3 ways to ruin your mock auditions

what if you’ve tried mock auditions, but they don’t work?

yesterday we talked about the importance of doing mock auditions to prepare for an audition. but just doing mocks isn’t going to solve all your problems.

there might be 100 or more musicians applying to take an audition for one position in an orchestra. and mock auditions aren’t exactly a secret... most of those players will probably try to do some sort of mocks beforehand.

but the big difference in how those 100 musicians will benefit from their mock auditions is exactly how they carry out the mocks. each and every decision they make throughout the mock process will affect their overall level of preparedness.

  • how many mocks will you do? will you do them every day? how far in advance will you start?

  • who will you play for? your friends? people who play other instruments?

  • what are the exact steps you go through in your mock audition? what’s your process for before, during, and after?

if your mock auditions don’t seem to help you feel confident in the audition, it’s likely that you haven’t set them up effectively.

and it’s all in the details. the details of your mock audition process will decide how you train yourself for audition day. they’ll decide the quality of comments you’ll get from your listeners and how you incorporate those comments.


rob knopper

hailed by @nytimes as needing 'louder triangle notes'. recorded delécluse: douze études for snare drum, percussionist in @metorchestra.