Orchestra Chops Vol. 2 by Joseph Conyers Out Now!

7 essential orchestral excerpts and inspiring lessons to transform your technique.

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5 Top Tips for Preparing for an Orchestral Audition!

In this interview, Joseph shares his 5 top tips for preparing for an orchestral audition which show it really is all in the preparation. He also shares some of his personal experiences in professional auditions, including times where it’s all gone wrong - it really does happen to us all! Here is a summary of his top tips, but you can find out more from watching the video below.

Also, make sure you watch Joseph's performance at 08:25 of an excerpt from Mozart's Symphony No. 39, Mvt. I, mm. 40-97.

1. Prepare!

Preparation is key, and this includes organising your practice time. From when you find out what you need to learn, plan out how you’re going to practice leading up to the audition. Don't waste time practising things you can already play, focus on the problematic parts and start practising way ahead of time. By the time the audition comes, you'll be fully prepared.

2. Listen to Recordings

Take advantage of online resources and listen to the full orchestral piece that the excerpt is from. Preparing for orchestral auditions is different from preparing for a solo concert because you are aiming to be part of the bigger picture - the other instrumental parts. If you listen to lots of recordings of the piece, you can prepare your audition in the right style and know exactly how your part fits with the others - remember Mozart and Mahler are not the same, so they shouldn't sound the same!

3. Memorising the Music

Whether you want to memorise the music or not, it doesn't matter - do whatever allows you to perform better. BUT whichever you choose, you must practice that method to mimic the audition environment. To reduce stress and mistakes in your audition, you don't want to be making quick decisions about looking at the music or not, so either don't look or don't look away but stick to one method!

4. Practise Mistakes

It might sound odd, but everyone's human and mistakes get made, so we should practice making them! Or rather, practice making and moving past them quickly. The important thing is, don't let your mistakes ruin the flow of your performance. The audition committee might not have even noticed (they have a lot to concentrate on!) and you shouldn't let it define the rest of your performance. Joseph describes some of his audition stories in the video, it really does happen to everyone!

5. Record and Listen Back

Again, with today's technology, it's super easy and cheap to listen back to your playing. When you're playing, you won't necessarily hear your mistakes, or you could hear things that weren't even there. That's why it's so important to record yourself, listen back, and be your own critique. Why not send it to some trusted friends, too, to get more helpful feedback!