My Audition…
Last week was the week Mr. D assigned for clarinet auditions. However he decided to extend the auditions to Wednesday. I had planned on trying out Thursday, because then it wouldn't be considered waiting until the last minute, but I still wanted a little more time to practice. I take go to take my clarinet home Friday, but I had left it on the bus. As was my luck, that wasn't our regular bus, or bus driver. So my clarinet was (and still is…) missing. Monday, we spent the band period arranging the band room for yearbook pictures, and clearing it out for the Tri M induction that night. Tuesday however, it was still missing. Mr. D didn't have any spare instruments he could let me use. Tuesday night I called John, to ask him if I could borrow his clarinet. Yes, he has a clarinet, he bought one because he wanted to learn how to play it, and he hasn't yet. So Wednesday morning I knock on the music office door, and I was greeted by the smiling Mr. D. "Are you busy?" I asked.
"No, I was just burning CD's….would you like to audition??" he asked.
"Yes please!"
He instructed me to go to the dressing room (the band room was occupied), and wait in there for him. I had never been inside the dressing room before, it was neat. So as I am waiting I put John's clarinet together with much difficulty. Those were the driest corks I have ever seen on a clarinet I swear…
As I began to warm up, it was sounding scratchy because of the new reed and all (my fellow reed-suckers know what I mean). Soon Mr. D walks in. "So how are you?"
"Not so good" I was still upset about losing my clarinet.
"And why's that???" he asked, he usually gets a bright and cheery response from me.
"Because I lost my clarinet…"
"Uh oh…" he said. I went on and told him the story. Just then Kevin walks in. Kevin was 1st chair in the Jr. High when he was in 8th, and so was I when I was in 8th. He's a sophomore, and he's really skilled. My predecessor…
"Come with me, Kevin, we'll be right back" Mr. D said. Kevin just kind of looked blankly and came in and sat down.
Mr. D takes me to the music office and calls the Jr. High to see if anything was found there (A/N the Jr. High, and the high school are right across the football field from each other, so they share a lot of the same things, like buses.). As was expected, nothing was found. Then Mr. D and I walked down to the main office to see if anything was then. On the way there, Mr. D turns to me, and he has this funny look on his face. "What's your name??" He said kind of embarrassed I suppose.
"Mr. D that is really sad! You know me!!"
"Yeah I know… What's even sadder is I know about everyone in the band, but not their names." We both laughed.
While down at the main office he was talking to one of the secretaries, and he said "This charming young cherub here has misplaced her clarinet…." Me?? A charming young cherub?! I think not…
Upon re-entering the practice room, I said "Wow, I get to audition with Kevin, that's so cool."
I warm up a bit more, and he asks me what I want to do first. He told me what I chose is what Kevin will have to do first too. I didn't want to choose something that Kevin didn't want to do first. I looked at Kevin…he looked back…I looked at Kevin….he looked back…I shrugged, and picked the solo part. I took out my solo and played about 10 measures of it, and he stopped me. The dynamics of the song say to go fast, and play slow. "Now go back, play it slower, and play it louder."
"Um…ok."
So I did. After the first 5 measures it seemed as if I was dragging on, because I was used to playing it faster, so I picked up the tempo a little bit. Then he stopped me once again. He asked which of the two times was played better, and what was wrong. Except he didn't ask me, he asked Kevin. Kevin had simply shrugged his shoulders and said "The first time I guess." "Thank you Kevin!" I said to him, because I played how I wanted to and how it was supposed to be played that time…
Mr. D had said "The second was better. The first time you weren't thinking. You rushed and jumbled some notes. The second time, what I had said made you think, and it sounded a lot clearer, however you did speed back up, but ut also sounded better."
"So you just did that to play with my head?"
"Yeah, it's a form of psychology."
"Well thanks for messin' with my head!!"
"Teachers are supposed to mess around with their students' heads. It says we have to in small print on the very bottom of our contracts" he said laughing. I laughed. Then he said "Ok, that's it, what do you want to do next?"
Whoa…I only played the first ten measures. The song gets a lot better (Spring Time, By: Louis Verroust) So I'm like "That's it?! I haven't gotten to the good part yet!" Well there isn't exactly one good part, basically the song changes in parts, but the beginning(what I played) is almost the same thing repeated. Towards the end it gets really good. "So where's the good part?" He asked. "About there" I pointed to where the tune switches off to a different rhythm, which was in the middle of the song. "Ok then play there." He said.
So I began playing, I messed up about 15 measures later, and I stopped. I never got to the finally at the end…oh well.
"Ok" he said plainly. "What do you want to do next? Scales or sight reading?" I chose sight reading. "OK fright reading it is" He said. "Fright reading…what a lovely way to put it." I said. "Well that's what it is!"
"Yeah yeah…."
I looked it over…it didn't look that bad. I asked him for the tempo, and he said "Since this is a marching piece, this is normal marching tempo…" he clapped his hands at a fast tempo. I was about to say something when he continued. "This is British marching tempo…" He clapped a lot slower this time. I didn't get my hopes up, because I knew he wouldn't ask me to play it at that tempo. It would be too easy. Then he's like "This is performance tempo..." he clapped at about the same speed as he did the first time, except I think it may have been faster. Now I'm like "Ok, give me first-time-I've-ever-seen-this-before-sight-reading tempo." He laughed and gave me a tempo somewhere in between the British march, and the performance tempo. "Ok that's better." I said. Then I played it. I played he beginning ok, but then I soon got stuck on the last measure of the introduction. All clarinet players have had trouble with this. But ya know high A, and Bb? How there's just that one side key that separates. The measure was fourth eight notes(I remember it perfectly of course, because I messed up) A, Bb, A, Bb, then into the next measure was high D. I played that measure like 5 times. I'm not sure if I got it right. But I think I played it that many times because I wasn't sure if I had it right. And I wanted to play it right.(I nailed it when I got home that day, of course after the auditions…)
Then we play scales. "What's your favorite scale?" he asked. I honestly don't have a favorite scale. I like the ones that I can play. Like, C, G, F, D, A, Bb, Eb, and others. "I don't have a favorite scale…I like the ones that I can play."
"Ok then pick one to play." He said.
"Well I guess there's C, but that one's so easy--" He cut me off. "Then play C."
"Really??"
"Yeah, go ahead."
So I play C. Then he's like now play B. So I played B, but I messed up a couple times as I was getting into the 2nd octave, so he said to just play one octave. So I didn't play the second octave. Then he says " Now play the E chromatic in 3 octaves." And I'm like "E?" I could do it but I'm usually play F in 3 octaves. "Ok, but I usually play F…" And Kevin's like "Yeah, I usually play F too." So he said "Ok play whichever you want." I played E.
Then instead of asking Kevin to play his solo first, he told him to play scales, as long as we on the subject. First Kevin played F, then he was asked to play B. He couldn't get it. I was thinking 'Wow…' Then Mr. D is like "See? You didn't do all that bad. You got a higher score than he did." "But I messed up when I played it!" I protested. "Well at least you played it!" "Yeah…but…" I was in shock that I had got a better score. Then Kevin played his solo. I took one glance at it, and walked away. It looked really hard. Then he started playing it…that's when the shock of me doing better went away. Then he played the circus song. He played it pretty well, missed up a couple times, nothing as bad as I did though.
So that was it…the END of the audition. Wow.
Next Tuesday…
Mr. D posted scores. I got FOURTH CHAIR. The highest freshman. I sit next to Kevin who of course got third. Mike got like 6th, Star 8th, and Shamu has yet to audition.
