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emy47
(19 points)
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I am going into 7th grade in the fall and i am in the top band in the school.
I really want to be first chair and i am taking private lessons this summer. what should I know/ be able to play to make sure that I get into the top 3 chairs?
<Added>
I was the first chair last year in th 6th grade band
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Patrick
(1443 points)
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show the band director that you can do the following things:
play a piece with contrasting fast and slow movements
play in tune with yourself
show a great range of dynamics and colors
know all your major and minor scales by memory
make your phrase endings elegant, use a range of articulations
be able to sightread correctly and proficiently (practice it daily)
don't play everything at the same speed and tempo
and most of all...tell a story when you play, that's really what they want to hear..
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arabians207
(187 points)
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^in 7th grade (at least at my school) the only thing we ever did for chair auditions was parts from the band music and *maybe* a scale, but not even really that until highschool, which that was the only thing in the audition was all the major scales!
Make sure you have a nice tone, and can play everything correctly. Do you know what you will have to play for the auditions?
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theflutist94
(44 points)
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First, find out what you have to play for the chair test...and once you find out, start practicing it! Start out slowly and steadily (especially if you think the music seems hard), because if you start out at full performance tempo then you could later on get wrong notes/wrong rhythms easily. Those are the two primary important things that are judged for chair tests...at least in my school. The second most important thing is a good tone, musicality (so you won't sound like a carbon copy of everyone else), and DYNAMICS!!! Dynamics make the music step up to a whole new level. It's what judges/band directors like, dynamics prevent music from sounding boring and dull...
I just learned those through many many chair tests in middle school...they helped me get 1st chair through all of 8th grade. In 7th grade it was really hard for me to be 1st chair, and I ended up as 4th, or 3rd chair pretty often...I was first chair only once. It was because I was extremely nervous, so just tell yourself you can reach your goals if you put your mind to it, and that you'll kick butt!!!
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Kara
(2852 points)
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May I ask what is the obsession with being first chair with much of the younger generation? It all depends on if you have other flutist that have talent that you would be competing against. If the rest don't practice and are horrible, then first chair would be easy to get if you have some talent and practice.
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tenorsax13
(527 points)
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I don't know what it is, I have the same problem. It sounds self centered and rude, but I have A LOT of trouble accepting someone is better than me. First chair is EXTREMELY important to me. If you want to be first chair, the advice given above is very helpful. Know your scales, practice phrasing and musicality, know how to make something unique. Show the director that your butt wants to be in that first seat.
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Patrick
(1443 points)
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if you think about this competition all the time you will go crazy, the only competition is yourself, you can only do the best you can at any given time, and your job is to play the piece the way the composer wants you to, which is a very personal thing...
I have judged competitions, and it is amazing how people come on stage and try to blow you away with speed and volume...what they don't realize is that we judges are more impressed with how soft someone can play, or how subtle they can phrase, or how gently they can play a tender phrase, or how dramatic they can make a crescendo..etc etc etc
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Patrick
(1443 points)
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if you plan to go into music and are worried about being first chair again, think again, you will always be up against other good players once you get out in the world...you will no longer be the big fish in the pond..if you need to be that big fish, maybe music is not a good career choice, as rejection, even for the best players, is the norm...
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Alieannie
(746 points)
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Patrick is completely right 
It's good to get over the first chair thing. If you get it that's great but realize you're just a big fish in a little pond. When you get to high school, you're just a big fish in a slightly bigger pond. If you pursue music in college, especially if you go to a good school, you will be surrounded by very talented, very motivaed, very good players. Master's programs and the professional circuit? You get the idea.
Get used to the fact that there will always be someone better than you in this world at something. It's quite liberating, actually. It's not about you and how good you are. Then you can instead focus on the composer's intentions and the personal meaning it has for you. When that is able to come forward, your listeners will notice and that's when you are truly making music.
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tenorsax13
(527 points)
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Yea I'm going into high school this year and I know I'm going up against bigger kids with big talent, I saw that from summer band camp. So I'll try to get over the first chair thing. Although I will still be going after it.
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Patrick
(1443 points)
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that is a very mature response for someone so young, keep your head screwed on correctly and you will be fine, anyway, when you hear other good players you have a choice, either you can be terrified by them or inspired by them, choose the latter
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Canadian
(649 points)
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First chair isn't always a good thing. For younger players it can be more stressful, too many solos, harder music ect.
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zoom
(854 points)
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There's an interesting article, by oboist Nicholas Daniel, not unrelated to the subject at hand:
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
Music: Rosettes, Shields, Trophies and other gongs
In a world where commercialism and competitiveness are increasingly seeping into the world of performance and arts education, it is perhaps a good time to examine whether competitiveness has any place in music.
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... but because the artists themselves all have qualities and potential that don’t deserve to be belittled and wobbled by “coming second”. There are many of the most successful performers in the world who only ever got a second prize, and then twenty years later dwarf their previous conquerors as artistes.
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
I've posted the links here: http://www.8notes.com/f/27_230171.asp
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