GUITAR: HOW TO AUDITIONbyRoger Allen Cope©
INTRODUCTION This document owes a debt of gratitude to the pianist and great artist Christopher Harding, and Dr. S. Kay Hoke. Throughout the course of this guide I have occasionally “borrowed” text from a similar guide they penned for Brevard College (NC) during the 2000-2001 academic year. At the time we were, unknowingly, working on the same kind of document; theirs in service to the institution, mine targeted directly at the guitar community. There were times I found alternate language and phrases to moderate my approach and language, and have included here.
WHAT IS AN AUDITION? A repeating element of a musician’s life is the audition. You should think of it as a doorway. To get what you want you must pass through this door. You will be playing auditions for a very long time, and it really doesn’t matter where or for what reason. We all do it, and professionals continue doing it for many years. Though the form tends to change over time – be it live for one or two academics or an entire concert with full audience, audio recording, or video recording – it’s still the same objective and root task. It is the only mechanism by which most decision makers can truly evaluate your ability and capacity. You should become comfortable with this formality in the live setting. If you have reservations about the audition process this “how to” will help. Here we will talk about the undergraduate guitar experience and focus on what you need to know to successfully prepare for a College or School of Music audition. However, as you read keep in mind the same standards and procedures apply to receive scholarship funds, join an ensemble, enter graduate school or a competition, or get a job. WHY AUDITION? To enter any credible music program in the United States an audition is required, but its purpose is often not well understood. This process is vital to your admittance into the music curriculum because it helps the institution determine your chances for success in their program and evaluate your starting point. In fact, if you get past the initial screening interviews and are ultimately invited to audition you’re ahead of the game because you’ve shown the initiative many institutions expect. The audition panel, sometimes called a Jury, will simply be learning more about you. You should prepare well and work hard to present your best image and playing. Let’s get started. WHERE TO BEGIN? First, you should immediately request from every school you are considering a copy of the audition requirements and standards. Find out what they expect, and immediately focus on it. The more time you spend with material they want to hear the more time you’ll have to get a leg up on the competition. Your current teacher can help ensure you are well prepared, and also help locate any unexpected or specific music you don't have or may not have studied. If you have difficulty finding the actual sheet music you should contact the teacher at the school. It’s not a bad idea to be in touch with the school’s teacher anyway; that’s your boss for the next four years. Make early contact to establish communication and develop rapport. WHEN? Next, find out the audition dates and location. That information is probably in the same packet that contained the audition requirements. Be sure to read all the information supplied. Some schools have a regular schedule of audition dates on campus. Some larger schools often travel around the state, region or country to make audition access easier. Sometimes the school will an accept audio or videotape of your playing, or an audio CD. Others do not and expect everyone to audition in person. My personal preference is to always audition in person. I figure if my playing stinks then perhaps my charming personality can compensate! Kidding aside, it is a good idea to be there in person. This helps everyone get to know each other. If you submit a recording make sure each track is "through-performed," meaning no edits. WHERE? Auditions take place in a variety of settings: performance halls, rehearsal & band rooms, teaching studios, classrooms, etc. Make no judgment based on location; the panel considers the actual site when assessing your performance. There isn’t much you can do to prepare for the vast range of different settings at different schools unless you have experience playing in a lot different places. WHAT IS IT LIKE? This means you will be traveling to a strange place, playing in a room of unfamiliar acoustics and probably noisy ventilation or unusual temperature, in front of strangers who are professional musicians who will not cheer like grandma when you're finished. Be ready for this. Expect your personal sound to be different. Expect the schedule to run late. Expect the panel may not hear everything you have prepared. Expect the panel to interrupt you while playing. It happens. While auditions are usually friendly affairs expect everything to be very businesslike. Expect to be outnumbered and do not be affected by this. Expect these things and be ready to push through any sudden change that may pop up. Your job is to show your talent and capability as best you can regardless of the setting or conditions. Be flexible. The panel is not looking for perfection! It is looking for good technical foundation, musical ability, positive response to teaching input, thoroughness of preparation, a mature attitude, and a commitment and desire – nay! - a Passion to study music. An applicant is not rejected because of