How can I calm myself before an audition?

Question:

How can I calm myself before an audition?

I play flute and I'm fairly proficient, but when auditions roll around I can't help shaking and my lip twitches and makes playing extremely difficult. I have an audition for chair placements in a week and i want the chair i deserve this year. How do I stop the jitters?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Practicing at Home:

1. Mark in your music MORE breaths than you think you need (you WILL need them, and it's nice to have them already marked).

2. Practice the piece in chunks (take the hard parts in one- or two-measure chunks, play them at HALF the performance speed, three times in a row).

3. Each day, the LAST THING you do, practice the piece at HALF the performance tempo. This will build your technique, and your BREATHING.

Mental Practice at Home:
1. WITHOUT the flute, stand in front of your music stand and mentally play the music, visualizing a GLORIOUS performance (notice I did not say perfect).

2. Imagine a smiling band director/judge (whoever is watching you during your audition).

3. Sing through your piece (even if you can't sing).

The Night Before the Audition:
1. Make sure you've done ALL other homework/assignments. You don't want anything else to worry you the day of the audition.

2. Go to bed earlier than normal (doing exercise or playing a sport in the middle of the day or late afternoon helps with getting to sleep early).

3. ONLY PLAY THROUGH YOUR PIECE one or two times the day before. DO NOT OVERPRACTICE...you will NOT accomplish anything more the day before an audition that you couldn't have done two days before. Overpracticing will just make you nervous.

The Day of the Audition:
1. Don't have any caffeine (if you really MUST have some, have LESS than you normally do).

2. Drink as much water as you comfortably can.

3. Go to the restroom before the audition (since you've been drinking all this water!).

4. If you have a chance, play LONG TONES (your chromatic scale in whole notes, or even hold each tone for 8 beats). This will calm you and warm up your lips.

5. Only after you've done your long tones should you attempt your audition material before the audition. If you do have the time, ONLY play it ONCE. Otherwise you will overdo it.

6. If others are practicing around you, tune them out (especially tune out your competition...keep playing your long tones and let them wonder about how fast you can play your audition material).

7. ESPECIALLY ignore others who are showing off how fast they can play. This is NOT a good use of practice time.

8. Walk in confidently, smile at the judge/band director while looking her/him in the eye.

9. Take a deep breath, and know that you can play the music well since you practiced it slowly and diligently.

10. Play more slowly than you think you need to - slow and accurate beats out fast and mistake-filled ANY DAY.