North Dakota’s All-State music auditions are right around the corner. The live audition consists of a major and chromatic scale, etude, prepared solo of your choice, and sightreading. The etude for this year is #15 on page 53 of the Rubank Advanced Method Vol. 1, with a marked tempo of dotted quarter note = 60. A recording of this etude can be found here. My suggestion would be to first learn it at a slower tempo, like eighth note = 120. Once you are comfortable with this tempo, slowly increase the tempo until you reach 180 on your metronome. At this point, switch back to 60 and start feeling the etude in 2 rather than 6. Click read more for additional tips on this etude!

I still remember the excitement of auditioning for and making it into an honor band. Surrounded by other students that had a passion for making music and enjoyed pushing themselves to be better. It was a time to read more challenging music and make new friends. When practicing, make sure to practice slow and correct before moving up in tempo. Here is a video of this year's audition material for clarinet. It has both slower tempos for practice and the audition tempos.

As an educator, I completely understand the beginning of the school year busyness. Figure out curriculum, assessment, and scheduling can be a daunting task. My goal for this school year is to make sure to carve out time for myself for not only clarinet/bass clarinet warmup, but also learning new repertoire. So during these busy times (or other crazy moments during the school year) make sure to make time for your own growth as a musician.

Ever have those days that you start practicing and it almost seems like you’ve NEVER played this instrument before? It can be frustrating to have those practice sessions that you almost seem to backpedal. I feel that it is important to still get “a win” out of the situation. If your fingers aren’t working, maybe focus on articulation studies. If the tempos aren’t feeling comfortable, take the time for slow practice, while including dynamics and phrasing. And just remember that this practice session, as frustrating as it may be, is still WAY more beneficial than scrolling through social media.

I have always loved chamber music. I fondly remember my private instructor bringing out the old duet book at the end of each lesson and I would be given the task of sightreading duets with him. I loved it! Not only did it really improve my sightreading skills, it also helped me learn how to listen to other parts. Even if I got lost, I could listen to where my teacher was and figure out where to jump back in. Now as a professor, being able to coach chamber music is really a thrill.

Click “Read More” to see clarinet duets that I recommend you check out.