“If you do not go after what you want, you will never get it.
If you do not ask, the answer will always be no.
If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place”
For a musician, an audition can be one of the most valuable and exciting experiences in their music studies. They can also be challenging and nerve-wracking moments, but in the end, an audition experience can bring many life benefits. It is a known fact that many experienced virtuosos can also get stage fright, fumble, or experience extreme nervousness. No artist is immune to the possibility of this happening, and sometimes no amount of preparation can keep it from happening.
That does not mean that you should avoid them. In fact, auditions help artists to grow in their performances as well as strengthen and deepen their love of music and their artistic expression. The most important result of an audition is that it can reveal to the musician both their innate strengths as well as their weaknesses. It can also be incredibly liberating and life-changing.
We encourage and teach our students how to participate in auditions. They are an excellent opportunity for students to learn invaluable life skills - not just for students who want to pursue a music career, but for ALL students' real-life situations moving into adulthood.
Here are the many life benefits that are the result of participating in an audition.
• Time Management. Audition preparation is a process and must be paced and understood up-to-the time leading to the audition date. A deadline means that a song must be learned, memorized, and polished within a particular time frame. Time management teaches the student the importance of meeting deadlines, which is a beneficial life skill.
• Handling Pressure & Nerves. Coping with fear, nerves, anxiety, racing heartbeats, and learning to do their best under pressure is one of the essential life skills any student can learn. Having many experiences to draw upon will help in many life situations.
• Receiving and Accepting Feedback. Students learn how to handle pressure and nerves in our music school recitals, where they play in front of a more relaxed audience such as friends and family. Playing in front of a judge in an audition can help teach them to accept comments and feedback. Critiques and feedback are invaluable life skills that can be utilized later in life, whether the student becomes a professional musician or not.
• The Value of Hard Work. When students are successful in an audition, they learn that it was all worth it. The time and effort they spent practicing and polishing their performance will show that their hard work was recognized. This success will motivate them to continue working hard and do well again next time. Excellence comes with hard work and is not just a result of "talent."
• Coping with Unfavorable Results. Dealing with adversity is a tremendous life skill. Being unsuccessful in an audition can help them learn even more from experience.. Learning to deal with less than desired results teaches a student to be mentally and psychologically healthy, musicians, and human beings. - not everyone who auditions is accepted - even if the performance is excellent.