Auditions. Nerve-racking events in which you walk into a room and get harshly evaluated by complete strangers that are very familiar (and probably professionals) in the area you are auditioning for. How you do in your audition decides how well you place in your specific event, so what those judges think of you could mean acceptance or rejection (I usually think of it as a matter of life or death). These competitive assessments still stress me out every time even though I have quite a few under my belt. That’s why I want to offer some tips that I feel help me at least overcome some of the nerves and stress that make me jittery when I go to hold up my instrument or think about what will happen if I fail. Of course, I’m talking about music-related auditions, but this could really relate to other types of auditions, tryouts, or competitions.

1.Stop over-practicing.

When you stress out about an audition and want to do really well, you might practice too much for it. You’ll become less motivated to continue and might just start running a piece through several times before giving up for the time period. That does not help anyone. Added on to the demands of our every-day lives, we can’t just spend all of our time staring at the notes on a sheet of paper. This will cause more emotional stress than you need and you won’t actually get anything from practicing. Yes, you still have to practice until you get it down, but doing too much will actually lower your performance quality. And you definitely do not want that.

2.Be comfortable with the music.

I’m not saying that you should practice more since I just spent a whole paragraph telling you not to, but walking into an audition room and facing that huge piece of cardboard will intimidate you. If you think you can play your scales or pieces well, then you’ll probably end up messing up in places you thought you practiced because the nerves will definitely get to you. Just make sure you can play whatever it is in your sleep because it’s so perfect and lyrical and easy, and exercise the hard parts more than the other parts. Make sure it sounds good as a whole, but spend more time making sure you won’t be able to mess up when the anxiety hits you.

3.The judges won’t actually judge you.

I know that makes no sense at all, but you’ll see what I mean in a bit. Of course, if you’re not as shy and oddly insecure as I am, then you can just skip this tip. I mainly get nervous because I feel like the judge’s assistant in the room and the other musicians lined up outside the room are judging me in a “prejudiced” way. The judges can’t see me since I’m talking about blind auditions, but feeling judged makes the experience worse. I try to look my best instead of focusing on sounding my best, and then everything comes tumbling down. This is even worse when it comes to middle school musical auditions where everyone else auditioning is watching you (worst times of my life) or sports tryouts where I’m pretty sure everyone is watching you too. I even get nervous that everyone is watching and judging me when we do our timed trials in outdoor track and field. The point is, don’t let those thoughts penetrate your mind and frighten your soul. Pretend like you’re just practicing really well at home and let everyone else fade away.

4.Sight reading: Evil in the form of sheet music.

This specifically relates to musicians. We all know how it goes. Scales, prepared piece, then the 30 second time limit to figure out the dreaded (at least for me) part of our auditions. You can practice your scales and piece, but it’s hard to practice sight reading since you never know what you’ll be facing. Sure, you can sight read etudes every day, but when it comes down to your actual audition, sight reading is the thing you have the least control over. The nerves of having a time limit and having to read music completely strange to you makes it so much harder. The solution? Just remember that you have no control over this part of your audition. Drill everything you know for sure (scales, prepared piece) so it makes up for any points you may lose. Also remember that if the sight reading is really hard to you, it will probably be like that for everyone else. Everyone is in the same boat, and there really is no advantage. Don’t stress too hard about the sight reading because then it’ll cause you to think less about the things you have control over.
Auditions can be extremely stressful, but the more you experience them, the more you know what it is you have to go through, and the better you can prepare for it. If you learn how to be the master of your nerves and anxiety, it can be so much easier. Hopefully you stop viewing an audition like doomsday and start seeing it as a great opportunity to better yourself, which some professionals probably still have trouble with. Don’t put yourself down about your audition and think optimistically and you’ll be fine.