one or two memory slips or a few wrong notes, unless this indicates a lack of serious preparation and ability. There is nothing you can do to manufacture what the panel wants to know and hear if you don’t already possess it. You are responsible only for doing your best. WHAT SHOULD I PLAY? By all means respect the recommendations and prepare something from the published repertoire list. This will confirm two things right away; you respect the guidelines and you are talented enough to meet the challenge. You may want to perform music other than what is stipulated in the audition requirements. Usually that’s okay, but check first just to be safe. Any substitutions should be of equal or greater difficulty, and certainly played toward the end of your allotted time. Be sure to select music that will favor your talent, and adequately display your natural instincts and technical abilities. Make sure you are comfortable with your pieces, know them well, and have played them for a while. This is not the time to pick the hardest piece on your wish list and think, "I can do that." The audition panel will read right through that in about ten seconds. Plan to play what you know and can play best. Learn your pieces well. Play them for many different groups of people ahead of time, and in many different settings. This will give you some solid experience in advance of the actual audition date. And do yourself a favor. Do not play Stairway to Heaven. By the time you get to beat four of the first measure you'll hear somebody say, "NEXT!" HOW DO I PREPARE? First, make sure you have an audition date and the institution has confirmed it. This way the institution is ready for you on the appointed date and you have a real deadline to help frame your preparation. Make sure all paperwork – applications, forms, lists and directions – are up to date, filed on time, and stored in one convenient place. You’ll need to refer to this material later. A pending audition date is the perfect time to step up your practice routine in anticipation of the college experience. Set weekly goals with your current teacher to help prepare the repertoire. There is now a larger goal with a distinct result. If you don't have an established daily practice routine then start developing one. Do it now. Start with short sessions at the same time every day. Over time this will evolve to longer sessions with more specific tasks on different days of the week. You don't have to practice six hours a day, but you must practice every day to establish the habit and to develop a daily repetition of solid fundamentals. Ask your teacher for assistance. Remember, when you practice the wrong thing, twice as much time, or more, is required to correct it. Know what you are practicing and why. This effort will pay off in a more polished audition appearance. Keep your week-to-week goals modest and attainable, but accomplish each one and then press on to the next thing. Make your routine is consistent. Your audition material should be performance-ready two weeks in advance of the date, including any works to be memorized. Play your program as much as possible. Play for family, friends and your teacher. Expect a few bugs & rough spots – this is normal – but note where those sections are and put extra effort into correcting the problems. Your goal is a clean, smooth, and polished performance. Before practicing your repertoire don’t forget to warm-up thoroughly. Finally, start a routine of playing your intended audition pieces straight through in sequence, and keep in mind the panel may request to hear pieces in a different order than you practiced. Plan to alternate your starting point. The best way to do this is spend about thirty minutes warming up. Then put the guitar in the case and walk away. Don’t hold or play the instrument for at least fifteen minutes. Then sit down, get your instrument out, check the tuning – quietly - and begin to play your pieces. If you make a mistake, don’t back up; keep going, press on and finish. Play the second piece in the same manner. When finished put the guitar away and leave the room. This will give you a good feel for the actual state of your pieces. Too often we sound the best after we’ve been playing for a while. This gives a false sense of security about our abilities. Remember, you’re going to walk in to a strange room, sit down and play. That's what you need to practice. WHAT DO I BRING? At audition time have everything you will need with you. If you forget your footstool, and this happens more often than you would believe (the panel members will roll their eyes and wonder how serious you really are). The panel members view any item essential to performance with your instrument as a critical piece of the audition puzzle. If you've forgotten an essential item then you've made a poor impression before playing the first note (and no, you don’t use the instrument case as a footstool). On one hand the whole point of an education is to prepare you for the road ahead and many of these finer points will be learned and fine-tuned during your study experience. However there are certain elements you are expected to have already mastered. Arriving on time for an appointment and being prepared are considered basic. Make sure you have:
