New York 2018 preparation

timeline and assignments

Congratulations on starting the journey toward the New York audition in

September! We’re going to map out your practice strategy week by week,
starting now and ending the week of September 10. We’ll call that Week 0.
Therefore the last week of your preparation will be Week 1: September
3-9.

I’ve written some parts of this guide for those who are working with me on
the full course, week by week. But if you’re on your own for this audition,
never fear! You can still record these assignments for yourself. I think you’ll
find that just going through the recording process at set intervals will help
your preparation immensely.

The timeline starts at Week 7, which is July 23-29, 2018. Each week
contains two assignments. If you complete each one, then by the time
Week 1 comes around, we will have covered all the prelim excerpts
together, and we’ll be ready to review your recording if desired.

One important note for the assignments: they should all be “one-take”
recordings. In other words, you may do as many takes as you want, but
the one you submit should be unedited from beginning to end. This will
give me the best representation of your current playing. Just note that the
Week 2 recording must be not only “one-take”, but the first take!

Ready? Let’s begin!

Week 7 (July 23-29)

General practice

Decide on a daily scale routine, ideally one that covers at least two keys
per day. Make sure to include single-note scales and arpeggios, thirds,
and octaves. If you’re practicing three hours a day (which I consider a
minimum for winning audition preparation) then your scale routine should
last somewhere between 30-45 minutes. From now until audition day,
you’ll use scales to mix in all kinds of technique work, including
fundamentals such as bow circles, quiet spiccato, and mixing slurs/
separates.

Decide on bowings and fingerings for both concertos, Mozart and

Romantic. Brush up any passages that are problematic, and focus
especially on the openings: the first two minutes of each concerto.

Assignments
1.

A. A one-octave scale of bow circles at the frog (use half the bow). Pick a
metronome mark between 60 and 100, and play one click for the down
bow and one click for the circle. Then repeat the scale at two other
metronome marks between 60 and 100

B. A two-octave scale, up and down, with quiet spiccato. Choose a

metronome mark between 60 and 120 for the quarter, and play the
scale in sixteenth-notes. Start from the string. Then repeat the scale
and two other metronome marks between 60 and 120.

2. A three-octave scale, up and down, at a fluent tempo: first two notes

slurred and two separate, then the scale again with three notes slurred and
three separate.

Week 6 (July 30-August 5)

General practice

Continue bringing up the level of your concertos, zeroing in on any

sections that want to remain under tempo or out of tune. Be patient and
maintain great sound. You’ve got time!

Look through all the excerpts as well, identifying sections that are
unfamiliar or technically uncomfortable. Begin putting them together.
Common culprits in this audition might be: Debussy high notes, Don Juan
passagework, Prokofiev shifting, Schumann string crossings.

By the end of Week 6, you should have your bowings and fingerings
decided for all the excerpts. If you’re using my marked parts, that will
speed up the process considerably. Please reserve the right to change
your mind as circumstances warrant, but you should at least have your
plan in writing.

Assignments
1. Mozart concerto exposition

2. Romantic concerto exposition

Week 5 (August 6-12)

General practice

By the end of this week, you should be able to play through all excerpts at
close to performance tempo. So do what you need in order to bring them
up to that level. They don’t have to be perfect, but you shouldn’t be
ashamed to play any of them straight through either!

Start to rehearse your “opening routine” for each excerpt and concerto.
Imagine that a selection is called out by a proctor or committee member,
then take whatever time is necessary (with the violin in rest position) to find
the sound, tempo, etc. in your mind.

Perhaps you have a “key word”, or two or three, that helps bring the
opening to life mentally. Take your time to enter that space. Then when you
put the violin up, you should take no more than a few seconds to begin
playing.

It will be your task over the next few weeks to reduce the amount of time
you spend in rest position to just ten seconds.

Assignments
1. Brahms 4 2nd mvt: record the entire excerpt, including your opening
routine.

2. opening routine and first two lines of: Don Juan, Schumann, Prokofiev
4th movement

Week 4 (August 13-19)

General practice

At this point, you will find more and more things in each excerpt to refine.
You’ll need to start limiting your time on any particular selection. Divide the
list into 3 parts using the “bowl method”: write the name of each excerpt
onto a scrap of paper, so that you end up with 13 scraps. Put them all into
a bowl, and fish out 4 scraps to begin. That will be List A. Then fish out 4
more, and that will be List B. The remaining 5 will be List C.

Monday, after your scales, work on each List A excerpt for no more than
10 minutes. Then work your concertos. Later in the day, work List A again,
for no more than 10 minutes per excerpt. Tuesday repeat with List B, and
Wednesday with List C. Thursday through Saturday will be the same.
Sunday, pick the 5 excerpts that need the most work and restrict your
work to those.

During Week 4, see if you can plan some kind of public performance of
your concerto movements with piano, to take place during Week 2.

