How should I warm up before an audition?
Warm up your body and your sound, not your nerves. Spend a few minutes on slow long bows and easy scales to settle tone and intonation, then play the opening bars of your piece calmly once or twice, without drilling hard passages into a panic. Keep it light. The goal is to arrive loose and centered, not to fix everything in the hallway.
Over-practicing right before you play raises tension and tires you out. A short warm-up that grooves tone, intonation, and your opening is enough. Add slow breathing to steady adrenaline. Treat the warm-up as settling in, not a last rehearsal, because the real preparation already happened in the weeks before.
Common questions
- Should I practice hard passages right before going in?
- Lightly at most. Hammering them in the hallway usually adds tension and nerves rather than security.
- How long should an audition warm-up be?
- Often 10 to 20 minutes: long bows, easy scales, and a calm pass of your opening.