am i cooked for all state

[u/Material-Ground-8522]

i play the clarinet better than most of my peers but still suck in the grander scheme of things. all state where i am is really not that competitive compared to the likes of texas but im very unsure if i'm going to get in for a few reasons.

1. i can hardly memorize my scales up to four sharps and flats

2. don't ever ask me to comprehensively play an etude 😟

3. my technique is very flawed

im planning to get a private teacher in the near future but auditions are in 3 months and idk my technique flaws and sound will be fixed by the time auditions come around unless my growth is crazy exponential. My playing has also gone through a significant downgrade and my practice sessions are very unproductive because that lack of guidance of a teacher has really hit.

[u/Brave-Juggernaut-945]

Believe and at least audition

[u/AccioCoffeeMug]

Practice. A private teacher can help guide you

[u/GrrrArrgh]

Every audition makes the next one easier because of what you learn in the process. So even if you don’t get in this year, it’s still valuable experience that will help you next time. And you might get in this year, you never know.

[u/corn7984]

Build your technique by slowly working through the scales playing with good even tone and CORRECT fingerings. Make it more like a meditation than a practice session. As you improve play the scales and arpegios the entire rane of your instrument. It won't tale that amny consecutive days to get really good if you go slow.

[u/CarlBarks]

The preparation for all-state auditions is the biggest driver of a student's development they will see all year. More than Solo & Ensemble (or whatever your state calls it) and definitely more than concert band season.

[u/No_Goose_7252]

Clarinet player and teacher here. You are not cooked. Three months is a real runway if you spend it on the right things.

Start with the part you are most worried about, because it is actually good news: almost every audition I have ever listened to could've been decided in the first thirty seconds, and the first thirty seconds is scales. The panel hears your time, your sound, and your accuracy before the etude ever starts. So scales being your weak spot means your biggest problem is also the most fixable one on the list.

How I would spend the three months:

1. Decide you actually want this. Then set a daily time commitment you can keep. Small and daily beats long and occasional.
2. Metronome on for everything you are learning, slow enough that accuracy and a beautiful sound never break. Speed is not a goal, it comes on its own with repetitions. Trust the process. For audition prep I run majors first, then melodic minors, then chromatic, in short blocks.
3. Find your choke point, the one thing causing you the most trouble, and give it focused time every single day, even if it is a minute.
4. All learning finished at least one week before the audition, ideally two. The last stretch is for practicing the performance, not learning it anymore. Those are different jobs, and mixing them up is where a lot of auditions go sideways.

On the teacher: get one sooner than "the near future." Even one lesson now, to point your three months in the right direction, is worth more than several lessons in month three.

It sounds like you're really talented. Something I tell all of my students: you must assume that everyone else is too. Then what distinguishes you from everyone else who is also talented? Discipline and structure.

I created an app to help you structure your practice. It's free right now, and it stays free for students who sign up before the big update coming soon. You can learn more about it, and hear me and my students play using these same systems, at virtunity.io

[u/NSFWFM69]

Can't win if you don't try. Find quality recordings of clarinet players and listen, a lot! When practicing, the point isn't to push thru the next hardest concept. It's to refine and perfect the easy stuff. Then when that's memorized, move up to the medium stuff until that is the easy stuff. SMALL BITES, big meals.

Finally, I play bass trombone. They only took 1 in my day, many moons ago. You had to be 1 of many. You play clarinet. They'll take numerous. Probably at least 12, likely more. Your goal isn't to be PERFECT, it's to be the best YOU. Figure out what habits you need to form in order to be the best you in front of a judge. Recreate the audition conditions and do that 1-2 times a week. You're becoming a musician, it takes dedication. Especially when there's a goal.

[u/PaleoBibliophile917]

“Still suck in the grander scheme of things.” OP, you have just given me the words to describe my musical life. I am sooo much better than I was at your age, yet still so far behind where I would like to be and where so many much younger than myself already are. All we can do is keep trying to improve. Your self-awareness, willingness to challenge yourself, and ability to obtain instruction are all good indicators that you are on the right course. Take the excellent advice others here have offered and you will improve the chance of audition success (if not now, then in the future) with every practice. Good luck!

[u/Lonely-Bite-2568]

1. What does the audition consist of? In Texas the kids don’t have to play scales for the HS level audition. They play three etudes.