Preparing for a chair test or audition
Chair tests and auditions can feel scary, but they reward preparation more than talent. If you know what's coming and practice the right way, you'll play much closer to your best.
Know what's on it
Find out exactly what you'll be asked to play. Most chair tests and auditions include some of these:
- Scales: often major scales, and sometimes a chromatic scale, from memory. Know the key signature for each one.
- Prepared music: an excerpt from your band music or an etude.
- Sight-reading: a short piece you haven't seen. Use the sight-reading checklist.
- Rhythm reading: clapping or playing rhythms on one note.
Ask how it's scored, too. Tone, rhythm, notes, and dynamics often count separately.
Plan your weeks
| When | Focus |
|---|---|
| 3 to 4 weeks out | Learn all the notes and rhythms slowly. Memorize scales. |
| 2 weeks out | Bring tempos up with a metronome. Add dynamics and articulations. |
| 1 week out | Play everything at tempo. Do mock auditions for family or friends. |
| Day before | Light run-through. Get your music, instrument, and supplies ready. |
For a daily routine to fit this into, see How to practice at home in 15 minutes.
Practice like it's the real thing
- Play each piece once, start to finish, without stopping. That's how the audition works.
- Record yourself and listen back like a judge would.
- Practice starting cold: play your first scale right after walking into the room.
- Sight-read something new every day in the last two weeks.
On the day
- Warm up with long tones and slow scales, not by racing through your excerpt.
- Before you start, take a slow breath and hear the tempo in your head.
- Set a steady tempo. A little slower and clean beats fast and messy.
- If you make a mistake, keep going. Judges notice how you recover.
- For sight-reading, use your checklist: key, time, tempo, road map, hard spots.
Nerves are normal
Almost everyone gets nervous. Shaky hands and a fast heartbeat don't mean you'll play badly. Slow breathing before you play helps, and so does having practiced the audition routine enough that it feels familiar.
For the sight-reading and rhythm parts, short daily sessions in Rhythm Trainer and Note Trainer are an easy way to stay sharp.