Ok first of all please don't get angry if this sounds annoying. Also I am not trying to brag here. I just need some help...

For every year in my high school band everyone has to take the sight reading test for our chairs. Over the summer I retook mine because it was not required last year. I received a high score and was first chair for a while(an undeserving sophomore scored 3 points higher than me and got a big ego). I feel that after all of my years of hard work and dedication I should get what I deserve. I'm sorry to say this, but it really bugs me that this girl sits in front of me. It also seems like my band director favors her more. I don't know I guess I'm going to have to talk to him.

Anyways, the sight reading test for this year is brand spanking new, and according to my band director, harder. Now I have my good days and bad days when it comes to sight reading music, but when it comes to this test I seem to not do as well as I should. I don't think it's because I'm nervous. I just seem to lack confidence and freak myself out. At my last lesson I told my teacher about this and she encouraged me to take it no matter what. We sight read the whole lesson, then she gave me some books for practice. I also know that my exercise books have been helping me. I have been practicing for a week with a metronome. I just don't feel like this is helping me. Is there anything that can help prepare me more than just sight reading music? What can I do to make myself more confident?

Thanks for any help.
Matt

First of all, Matt, give yourself an attitude adjustment !! I was an 'undeserving freshman' who took first chair over a Senior and a Junior - they were ticked off to say the least for a couple of weeks until they challenged me and retook the place. Remember music is making your instrument sing and while they were ticked off, it came out in their playing !! So if the sophomore managed to make her instrument sing and got 3 points more than you HEY !! you blew the chance and she's deserving of the place!! A big ego ?? that goes along with upstaging an older player - she's working hard obviously (and maybe the favor of the teacher, I don't know about that) but now to encourage you . . . relax and let your instrument do the talking for you .. .make it sing like you never made it sing before and you'll be first chair forever !! Good luck! and Be Proud - A good ego helps to make a good player too ! Let us hear how it turns out.

I would tend to agree with your teacher about improving sight reading skills. The more new music that passes in front of you, the more comfortable you'll be, and the better you'll become at sightreading. Get etude books and choose one or two a day to just read straight through a couple of times. Confidence comes from postive experience, so as you progress, your confidence will grow. As for an ego helping, I tend to associate a big ego with overconfidence. You want to be confident to the point that you can play what you need to without fear of screwing up, but you don't want to allow your ego to go out of control. No one likes a conceited musician. Keep working hard (and regular metronome practice is an excellent idea, by the way), and I'm sure your labor will show. Your band director may or may not favor your competition, but politics can be found everywhere in music, and they're just something you'll have to get used to. View not getting first chair as motivation to work your butt of and get it next time, rather than cause to dislike the director and the girl that got first chair. Audition results only indicate who played better on one given piece, on one given day, in one given situation, not who is necessarily the strongest musician, and it may be that on the day you all auditioned, this girl played better than you did. Band directors have this wierd way of knowing what each of their pupils needs to grow, and there may be a reason you aren't aware of that you didn't get first chair. Anyway, good luck next time, and keep working hard.

well I take sight reading tests and they are hard.... you have a right to be angry with the girl infront of you if she doesn't deserve it (in my opinion).... i have this girl who sits beside me and she is ANNOYING (not to sound rude) but she thinks she's all that.... she'll turn to me and tell me what I'm doing wrong if I miss ONE note.....and she told our flute teacher that she made third chair....BUT WE DON'T HAVE CHAIRS IN OUR BAND!!!!! uh.... sorry on to you..... what I do is flash cards and yes it sounds cheesy but they work and keep giving yourself less time.... I now can do four octaves (sp?) in one minute all notes including flats and sharps....... (I know flute doesn't have four octaves but.... just for tests....)

flashcards and what else helps is to finger your notes and say them out loud..... for me its easy to sight read notes on flute but harder to know the name..... that helps....

sorry if that's chessy for you and doesn't help.....

There actually are four octaves on flute (or more accurately, about 3 1/2), ranging all the way from B1 (assumong you have a B foot) to F#4. Most people never play above C4 or D4, though.

A good band director will move or rotate people around to give more experience as well as challenge as appropriate. Sometimes, this is enforced by a players temporary absence. Few band directors place much emphasis on performance in auditions as this tends not to be representative of what's required during rehearsals and performances. Personally, I rate willingness to practise between rehearsals to get the notes correct and focus on rhythm, articulation and dynamics during rehearsals.

Some teachers are not good at teaching sight reading - they expect it just to develop naturally as if its the use of vibrato. Too many band directors don't explain what they want ...

There are many factors that determine the enjoyment and benefit from playing in ensembles - most of them relating to people and their skills. Fortunately, in most communities and schools around where I live, there is no shortage of playing opportunities so musicians can pick and mix ...

Sight reading is extremely important, especially if you are serious about music. It is no coincidence that good sight-readers are really good at scales and theory as they are able to identify and think in the key they are playing in.