Assignments
1. Don Juan and Schumann, complete

2. Debussy and Prokofiev 4th movement, complete

Week 3 (August 20-26)

General practice

This is the perfect week to scale back on excerpt work and rededicate
yourself to solo playing. Feel free to skip excerpts that feel comfortable,
spending most of your time on your concerto movements. Do continue to
rehearse your opening routines, not only for the excerpts, but for the
concertos. Mix in some practice starting at different points in the excerpts.
That situation has come up more than once in my auditions!

Keep in mind that New York sometimes likes to hear the cadenza…

Hopefully you’ve been able to schedule that public performance of at least

one of your concertos for next week. Visualize yourself stepping out onto
the stage, hearing the piano introduction, and playing the opening of each
concerto with confidence.

At this point, you should also know where and when you’re going to record
your audition, if indeed you’re sending a recording. If you’re working with
me in the full version of the course, you’ll likely want to get this done with
enough time for me to review your recording in case there are changes to
make!

Assignments
1. solo Bach selection

2. cadenza from non-Mozart concerto

Week 2 (August 27-Sept 2)

General practice

Your public concerto performance this week will give you valuable insight
into your own performing tendencies. Combined with the mock audition
and recording review, you should feel confident about getting your audition
off the ground.

Rededicate yourself to the excerpts this week. They should feel fresher
since you backed off their intensity last week. Now divide them into two
lists, A and B, using the “bowl method”. If you end up with all the quiet
excerpts in one list, or all the long ones in one list, feel free to exchange a
selection or two so that you have roughly equal lists.

Monday you’ll work only on List A. As you go along, make a note of any
spots that don’t go well. By “spot” I mean anything as small as a single
shift, or as big as several measures. At the end of the day, whether your
end up with five or twenty-five, write each spot on a separate scrap of
paper and put all the scraps in a bowl marked “A spots”. You’ll use that
bowl on Wednesday.

Tuesday, repeat the process with List B. On Wednesday, before launching

into List A again, give yourself five relaxed minutes with each “A spot” that
you draw out of the bowl. Set a timer to make sure you don’t go overtime,
but you don’t have to use the full five minutes.

During Wednesday’s work, you can take spots out of circulation if they’ve
improved, or add new ones. You’ll revisit the “A spot” bowl on Friday and
Sunday. Thursday and Saturday are for List B, of course, while Sunday’s
work should start with the “spots” from both lists.

Assignments
This week, your assignments should not only be recorded in one take, but
the very first take!
1. exposition of Mozart concerto, followed by openings of all List A
excerpts (just 10 seconds of each)

2. exposition of Romantic concerto, followed by List B openings

Week 1 (September 3-9)

General practice

In this last week (if your recording is not already completed and reviewed)
you should record two other “first-take” mock auditions for yourself. Hold
these mock auditions in a different room from your normal practice space,
and set an exact day and time for each. At the appointed time, carry your
instrument and recording device into the new space, set up, and record in
one take.

One mock should start with your Mozart exposition, the other with your
romantic. As for the rest, set a program of approximately five excerpts that
show different qualities. Here are two possibilities:

1. Brahms 4 1st mvt, Schumann, Mozart 39 2nd mvt, Don Juan, Brahms 4
2nd mvt
2. Brahms 4 4th mvt, Schubert 2, Beethoven 9, La Mer, Mozart 39 4th mvt

Aside from these mock auditions, your goal is to keep your practice
relaxed and varied. Keep things positive and keep them moving! Combine
all excerpts into the same bowl and let the bowl method determine your
order for the day.

Some sessions, start by just playing the excerpts through as they emerge
from the bowl. During other sessions, when you draw a selection, set a
ten-minute timer. Now play just the opening (along with your opening
routine of course) five times through. After the five times, note anything
that didn’t go according to plan. Work on that first. Then continue your
work on the rest of the excerpt. Make sure to move on before the ten
minutes are up.

Assignments
Either your recording review, or anything else you feel needs help!

Week 0
Congratulations! You made it. No matter what your final result may be,
you’ve prepared just as I do for my own auditions, and you have the
confidence to match. You’re undoubtedly nervous too, just as I am for my
own auditions.

You should remember that out of all the people who heard about the New
York audition, thought about it, maybe even sent in a resumé… you’re one
of the few who has taken it all the way, and you’ve done it the right way.

At this point you have to make a conscious choice to wave aside those
doubts and fears that will absolutely take aim at you. Those doubts are
normal, but they’re not helpful. You get to decide that because of the
process you’ve gone through, and the work you’ve put in, they simply
don’t apply to you.

You’re there, you’re ready, you’re in the mix. And that’s where your control
ends and the committee’s work begins. They want to hear your best, and
you’re all set to give it to them. So enjoy the feeling! You won’t be in such
great shape every day of your violin life.

Happy practicing,
Nathan