How to prepare for a all-state orchestra audition
All-state (and the region or district audition that usually feeds it) is the most common selective audition a string student faces. You prepare a fixed set of material, perform it for a panel, and a score decides your chair.
What they evaluate
Scales (often several major and minor, two or three octaves), a prepared etude or solo, set orchestral excerpts, and sight-reading. Panels weigh intonation, rhythm, tone, and how musically you shape a line.
The prep, step by step
- 1Get your state's exact list early. Requirements change yearly and vary by state, so confirm the current scales, etude, and excerpts before you practice the wrong edition.
- 2Lock the scales first. They are the cheapest points and the clearest intonation test, so make them automatic and even before anything else.
- 3Practice the etude and excerpts slowly with a drone and a metronome, then bring them up to tempo only once they are clean.
- 4Record yourself weekly and score the take like a panel would, on intonation, rhythm, tone, tempo, and musicality. The recording hears what your ears miss in the room.
- 5Run a full mock audition a week out: scales, etude, excerpts, and cold sight-reading, in order, one take each.
Common mistakes that cost the seat
- Practicing the excerpts up to tempo before the intonation is solid, so speed locks in the wrong pitches.
- Ignoring sight-reading until the last week, when it is the most trainable section.
- Never recording, so audition nerves are the first time you hear yourself perform the whole list end to end.
Frequently asked
What does a all-state orchestra audition evaluate?
Scales (often several major and minor, two or three octaves), a prepared etude or solo, set orchestral excerpts, and sight-reading. Panels weigh intonation, rhythm, tone, and how musically you shape a line.
Is a all-state orchestra audition recorded or live?
A all-state orchestra audition is typically performed live for a panel, so the work is building consistency, you want your worst run-through to be good, not your best one to be great.
How do I practice for a all-state orchestra audition?
Build the material slowly and clean, then record full run-throughs and score them on tone, intonation, rhythm, tempo, and musicality, the way a panel listens. Fix the weakest dimension before the next take. Your first scored take on Orchestra Kingdom is free, no signup.
Know you are ready before you walk in.
Record your prep. The panel returns an Advance, Callback, or Not Yet verdict plus five-dimension scores. First take is free, no signup.
Face the panel