Hi, I was just wondering if anyone here has any good advice to get rid of really really really bad nervousness. You see I`m going for this really big flute and piccolo audition but I get really nervous playing in front of people I dont know - I mean they get soo bad that last time I almost got sick before the audition. My teacher said I should try practicing in front of my family and friends but the thing is that I dont mind playing for them. When I went back she said I should pretend you dont know them and then try playing-this didnt work either.

So please any advice would really be a huge favour to me. Thank you in advance

Before an audition, if you are nervous, try and make yourself more nervous! If you acknowledge your nervousness and stop trying to push it away, it won`t get the best of you. Take some deep breaths and walk around a little before your audition. Try eating a banana. I used to have auditions completely destroyed by my nervousness until I figured out that you can`t make yourself not be nervous. You know you will be nervous, and that`s fine! Just be confident and allow yourself to be nervous!

Thanks Kristie sounds weird but anything is worth a try I hope it works.

My favorite trick before an audition was to go warm up and then stop playing. I would find a nice quiet place and sit there wearing headphones listening to some other kind of music. Personally, I was able to block it out and shove it down until after the audition. However, once the audition was over, I would literally sit there and shake until the results were posted. I also had a worry stone in my pocket that I would rub over and over. It seemed to help me chill out about it.

Here is my ultimate advice on auditions, and the exact information I pass around to all of my students. Be prepared for the audition. This way when you walk in you will know you are ready for the audition and prepared to play your best. That alone will take away a tremendous amount of nervousness.

If you are living in a city you could play on the street or in a park. Lots of people stop to listen. I always stop for live music. And hey, you might even make a buck or two.

Ah. Nervousness.

As Garwood Whaley (search him on Google...he is really famous) told the honor band I was in "Whenever you are playing, imagine that a video camera is on your face."

I got nervous a lot too. On all-district band, band camp, school band this year. There is one way I found to get over it: Practice practice practice.

what you should do is calm down and breathe because that might be the reason that you got sick.its really hard because i play for my school. and i play flute piano violin and guatar its hard but you should for get them and think about your music.

Just remember that everybody gets nervous, it is completely normal to get nervous, even the most famous perfomers suffer from stage fright.
Try this, practice your audition for your band director, friends, and whoever else will listen, this way you will simulate the nerves, then when you have the real audition, it will be like you did it already.

Eat a banana. Really.

Other tips here also: http://www.celticharper.com/bananas.html

The best thing that I did was sit in a quite place , put on my fav. music and breath deeply. I also close my eyes and thinkabout the situation a ead. then, i go fro it!

Hey there! I ALWAYS get nervous before auditions and performances, but one thing that I found is to drink some hot tea...Chamimille (s/p?) It really helps to relax your muscles so you aren`t up tight trying to play. Also, I try not to even notice that judges are in the room.. I pretend I`m in my practice room. It really helps!

you have to practice auditioning, do your audition for many people many times

Exactly. Thats the only reason I auditioned for all-district band.

I have done (counts) five or so auditions with many more to come.

What helps me (and everyone I know that has tried it) is breathing deeply and slowly. Imagine that you are exhaling a "bad" color that causes nervousness (I use red), and inhaling a "good" color that gives off a sense of peace (I use blue).

I hate being nervous! I don`t understand why I get nervous because I`m not even all that shy. I think I`ve gotten over it some since the beginning of band this year. I remember when I played piccolo the first few days and it was a part where I played long loud notes, I would get so nervous my lips would start to shake or something which caused my tone to be awful and it sounded like I was trying to do some really bad sounding vibrato. I don`t know why that would happen to me but I hope it never happens again.