Practice it every day, learn to sing the rhythms in your head while you look over the piece for one minute, be able to identify the basic pulse of the piece.

Don't forget to follow phrase and slur markings.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in sight-reading is the attempt to be perfect. The idea is to show a grasp of tonality, rhythm, phrasing and, most of all, character.

Practice it every day, learn to sing the rhythms in your head while you look over the piece for one minute, be able to identify the basic pulse of the piece.

I feel like that is the best advice on this thread. Not only should you practice it on your instrument, but you should be able to sit down and sing or clap out the rhythms also. A lot of times when you actually sit down to sight read if you have worked through the rhythms before playing the piece it allows to you concentrate on the notes and the rhythms in my opinion. Keep working at it and you will improve.

From ekdavies- "A good band director will move or rotate people around to give more experience as well as challenge as appropriate. Sometimes, this is enforced by a players temporary absence. Few band directors place much emphasis on performance in auditions as this tends not to be representative of what's required during rehearsals and performances."

I really have to disagree with that analysis. My HS band director was an amazing musician, and got the band program to the point it's at now (one of the top hs wind groups in California), and we ALWAYS had chairs. No rotation, unless a reaudition or a challenge called for it. In my opinion, that method is the far better choice than constant rotation. How well you have prepared for an audition absolutely is representative of what's required from rehearsals and performances. If nothing else, it shows off your work ethic and general skill level (most of the time). Playing any part in a group has it's own challenges and it's own experiences to be gained, so those reasons for rotation don't really hold up in my mind.

I wasn't suggesting "constant rotation" but encouraging players who normally play other parts to gain more experience. Obviously, they can also do this by playing in other groups, including leaving - with the implication that in community and school bands the development philosophy can be important. Although I've seen directors who have lacked the nerve to rotate a brilliant but temperamental player out of the solo slot to allow some-one else to have a go. A good section leader will encourage team building and succession.

If you compare Military Band, Concert Band and Wind Band scores you will realise some subtle but important differences and similarities. While first and second flute parts tend to be broadly similar, the same cant be said in Military Band arrangements of the clarinet, cornet or horn parts. For horn parts this gets even more complicated with 1&3 being higher in Wind Band arrangements and 4 being a specialist low part (like Orchestral scores) while in Military Band arrangements there is less variation and 3 is not necessarily higher than 2! When I've played with some of the best UK bands, rotation and team work in the horn section was the norm (I double on horn) - with a much better atmosphere than within the flutes who didn't.

You can miss players who can competently play accompanying parts in an audition or worse end up placing a player in a position who will get bored and leave the band quite soon! Auditions can be useful for solo flute, clarinet, oboe, cornet etc but IMHO shouldn't be relied on too much. It has been suggested on other Internet forums that one of the reasons why in the UK and Europe there are a surprizing number of unfilled permanent positions in non-solist positions is that the orchestral management doesn't understand how to recruit some-one to play and stay in such jobs.

Thanks for all the advice . Sorry I didn't mean to sound rude about that girl, but in all honesty she does not work hard. She's just lucky that she's been taking private lessons for many years.

I am very serious about what I do. I have been taking lessons for 3 years, and I am in AP Music Theory at my school. I know my band director knows that I'm serious, but his top 4 flutists all take lessons, and is from the same teacher. Therefore, and my director told me this, he enjoys watching us "battle" because it's like a game to him. Sometimes I just wish he wasn't so stubborn.

I guess I'll just have to sit down and talk to him one day. I really don't agree with his views on things at times. As for the sight reading test, well, I'm not going to jump on it right away, but I'm not waiting to the last minute. I just want to feel like I am ready. And hopefully when I take it I won't be stressed out from everything else in my life.

Thanks again,
Matt

It is sad that your band director wants you to "battle", music is about friendship and comradeship, I am always happy to hear good students, professionals and masters play and teach, I feel I improve from it.

Perhaps your band director should have you inspire each other instead.

I completely agree, Patrick. Music should not be about pitting people against each other. The fact that he has specifically told you he enjoys seeing you struggle to beat each other is quite frankly disturbing to me. What kind of a musical education can you get from someone whose main interest is in the conflict he can create, rather than inspiring each and every one of his students to become their best? I certainly hope he was joking about that.

That is very disturbing. I would tell him where to go and probably quite. (That is just me though.) Everyone knows how strong minded I can be. lol! I just would rather not be led or taught by someone with this kind of ethics.

Although I agree that this BD has been inappropriate, I do not agree with Kara about "telling off" a teacher or dropping out of band. Part of being a member of a musical ensemble is to learn to interact and get along with a multitude of personalities. This is especially true for school ensembles. Band, orchestra and choir teach a lot more than music, they teach interpersonal dynamics, leadership skills and learning to work as a group. Im sure we have all worked under or been a part of an ensemble where we don't necessarly like or agree with the director, but have still learned something from the experience. I hate to see anyone "quit band" (or orchestra) over something like this. I encourage you to talk to your director and of course practice the sightreading!!!