Preparing for Flute Auditions: Tips and Strategies for Success

In a musician’s journey, auditions are a great (and also nearly inevitable) way to build confidence, build skills, and have a goal to work towards in your musical journey. Beginning the audition process young through youth orchestras, all-state band/orchestras, summer camps, etc. can build a strong foundation for understanding and dealing with performance anxiety, but in this article, we will discuss practical tips and strategies for successful flute auditions so that you don’t have to worry about that silly brain of yours getting in the way!

Understanding the Audition Process

There are hundreds of audition types in the music and flute world. Starting early in your flute journey, you may have chair or “sectional” auditions which place you in a specific chair in your band. While these tend to be fairly low-stress, they can cause some anxiety, especially for a player that has never taken an audition before. As you progress, you’ll find auditions for other ensembles such as youth orchestras, summer camps, all-state bands and orchestras, competitions, colleges, scholarships, and more. Beyond auditions involving school, as you get past college-level playing, you might take auditions for professional orchestras, teaching positions, and other ensembles. As a musician, you’ll have a plethora of opportunities to audition if you want to do so. Being a great auditioner can help open doors for you, even if you don’t plan to be a professional musician.

Often, audition situations will specify what they’d like you to play. Orchestras look for specific orchestral excerpts, etudes, etc. while colleges may require specific pieces, however, they often set the guidelines of “two pieces of different genres” with a max time limit. Some auditions will require scales as well as a sight-reading component. Often, with research, you can find exactly what you’ll need to play, but you can also ask your teacher for specific advice on choosing pieces within your strengths that will wow the judges!

When searching for the audition requirements, search the specific organization. If it’s a university, they will typically list their requirements right on their website, but for school-sanctioned auditions, you may have to ask your band director specifically. Be certain that you’re looking at the correct information, as many organizations will group flute and piccolo together, even if you don’t plan to audition for piccolo. Some organizations will allow you to print the repertoire, however others require you to own the originals, so be mindful of those requirements.

Developing Technical Proficiency

First and foremost, you have to develop the skills to be able to audition well. Your best defense against audition jitters is being well prepared, so practicing daily and practicing efficiently will help.

Building technique in the hands is step one. You should be practicing technical exercises daily. You can find helpful exercises in the Trevor Wye Practice Books for the Flute, Taffanel and Gaubert 17 Daily Exercises, and with a weekly or bi-weekly etude rotation. Working through etudes will not only help build sight-reading skills, but it will also help you to build finger dexterity. Scale exercises, including various patterns, articulations, etc. will help build your technical dexterity as well.

Tone production and intonation are a hugely important part of the audition process. Having a beautiful flute tone and well-developed intonation will allow you to rise above the competition. You can do this with tone exercises such as long tones, harmonics, tuner work, and recording yourself to make assessments.

Refining Musical Interpretation

Bringing your whole musical self into auditions can be difficult. We have a tendency to really lean on our technical preparation, leaving musicality behind, but don’t forget to bring out your interpretation of the piece you’re playing for the judges.

Remember not to breathe on a bar line unless it’s the end of the phrase, and try not to breathe through a crescendo or in the middle of an appoggiatura. Contour your phrases and treat them like a musical conversation. Exaggerate your dynamics and use vibrato wisely in order to add interest. This means that vibrato should not be on every single note.

Consider the musical context, meaning the overall structure of the piece and the historical context of the piece in order to make informed and correct interpretational choices. Remember to take all of these things into account, making notes in the margins. If you’re unfamiliar with musical forms and historical contexts, this is a great time to do some research or speak with your teacher. They can help guide you to make interpretive choices that make sense, including articulations, breathing, phrasing, stresses, etc.

Preparing Audition Repertoire

For your audition, you’ll either be assigned pieces to play or selecting pieces - sometimes a combination of both. If choosing pieces, you’ll want to make sure they showcase your abilities without pushing you beyond the point of your technical prowess. If you’re able to choose two pieces (which is common in most situations), be sure to balance a very technical piece with a lyrical one, showcasing both your ability to play fast, technical passages and your ability to be musical. Both must be played with great tone and technique.

After you’ve selected your pieces, you’ll want to create a timeline of goals, culminating in your audition. Work from the end and your desired result backwards to create a week by week playbook of what need to achieve. Don’t forget to “chunk” the parts that are giving you trouble, isolating them and working on them alone.

Nailing the Sight-Reading Component

Sight-reading is an acquired skill like any other. You can become proficient at it by practicing scales in different patterns and articulations as well as sightreading often. I recommend finding a buddy to sight-read duets with often. It also helps to have a regular etude rotation so that you’re reading a wide variety of new pieces in varied musical styles, keys, and time signatures often. Working on a new etude every week or every other week will help you build on those skills and make the sight-reading portion a breeze.

