What can I do now to prepare for my future audition?

[Howdy]

Here are some great helps:

Buy an Arbans or similar (Williams) book and practice from it regularly. Learn all of your scales, major , minor, chromatic. Warm up (and down) each day, warm up slow, low, soft and gentle and build up volume and range gradually. Warm down daily gradually playing lower, softer, gentler. Do lip slurs daily. Use a metranome when you practice. Never stop and re-start a piece when you practice, push thru the piece of music no matter what, and if needed, practice the song over and over until you master it. Practice sightreading, advance carefully. Solid ear training is a must. Learn music theory. Practice right, no goofing off. Practice 5-6 days a week if you can at least an hr a day. Get a good private instructor. Learn to play the piano well. Perform, perform, perform as much as you can. Record yourself and listen, improve.

Get the right equipment. For your first pro Bb trumpet imho a safe bet is a .460 step bore Lawler c7 or a Lawler.460 straight bore with a 1a leadpipe(the legit trumpet that I use). A Calicchio 1s7 (Chuck Mangiones fav tmpt)is also a very wise pick for a trumpet. If you must, get a pro Bach strad. For you legit types the Yamaha Xeno Chicago Symphony is superb, as is the Lawler model T. If you are rich and want a legit trumpet, get a Blackburn. For those of you who want a large bore pro trumpet, I love and use the Calicchio 3/9 lb and the Flip Oakes Wild Thing. If you want a great trumpet but are poor, look for a good used vintage King Master or King Super 20(make sure the valves are not too warn).

For mp in DCI for 2nds and 3rds a safe bet is a Bach 3c mouthpiece.

______

Be realistic. If you play something like 2nd or 3rd trumpet in your hs ,are an ave player for your age, and are 15 or so years old with one or two years marching experience, trying out for a top 12 DCI corps might be very unwise. Why not get a few years experience with an open class corps or with a 20th place or lower wc drumcorps first.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Howdy

[drumno5]

Do I need to work on there different individual marching technique? My most prefered of the three is Phantom Regiment

Just work on developing a solid overall technique. Certain things are common to all marching styles: good posture/body alignment, a good forward roll step, heels up while moving backward, control of body weight and awareness of hips/foot placement on direction changes - that sort of thing. If your fundamentals are strong and you have a good attitude, your corps of choice can teach you the details.

good luck,

Fred O.

[Mello - Benji]

As far as marching is concerned, come march open class. Legends has a euphonium hole and it's a really strong program.

Shameless plugs aside, I just finished freshmen year at WMU as a horn major. I'm assuming your looking into music for college, so here goes.

The best thing you can do for yourself is practice daily (easier said than done).

It's already been said, but learning your scales now will save you a lot of work later. Memorized, consistent, different articulations, inside, outside, upside down, etc. That alone puts you well ahead of your age group. Also helps with a lot of playing and technique issues.

Practice logs have helped me considerably. Take notes of your sessions. What are you practicing? What are you trying to accomplish? How long are you going to work on it? Were you able to accomplish what you wanted? What do you need to do to be able to reach your goal? etc.

I had to read the book "The Musician's Way" for my horn lessons. It's a great book with a lot of really important information about being a musician in general (Practice/nerves/auditions/etc). It might be worth your time to check out. There's also a lot of good info on the website and blog. http://www.musiciansway.com/

Best of luck.

Edit-Clarity.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Mello - Benji

[Rwassmer]

Thanks for all of the great advice from everyone, I am already practicing and doing a research