It is hard to image a music audition site would not have a music stand available. However, if your program isn’t memorized then you’ll certainly need a stand at some point. Plan to bring a portable folding wire stand just as back up, in case all the school music stands are in use. Also, when practicing adopt the habit of placing the stand off to your left side in front of headstock instead of directly in front. This location is more in your line of sight, doesn’t block sound for those directly in front, and people are able to watch you hands at work. Make a check list of these and other items, and confirm you have everything before leaving the house. Write these things down. Start now. Re-string your instrument about one week prior to the audition date. This will allow plenty of time for run-in and to replace a false or rogue string. Do not fail to do this. Plan to stow all your needed materials in one simple place: a gig bag or in the guitar case. One way to make extra points is to provide copies of your music for the panel members. Make three sets, and mark across the top of all with pencil “Audition Copy.” Don’t forget a listing of your repertoire too. Plan to wear suitable clothing, and you should play at least once wearing those clothes before audition time. Make sure your clothes are comfortable and do not restrict your physical range of motion or emotional performance. This need not be formal wear, however plan to look presentable – like a job interview. It’s a sign of respect. Ladies: if you plan to wear a skirt ensure it covers the knee and be prepared to use the alternate sitting position. Clothes can be a problem. I once heard a recital where the player had not worn that tuxedo at all until the day of performance. He didn’t know the trousers had a slick surface film and spent the entire concert trying to keep the instrument from sliding out of his hands. Not fun. AUDITION DAY This day will be packed with activities and energy consumption will be high. Make sure your body has enough of the right fuel to cope with demands. Carbohydrates are a source of lasting endurance and energy, and it’s good insurance. Eat well. Know your travel time to the site, don’t be late. Check on the availability of warm-up space or practice room. Arrive early, warm-up, and be ready to play at your appointed time. THE AUDITION When called enter the room, greet the panel members, find the space where you will play, set a music stand if you need it, get your instrument out and check the tuning (it will change). Do this on the right thigh. Be quick, efficient and quiet with the tuning process. Indicate to the panel members when you are ready then let them decide what is first. The members are in charge of this process. Your job is to be courteous, responsive, honest, and ready to play. After tuning do not bring the instrument up into playing position until you are ready to play. And do not spend a lot of time talking. The audition panel is on a schedule. Answer any questions directly and honestly, but don't go into a life history or long rambling explanations. Just be yourself, but be concise. Also, don’t noodle. This is my own highly academic term for guitar players who sit around and nervously “noodle” on the strings while others are trying to have a conversation. It’s an all-to-common and terribly unprofessional habit many guitar players have. If you can’t prevent yourself from playing the instrument while holding it, then put it down. To behave this way in this setting is insolent, irresponsible and insulting to the panel. Don’t do it. SHOW TIME! When
you are signaled to begin playing, do exactly that. Begin playing. Do
not start tuning or checking sleeves or nails or noodling or just killing
time. Be ready to perform. Don’t TRY to do anything, just play as
you have prepared. Do not allow errors in your playing to disrupt concentration.
Once an error has occurred there is no way to go back and fix it. Remember,
what you do AFTER the error will get the most notice and ultimately
be more impressive. The jury understands you may be nervous. Remember, they've all played auditions before and they know exactly what you are going through. Remaind calm adjust to any variables like sweaty hands or shaking fingers. Play a little slower than usual until you settle-in. Relax and enjoy as much of the experience as you can. Most of all do, not let the situation shake your confidence. RESTARTS: If you don't like the way you started a piece or if you have a false start, stop and restart the piece again. If you are still having a terrible time starting "Piece A" take control of the situation. Stop; calmly explain you are going to play "Piece B" first, and continue. When finished return to "Piece A." Taking control of the situation can often be as impressive as your actual playing. If the panel asks for scales or an arpeggio sample, listen carefully to what they have requested and play that. If you don’t understand, ask them to repeat the request. Listen to the panel members. If you don’t understand something, ask them to explain it to you. If you still don’t understand what they want, tell them. That’s okay. Playing the wrong thing hoping to slide something by is not okay. Remember: “I don’t know,” is a correct, direct and honest answer. It also serves to support your stated intent to study music. Reserve any specific questions you may have for the end, but don’t be offended if you don’t get this opportunity. Often, time is limited and the panel may be hearing thirty different players that day. When the panel has all the information they need you will be thanked and excused. Thank the panel members, efficiently collect your things, and exit. Don’t worry about getting all your gear back into its original travel space. You