I just had a horrible college trumpet audition. My playing was fine until I got up to the upper register, where nothing came out of the trumpet but air. This happened throughout my audition. I don’t know what happened because I was hitting all of the notes fine while I was warming up. Does anyone have any advice for how to warmup before a big college audition?
I can’t speak specifically to trumpets or wind instruments, but warming up before an audition can be really fraught because often the facilities for warm up are inadequate. You certainly have everyone’s sympathies for that stressful experience. One thing than can help is to work on a practice of mental centering and preparation. There are some good books on these topic. One that my daughter found to be very helpful is “Performance Success” by Don Greene. Another tip I’ve heard for dealing with anxiety before an audition when you can’t adequately warm up is to run up and down stairs in a stairwell.
You aren’t my son are you!? (jk) He also had a bad audition on Friday, likely also anxiety. When I was in HS I experienced similar symptoms as you at the solo/ensemble competition. Nerves/anxiety typically does this and can impact your muscles and breathing in ways you would not expect.
So first off please recognize this is a fairly common physiological response to nerves and can be fixed. I haven’t read the book mentioned above, but it would be worth the effort to read. The more you understand what is happening the easier it is to respond to it. When I was studying in college the biggest answer they provided was to get more experiences in similar environments to get used to this. While it is difficult to get additional experience during audition season, please recognize that you have been through once and your next audition will likely be a different (and more positive) result.
Also recognize that the auditioners know what it happening, they have been there too.
Regarding warmups, you probably had a good warmup since you were playing well then. If you need more, consider buzzing on your mouthpiece while driving to the audition (preferably your parent is driving so you can buzz).
My D had an audition a few years ago where her voice cracked several times. Luckily they were kind. Had her do a few more warm ups and she got an offer in the end (albeit a choir part for a summer program - not what she wanted or accepted). Her teacher had her read a book and establish a routine. To that point she was pretty much winging it. She auditions well. Likes it. And rarely worried until the dreaded event. Now she’s much more displined about it. Talk to your teacher about a good book to read.