The topic of auditions is not a new one in Horn Matters, in fact there is a whole category of articles on the topic here. (And take a look at all the categories! They’ve been updated extensively over the summer).
That being said, something I was recently reading on social media made me think about the topic of dedication.
Dedication?
I think why it struck me was I had not thought of my own preparation quite that way. I was committed, for sure, to doing my best, and very dedicated to the auditions I was taking, especially the professional ones. But I usually thought of it along the lines of trying to do my individual best without making comparisons to others. I’d overall call it an Inner Game of Tennis type of mindset. In another article in Horn Matters I called my personal mindset “Fearless Optimism.”
In my Orchestra 101 book I put it this way — with the understanding that you could do it differently and have your own best result.
People are wired differently; not all will respond to optimism as suggested above but instead need to focus on winning. While some would soften that thought a bit by striving only to be the best, I would instead suggest striving to be your best. It is perhaps a subtle difference, but striving to be your best looks simply to do the best that you can do in any situation with your God-given abilities. Striving to be the best on the other hand invokes a sense of comparison that is irrelevant to actually doing your best job. Our heightened sense of our own shortcomings can also get very much in the way, and, besides, there is always someone better out there in some way. Let others make their own comparisons and just aim to do your best in every situation.
This thought especially relates to performances and auditions. It is very helpful to take an audition and to really be ranked as to how you perform–you will gain perspective as to how good you really are and will also certainly see areas to work on–but what others will think of your playing is really out of your hands. Don’t live or die by those rankings. Just strive to do your best.
Show how dedicated you are
Auditions are a competition, a very serious competition (a battle!), especially when it is for a job. While winning is your actual goal, the people listening to you will draw conclusions based on a variety of factors.
I’d suggest for those with upcoming school or community band/orchestra auditions, try to display somehow your dedication to the horn and your preparation for that audition. That you know all the correct tempos, you have a clear idea how the music needs to sound, all that. Show your dedication through your serious preparation! Conductors should appreciate that, this is the type of thing (“X factor”) they pick up on. And good luck.