can repack it later. WHEN IT’S OVER Once the experience is over don't quibble about what you could have, should have, would have, or didn't do. Don't say, "Well, I could have done that better." It's a sign of maturity that you take what happened at face value. It's over. You did what you could at the time, and it's done. Let it go. If you really bombed and feel the experience truly didn’t reflect your talent and abilities then contact one of the panel members or the guitar teacher. Often you can request a second hearing at a later date. If you are disappointed that you didn't play as well as you can, or the way you played yesterday, don't spend too much thinking about it. Besides, too often we hold ourselves to an intolerable standard of perfection when much less is expected or acceptable. You probably played fine, just not to “your” standard. But this would be a good time to step up your preparation schedule. Live performance is not like recordings, where everything is perfect. If you had a week or even months to patch a group of perfect segments together and then present them all at once to the panel, you too would sound perfect. But that's not the real world. Live music happens, and then it's gone. The experience, for both listener and player, resides in memory. Now you wait for results. You will be advised in due course. If you're under a tight schedule or just intensely curious you can ask the panel or Music office when results will be known. Sometimes you can speak directly with the guitar teacher to get an answer. If you've followed some of the tips here it's likely you'll be accepted, and you’ll soon enter the music curriculum as a guitarist. Be proud of this achievement. "The musical experience resides in memory." Think about that for a minute. Each time you play keep that concept in mind. You want to leave behind a good memory. It’s been said, “you won’t be remembered for what you do or say. You’ll be remembered for how you make people feel.” Every time you play is an opportunity. SUMMARY To study music is truly the most “liberal” and “fine” of all arts because we learn so much about other cultures and the human experience in history. It also leads to a rich and varied life filled with treasured events, fascinating travel, and lifelong friends. It’s not my habit to wish music students good luck with an audition because luck has no role in the outcome. Only preparation, persistence, and hard work will open those doors. However, you should know I do share your dream for a life in music and sincerely hope you achieve those dreams. The experience may not always be what we expected, but it’s still a great ride. I’ll leave you with some important advice, “Play good.” ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This modest paper owes much of its content to the hundreds of students who have passed through my various studios since 1971. My first college teaching job was in 1976, but from the beginning some common threads have been evident. A good teacher has the ability to impart information clearly and effectively. However the ability to listen and understand each particular individual's learning ability is essential to substantive progress. It's not as easy as laying down a set of tablets expecting everyone to produce equally. In this respect the Student has taught me. Yes, I had to be alert and observant, but students presented the conditions and circumstances for me to work, solve problems and unlock mental doors through which basic information could flow. This end product represents a gut-check on the realities of being human. We're all different, but we're alike in more ways than we are different. There have been a few smart people along the way who turned a phrase, shared an experience or moved the puzzle parts closer. To list them all would not be fair to the reader. Acquisition of knowledge is hardly an isolated event. I've had a lot of help. They know who they are. I do need to thank Susan Riddle, an information technologies specialist and guitarist. I am grateful for her many proofs of the draft and various lucid suggestions-but that tends to minimize the scope of her influence. She also developed this web site with patient questions and expert skills. I would also like to thank Steven Walter - one of the smart guys - who conducted master classes for my students, never asking a fee, and serviced student instruments on short notice. A wonderful player, teacher and scholar, he is also an innovative instrument maker. Across many hours of conversation in a variety of settings dating from the first day we met he has inadvertently provoked and stimulated quite a bit of reflection about the American teaching experience. I value his insights and friendship. Finally, William McDaniel Nelson, Jr.; Mac is the embodiment of all that is good in musicians, scholars, teachers of youth and responsible citizens. His abundant quotes from literature, reflections on teaching, poetic guitar playing and street corner analysis of "things to be corrected" have helped keep perspective on the joy of our collective existence. All hail the Lords of Misrule. The world
is a better place because these people are in it. I
alone take responsibility for this advisory and give whole-hearted thanks
to the above for the gifts of perspective, inherent wisdom, and a shared
passion they bring to the music experience. In the end, we all seek the
success our hard working students deserve. Roger Allen Cope©
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