By continuing in this series I hope to give you alternate views of how to prepare for an audition, whether for a chair placement or an All State tryout.
You will find attached several pages of exercises which will give you alternate ways of practicing from which most players adhere. Each exercise is approached with a more concentrated view to fully understand and perform the audition material.
The Allegro exercise is practiced at different tempi, keys as well as alternate articulation which help decrease the monotony usually associated with this type of exercise.
The Moderato exercise begins with the last three measures of the piece which tends to strengthen the finish which most often gets neglected.
The material in the Allegretto exercise begins in a very slow tempo and gradually increases in speed in order to give the player enough time to see and understand all that is on the page.
The final segment, Spirito is very tricky and will require most of your attention and for that reason I have reduced the tempo considerably, breaking the notes down to the eighth note tempo. This is very important for understanding the 3/8 measure as well as the 5/8 measures is necessary. Notice the individual “hash marks” above each note in one section. This will be the most difficult group of exercises to learn and breaking down the note values and indicating the beats will help. Don’t be afraid to mark your music in this way at any problem area. Also attention must be paid to the articulations in order to perform this part correctly.
Remember this- “There will be players who will perform these exercises perfectly”, it’s up to you if you will be included in this gifted group.
Also remember this- you are to listen to the first example of each line and only play along on the 2nd and 4th times through.