Don’t forget to maintain composure. Run through it in your head when you first turn the page over, silent practicing the hardest parts. Don’t push your tempo and be sure to note spots that are just scales. Take a deep breath before you begin playing and remember that a missed note or two isn’t the end of the world. It’s important to get the rhythm correct over everything else.

Mastering the Art of Mock Auditions

It’s important to participate in mock auditions before jumping into the real thing. This can give you a better idea of what it’s going to be like to be behind the curtain and the types of feedback you might receive from judges. It can make you feel more at ease as you venture into your auditions.

You can set up mock auditions through school (try pitching this to your band director!) or through your private lesson teacher. The environment should emulate the real audition as much as possible with a curtain (if it is blind), sightreading, and feedback sheets. I would highly recommend asking your flute peers, teachers, and others to participate in the mock audition process.

Remember that the feedback you receive from mock auditions is critical to your success. Pay attention to notes about musicality and tempo in particular, because those tend to be the things that win or lose the audition. Be sure that you’re just as prepared for your mock audition as you are for the actual audition, as you’ll want the feedback to be relevent. When planning for an audition, be sure to setup your mock audition (if possible) a couple of weeks beforehand and plan to be completely prepared by that point. Use the notes and feedback you recieve to create practice goals for the next couple of weeks.

Mental Preparation and Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety can get all of us twisted up inside, so don’t worry. You’re not alone. There are quite a few techniques you can use to curb the performance anxiety, such as reframing - turning the “what if they think I’m terrible” into “they’re so excited to hear what I’ve prepared.” Or, in some cases, rather than thinking the judges are rooting against you, remember that they’re actually rooting for you. The judges want you to be successful, so take a moment and appreciate that.

Being prepared is a huge component of dealing with performance anxiety. You can’t be confident if you haven’t prepared, so be sure that your ducks are in a row and you’ve practiced your pieces until they’re absolutely ready for performance.

Practicing mindfulness and relaxation can help deal with performance anxiety, especially as you’re about to walk into the audition. Taking deep breaths, box breathing, ujjayi breath, and bringing yourself into the present to assess the current situation correctly, rather than hypothetically.

The Day Before and Day of the Audition

Prepare yourself physically and mentally for the big day by getting some light exercise, meditating, and eating well in the 24-48 hours leading up to the audition. Ensure you get enough sleep (which can be challenging if your nerves are up) by listening to a sleep meditation, turning all of the lights off completely, and taking melatonin if needed. Be sure you drink lots of water leading up to the audition. Being hydrated will allow you to think more clearly, be less stressed, and be physically less shakeable. Take planned moments out of your day to sit, close your eyes, and center yourself with a meditation (I really like the Calm app, but if you don’t have anything like that, try breathing in for 4, holding for 4, and breathing out for 4) over and over for a few minutes. Try not to consume too much caffeine - a little is okay, like a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but don’t overdo it. It’s easy to get shaky. Eat a light and healthy breakfast like yogurt and fruit - nothing that might upset your stomach or drag you down, and do some light stretching in the morning. Warm up before you leave the house with long tones and scales, and then play through the most difficult small excerpts of your audition music. When you get to the audition, be sure to run your long tones again, really listening to your tone. Remember when you get in there to hear the tempo in your head before you begin. Don’t rush.

During and After the Audition

Nerves during the audition are completely normal, however when they’re feeling overwhelming, take a deep breath between your pieces. Focus on your music and focus on the goal. Don’t rush. If you make a mistake, keep moving. There’s no need to panic, refocus back on your music and take a deep breath before you move on to your next piece. Especially if the mistake is during the sightreading, remember that you don’t need to be perfect to win the audition.

After the audition, take a few minutes to reflect right away. Write down in a journal or practice notebook a general statement of how things went, then write 3 things you knocked out of the park and 3 things you can do better next time. Remember that there will always be more auditions, even if this one didn’t go super well. That’s okay!

Dealing with Results

Whether the outcome is positive or negative, remember that you did an incredible thing! You put yourself out there in ways that not a lot of people could. Auditions are always an opportunity to grow, no matter the outcome. If you received feedback, make sure you take that feedback into account as you go forward and use it to create goals. Stay persistent and keep moving forward even if you felt as though this was a challenge for you. These experiences will get easier with time.

Final Thoughts

Auditions are great experiences and wonderful ways to grow as a musician. Remember that an audition is not a reflection of your worth. There can be hundreds of reasons why you didn’t win an audition that have nothing to do with your skills or abilities. Keep being mindful of your playing and striving for improvement as you move forward and you will succeed. You’ll learn and grow and continue to get better as you continue to add auditions to your resume. Keep working!

If you’re looking for a flute teacher to guide you through the audition process, I’m accepting students! My students are going on to do amazing things like competitions, college auditions, and recitals, and you can be one of them! Click here to learn more and book.