<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I was just wondering when conservatory, music school or music major applicants start to work on their required audition pieces, and how much time a day they practice.</p>
<p>It would be great to know how they balance their schedule, like how much time for scales and arpeggios, for the </p>
<p>Hello bassplayer08,</p>
<p>I am a parent of a senior who is preparing for auditions in piano. I can only respond to the first couple of questions, because the last one (about the tempo and bow strikes) sounds very specific to your instrument.</p>
<p>In our case, the work that was specifically on repertoire for auditions began a year ago with a Beethoven sonata, in December a large romantic work was added, and in spring, work was begun on 20th century work and a prelude and fugue by Bach. Of course there also was study of other music that was not for the auditions during that time. At this point, since prescreening dvd/cds will be needed by Dec. 1 for schools that require them, the pieces have been memorized for the most point and are being polished. Because of the amount and difficulty of the music, it had to be started a year ago to get it all ready in time. </p>
<p>Don’t get discouraged if you did not start that early because it may not be the same for your instrument or you may already have learned repertoire that is appropriate for the auditions. </p>
<p>The answers to your question about how much time one practices to prepare the audition repertoire will vary a lot according to instrument the person is studying. I think that piano and string students often put in many hours, my high school senior does 4 hours in summer at least 3 hours during school year. That amount of practice time may be low compared to many students who are home schooled or attend performing arts schools. </p>
<p>One of the interesting things I have learned from reading this music majors site is the differences in recommended time practicing depending on the instrument. I have the impression that voice students are not supposed to practice the same number of hours as a piano or stringed instrument student, because it could cause vocal damage. Not sure about wind instruments. But anyway, the point is, that depending on what area of music the student is in, the amount of time needed for practice and the amount of time available for other pursuits is going to vary a lot. </p>
<p>So if you read here about students who are planning to audition for admission to highly competitive programs and are in a lot of AP classes, a huge amount of extracurricular activities, etc., find out what area of music they are studying because it may be that what works for some people based on their area of music study and goals would not work as well for someone in another area of music.</p>
<p>A few prior threads:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/681022-practice-college-vs-balancing-pretty-much-everything-else.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/681022-practice-college-vs-balancing-pretty-much-everything-else.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/706957-excellent-if-somewhat-obvious-article-practice-habits.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/706957-excellent-if-somewhat-obvious-article-practice-habits.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/681022-practice-college-vs-balancing-pretty-much-everything-else.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/681022-practice-college-vs-balancing-pretty-much-everything-else.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/446958-how-many-hours-do-you-practice.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/446958-how-many-hours-do-you-practice.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/240407-audition-tips-info.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/240407-audition-tips-info.html</a></p>
<p>It’s not the length of practice time, but the quality of practice, and learning how to practice effectively.</p>
<p>Violadad, I agree that it does not matter how long someone practices if it is nonproductive practice, and that one may need to practice less if one practices effectively. But for piano at least, I think it is the norm for students preparing for auditions in competitive piano performance programs to put in a significant amount of high quality practice time. For example, even a highly productive practice of an hour a day would be very low, and probably not enough time to learn the audition repertoire or progress as much as other students who invested more time on high quality practice.</p>
<p>Bass-</p>
<p>I think other people have made the valid points, it depends on where you are with the repertoire needed for auditions on your instrument. If you have the pieces memorized and in decent shape and only need to do the finishing touches to be able to submit prescreen auditions and then do live auditions, you won’t be in the same position as someone who has pieces to memorize still and so forth. Based on what I have seen with auditions, it is much better to start the planning as long a timeframe as possible, a year as someone suggested seems to be good, so someone can prepare without having to kill themselves in a few months to ‘make the grade’…</p>
<p>The amount of time differs for each instrument, for example if you were a serious violinist, practice is generally >=3 hours a day and many violin students push the 5 hour barrier that I know of (and again, there is no right answer, I am sure there are first class violinists at top schools who might only have averaged 2 hours). I would say that with definite timeframes of cd submissions and auditions,and it now being almost September, that the answer would be as much as possible,that especially since some practice time,if my son’s experience is true, is going to turn out to be wasted, to get sufficient ‘good’ practices means starting at a high level. I will also add that you also need to be careful physically, in the last audition cycle last fall through spring, I know a number of student violinists,madly practicing for auditions, who ended up with tendonitis from the mad rush. If you are going to step up the pace from where you normally are, you may want to have your teacher evaluate your setup, to see if given the extra load you may be doing there are things that should be adjusted to stop from causing physical problems.</p>
<p>It also, of course, may be wise to talk to your teacher(s), and get their advice, assuming they have been through the process themselves and have kept an ear to the ground, they can give you the more specific information you need about audition repertoire, style and such that may be required.</p>
<p>Bassplayer,</p>
<p>I’d agree with everything said previously. As noted, there are definitely differences in practice/preparation norms between instruments. Hopefully, BassDad or Cosmos will check in and give you some bass specific ideas.</p>
<p>I did want to add that you should feel free to contact the schools where you are auditioning to ask specifically about tempos for scales or bowings. You may be told something nonspecific like “Play whatever tempo you are comfortable with”, but you may also get real answers. Likewise with your repertoire - direct any questions to the bass teacher. Audition panels would rather be helpful up front than have candidates prepare inadequately or inappropriately because the info was unclear.</p>
<p>By the way, I don’t know the standard practice for double bass auditions, but for violin auditions, scales and arpeggios are virtually always listed as requirements, but are generally not heard by audition panels (at least at the conservatory level). Of course, I’d never suggest that a violinist go to such an audition having ignored scale practice! In any event, double bass may well be different in this regard - your scales may well be heard!</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>rigaudon, I’m not advocating shortened or truncated practice, or the flip side of marathon sessions either. I agree wholeheartedly that there are ranges specific to instrument types. A range of 3-6 might be a an average for strings, contingent on material(s) being prepared, depth of familiarity, and other considerations . An hour for any serious musician might well be classified as a “day off”.</p>
<p>Provided your audition pieces are at a fairly high level, it is very unusual for scales to be requested at a conservatory-level double bass audition, with one important exception. That exception is Curtis where they will certainly want to hear your three-octave Bb major and minor scales and arpeggios. They expect them to be reasonably rapid and close to flawless. They are VERY particular about this requirement and that is very unlikely to change while Hal Robinson is there. The way you play that scale there is probably as important as the way you play your concerto.</p>
<p>Note that I am not advising anyone who is not applying to Curtis to slack off on scales and arpeggios. If you do not practice them, it will be obvious in your playing and you may just be the one who is asked to play them at the audition.</p>
<p>My daughter started working on her concerto about 18 months before the audition and the less difficult pieces about six to twelve months before. In the beginning of that period, her hours varied a lot according to her other musical and school commitments. As auditions got closer, non-essential activities got squeezed out for practice time. I would guess that she averaged about three hours per day when school was in session, but some of that time was spent on youth orchestra pieces. During the summers, she easily managed five to six hours a day especially when at a program like Strings International or Tanglewood. Every four or five days, she would throw in an off day of just an hour or two to give her body a rest. She did audition at Curtis and started giving special attention to Bb about the same time she started on the concerto.</p>