I am going into 7th grade in the fall and i am in the top band in the school.
I really want to be first chair and i am taking private lessons this summer. what should I know/ be able to play to make sure that I get into the top 3 chairs?

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I was the first chair last year in th 6th grade band

show the band director that you can do the following things:

play a piece with contrasting fast and slow movements
play in tune with yourself
show a great range of dynamics and colors
know all your major and minor scales by memory
make your phrase endings elegant, use a range of articulations
be able to sightread correctly and proficiently (practice it daily)
don't play everything at the same speed and tempo
and most of all...tell a story when you play, that's really what they want to hear..

^in 7th grade (at least at my school) the only thing we ever did for chair auditions was parts from the band music and *maybe* a scale, but not even really that until highschool, which that was the only thing in the audition was all the major scales!

Make sure you have a nice tone, and can play everything correctly. Do you know what you will have to play for the auditions?

May I ask what is the obsession with being first chair with much of the younger generation? It all depends on if you have other flutist that have talent that you would be competing against. If the rest don't practice and are horrible, then first chair would be easy to get if you have some talent and practice.

I don't know what it is, I have the same problem. It sounds self centered and rude, but I have A LOT of trouble accepting someone is better than me. First chair is EXTREMELY important to me. If you want to be first chair, the advice given above is very helpful. Know your scales, practice phrasing and musicality, know how to make something unique. Show the director that your butt wants to be in that first seat.

if you think about this competition all the time you will go crazy, the only competition is yourself, you can only do the best you can at any given time, and your job is to play the piece the way the composer wants you to, which is a very personal thing...

I have judged competitions, and it is amazing how people come on stage and try to blow you away with speed and volume...what they don't realize is that we judges are more impressed with how soft someone can play, or how subtle they can phrase, or how gently they can play a tender phrase, or how dramatic they can make a crescendo..etc etc etc

I agree Patrick. Maybe its just my age, I guess acceptance comes with maturity...

if you plan to go into music and are worried about being first chair again, think again, you will always be up against other good players once you get out in the world...you will no longer be the big fish in the pond..if you need to be that big fish, maybe music is not a good career choice, as rejection, even for the best players, is the norm...

Yea I'm going into high school this year and I know I'm going up against bigger kids with big talent, I saw that from summer band camp. So I'll try to get over the first chair thing. Although I will still be going after it.

that is a very mature response for someone so young, keep your head screwed on correctly and you will be fine, anyway, when you hear other good players you have a choice, either you can be terrified by them or inspired by them, choose the latter

First chair isn't always a good thing. For younger players it can be more stressful, too many solos, harder music ect.

Kara
I do not have an obsession with first chair.
me and my best friend were the top 2 chairs last year and that is the only thing that we are rivals about and that is why i want first chair.

Kara I have the best flutist inthe school to compete against and I am better than a lot of eighth grades in my school. no i am not obsessed with it. 2-4 chair would suit me finely but my parents would also like me to be first.

forgot to add this to the second note. I agree with tenorsax13 first chair is not an obsession but i really would like it,.

it is god to have goals but don't set your sights to high, i wantto go into senior orchestra next year bu if i kow i am notready i wont go into it it is as simple as that because there are alot of player that are better then me in the senor orcestra so if i am not ready i will stay in junior orcestra untilll i am confident i can play the music. so don't get to caught up with being first chair just find out what you should play and practice make it unique tell a story through it ect.

but good luck and just play your best