How to prepare for an all-state band audition
Start with your state’s official audition requirements, then practice three things every day: the prepared etudes or excerpts, the required scales, and a page of new music for sight-reading. Learn the etudes slowly and correctly first, reach full tempo about two weeks before the audition, and spend those last weeks on mock auditions and recording yourself. On the day, keep a steady beat and keep going after mistakes.
- Requirements differ by state and by instrument, and the state music educators association publishes them each year.
- Most auditions combine prepared music, scales (often including a chromatic scale) and sight-reading.
- Judges listen for tone, steady rhythm and accurate notes, then the dynamics and articulation that are printed.
- Record yourself every week. It is the closest you can get to hearing what the judges will hear.
Know exactly what you will be asked
Every state runs this differently, and many have rounds before all-state, such as district, region or area auditions. Get the official requirements for your instrument from your director or your state’s music educators association, and check:
- Which etudes or excerpts, from which book and edition, with the exact start and end measures.
- The required tempo, if one is given.
- Which scales, how many octaves, and whether they must be memorized or played at a set tempo.
- Whether there is sight-reading, and how long you get to look at it.
- Whether the audition is behind a screen. In many states it is, so the judges hear you but do not see you.
Mark the start and end of every cut in pencil. Every year, players lose points for playing the wrong section.
An eight-week plan
Move the weeks to fit your calendar. The order matters more than the exact dates.
- Weeks 8 to 6: learn it right, slowlyFind out how each etude should sound (a recording, your teacher, or the page played back by an app). Learn it at a tempo where every note, rhythm and articulation is correct. Start with the hardest passages, not page one.
- Weeks 5 to 3: build the tempoLoop the hard passages and raise the metronome a few beats at a time, only after three clean repetitions. Play scales every day, rotating through all of them. Record one full run of each etude every week.
- Weeks 2 and 1: perform itBe at full tempo now. Do mock auditions for family, friends or your teacher: one take, no restarts, scales called out in random order. Sight-read a new page every day.
- Audition week: keep it lightShorter sessions and full run-throughs. Do not learn anything new. Check your reeds, valve oil or slide cream, and your music.
Practicing each part
Etudes
Judges compare you with what is printed. Every dynamic, slur, accent and tempo change is part of the music, not decoration. Once the notes are secure, go through the etude one marking at a time and make sure each one can be heard. Then record it and listen as the judge would: is the rhythm steady, and is the tone the same on the low notes as on the high ones?
Scales
Play them at a steady tempo with a good sound, in the articulation your state asks for, not as fast as you can. Use a metronome. The chromatic scale is where most players rush or lose track of the range, so give it a few slow minutes every day.
Sight-reading
Ten minutes a day of new, easy music builds it faster than anything else. In the room, use your look-over time on the key, time signature, tempo, hardest rhythm, accidentals and repeats, then set a tempo you can hold and do not stop. The full routine is in how to get better at sight-reading.
Where an app helps
If your etude has no recording, Sheetly can play it. Photograph the page and it plays the etude in your instrument’s sound. Loop the four measures that keep breaking, slow them down, and walk the tempo back up. Record a take and hear it back against the score. On trombone, trumpet, euphonium, tuba, violin, viola and cello, the coach can also tell you the slide position, valves or string for any note, worked out from the notes on your page.
Hear your etude before you practice it.
Photograph the page, loop the hard measures at any tempo, and record yourself against the score. Free to download on iPhone and iPad.
Free to download · iPhone and iPad · Android on the way
On the day
- Warm up properly. Long tones, a few scales, then the opening of each etude. Tune.
- Set the tempo before you play. Hear the first measure in your head. If the required tempo is a range, play where you are clean. A steady performance beats a rushed one.
- Keep going after a mistake. Judges score the whole performance, and stopping costs more than a wrong note.
- Follow the room rules. In a screened audition you may be asked not to speak, so you stay anonymous.
- Take your time between pieces. Breathe, reset, then start.
Questions
What is on an all-state band audition?
It depends on the state, but most all-state band auditions include prepared etudes or excerpts chosen by the state, a set of major scales (often with a chromatic scale), and sight-reading. Your state’s music educators association publishes the exact requirements for each instrument every year.
How long should I practice for an all-state audition?
Start six to eight weeks before the audition and practice every day. A common plan is 30 to 60 minutes a day, split between the etudes, scales and a page of sight-reading. Daily consistency matters more than long weekend sessions.
What do all-state judges listen for?
Judges usually score tone, intonation, rhythm and tempo, technique, and musicianship, which includes playing the dynamics, articulation and phrasing as printed. A steady beat and a good sound across the whole range help in every category.
What should I do if I mess up in my audition?
Keep going. A wrong note costs far less than stopping or starting over, and judges score the whole performance. Do not react, apologize or restart unless you are told you may.