don't expect it to be and just let the music flow through.
Of course this is after the practice and consistency thats required to have these tips even work in the first place
Very informative guide. I will definitely make all state next year.
Did you make all state
thank you very much for your informative guide, I will take this information and work hard.
Thx, I will use this next year 👍
skip to 3:15 for some factual info
Truly inspiring
good guide this will help me make state next year for sure
this is very useful and helpful!
Wow Daniel, so inspirational.
All of these talented students have great answers, but they are missing one really important thing that I think matters the most. I know state is taped (unless they changed the requirement), but I think a taped auditon is considerably easier than playing LIVE audition rounds. I failed my first professional LIVE violin audition due to my inability to control nerves. So what happened was I played all the fast excerpts well, but my slow excerpt (Mozart 39 2nd mvmt) went to garbage due to shaky bow and lack of confidence.
I worked on orchestral excerpts for over a year, created numerous video recordings, played for many audiences, and still, the audition environment felt extremely tense and I walked off the stage feeling annoyed with disbelief that I played less than half the quality of how my audition tapes went...
Do the Ling Ling 40 hours workout
I am a 1x IHSMA All State Tuba, and here is some advice. Practice as much as you can. Try to memorize some parts of the music also helped me retain my skills but I don't know if that would work for everyone. Also, if possible, start working on it as early as you can.
commenting for the algo
Being a sophomore I already decided that playing my trombone is my passion. As anyone I want to make All-State.
I don’t the fact of me being a sophomore or I’m competing in Texas or whatever to affect me.
I just want to go to that competition and play some music.
Piece of Advice: PRACTICE!!!
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