Applying for music school? Here's how to make connections with the professors BEFORE the audition
Jun 25, 2024
Eleanor
Imagine this: you are sitting in the audition room. Judging the contestants. One after another all day long. Then you see a contestant you know. They reached out to your beforehand and have made a connection with you. Don't you want to be that contestant? Today we dive into how.
Imagine this: you are sitting in the audition room. Judging the contestants. One after another all day long. Then you see a contestant you know. They reached out to your beforehand and have made a connection with you. Don't you want to be that contestant? Today we dive into how.
Before I did my auditions for music school, I set up meetings with the professors, mostly because I'm going to be switching from a long script read to a short script read and I wanted to know if they were up for that, because some teachers are ready to teach that and other teachers might not want to teach that. What I didn't realize what would happen is that I would establish connections with these professors, I would see them in my audition and I would be able to keep in touch with them. Having that connection with them made it easier for me to play in my audition and ultimately just do better in my audition. They also knew who I was before I got to the audition room. Sounds like an advantage and something really cool to do. Heck yeah, sounds like an advantage and something really cool to do. Heck yeah. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. I'm your host, eleanor, and after countless practice sessions, a ton of broken reeds and seven different music school acceptances in three different countries, I have learned a thing or two about savoring your practicing, becoming your best practice companion and actively working towards your musical goals, and I want to share this with you because I want you to become your best musical self. Are you with me on this? Let's get started. Hey there and welcome back.
Speaker 1:
Today we are diving into connections and how we can establish them with professors before we get to that audition. Now it's different for everyone, so today I'm going to be talking about how I did it and hopefully that will be able to show you, maybe, how you can do it as well. The first thing I did was establish those connections. Now for me, I just emailed the teachers and I talked about my situation with Reads and asked if we could have a Zoom call about the Reads. This is a real concern for me because, if you don't know already, I am moving to the UK this summer and switching oboe playing styles from the American style of oboe playing to the European style of oboe playing, and that is a huge switch. So I really really, really needed to know if the teachers were open to this change, because some teachers were very open to it and other teachers were not as open to it. They just didn't want to kind of do that, and that's perfectly fine. I just needed to know which was which. So how can you do this? Maybe you have your own concern, like I did with the reads. Don't be afraid to reach out and contact the teachers and ask questions. Now the second thing, which is something that people do all the time like the first thing, was specific to me. That's what I did, and if you have a similar concern, then you can totally do that as well.
Speaker 1:
But the second thing is setting up trial lessons. Now you can just ask the teacher for a trial lesson. This way, the teacher gets to know not only you but also how you play, and we dive into this in episode 14. It is called trial lessons coming up. Here's how to prepare for them. This episode takes you from you know, when you have finished setting the date with the teacher for the trial lessons, all the way up to actually doing the trial lesson, because there's that gap in between. And you know there's a good question how do you prepare for the trial lesson? So that is exactly what episode 14 is about. So make sure you go check the show notes and listen to that episode, because there's some good stuff in there.
Speaker 1:
Now, trial lessons are great because not only is it for the teacher getting to know you, but it's also for you to get to know the teacher. Everyone's teaching style and everyone's learning style is different and trial lessons can make it so that you can see oh, do we match? You know, is this teacher a good fit for me? Oh, this teacher isn't such a good fit for me Because in my personal experience, I had some great trial lessons that were amazing and I was so excited about working with this teacher and, on the other hand, I also had some trial lessons that weren't so great that I just didn't feel like they were good and it just we didn't mesh. And I'm so grateful for those experiences and opportunities because through them I was able to be like, okay, I want to keep in touch with these teachers, but these teachers over here I didn't, you know we didn't work well as much so. So maybe I can keep that in mind.
Speaker 1:
So setting up trial lessons is so, so, so important and it establishes that connection, if you haven't already established it through asking the teacher a question. You know, as I have struggled and worked through audition seasons, I have tested it out and collected strategies for all aspects of the auditioning process, and this is to go in a special guidebook just for you. There is a link all about this in the show notes, and the last step of this is maintaining those connections that you have created. Once you have gotten in touch with the teachers, don't let that drop. You have a connection. Maybe you've reached out to them about something that you wanted to ask a question about for me, like the reads, or you have had a trial lesson with them. Either way, you have created a connection. Do not let that drop.
Speaker 1:
For instance, I sent some of my teachers now, not all of them, but some of them, especially the ones that I was really interested in working with. I sent them a quick email after I turned in my application and my preliminary video auditions and basically I said hey, I've turned these in, I can't wait for you to watch them. Or, you know, I can't wait for you to take a look at them because I'm really excited about it, or whatever it is, just telling the teacher like, okay, you know I did this and it is a great way to keep in touch. So for you, it could be doing that. It could be, especially if you are going to go visit the school, reaching out to the teacher beforehand. You are going to go visit the school reaching out to the teacher beforehand, being like hey, you know, I have this visit that I'm going to be doing let's, you know, have a lesson or something like that, just to create or just to continue that connection. Or if you have an audition at the school, that's another thing. You can send them an email and say, hey, I have this audition at this, you know, at the school, I'm looking forward to seeing you there, just sending an email to keep that connection going.
Speaker 1:
Now, don't overdo it. Keep in touch with the teachers that you want to keep in touch with and do what feels appropriate to you. Now, every situation is different, but if something feels like it's too much, then you know address that and assess that with your specific situation, because everyone's situation is different and also, you don't have to keep in touch with every teacher. You meet Some teachers. You might be really, really, really excited about studying with them and other teachers. Maybe you had a trial lesson. It didn't go as well and you're just like I don't think that they're the right fit for me. You would probably keep in touch with the teachers that really inspired you and excited you more than, say, the ones that didn't. So, really thinking about okay, what is, you know, a good fit for me? What's an appropriate level of communication for me, for these different teachers, is a really important thing to think about, because some teachers you will want to keep in touch with more than others, and that's perfectly fine.
Speaker 1:
Let's do a quick recap. The first thing is establishing those connections. Now, for me, I emailed the teacher about, you know, reads, switching from a long scrape to a short scrape. Maybe you have a similar concern or something that you want to email the teacher about. To establish those connections, now remember to be really polite. You know this is this is a professional connection, almost. So make sure that you're really polite and really respectful, but reaching out and establishing those connections with the teachers. The second is setting up those trial lessons. Now, this is something that everyone does, it's a very normal thing. So just contacting the teacher and saying, hey, you know, could we maybe have a trial lesson. Now remember to be polite and respectful, but have that, and that can either establish a connection or continue a connection if it's already established.
Speaker 1:
Now, if you want to learn more about trial lessons, episode 14 is the episode for you. Make sure that you go check that out in the show notes. And the last thing is maintaining those connections Once you've gotten in touch. Do not let that drop. For instance, sending them an email when you've sent in your audition tapes. Or sending them an email when you are about to go visit and ask if maybe you could, you know, have a lesson or whatever it is Now, remember to be now. Remember to make sure that it is appropriate for the situation. Now, it is different in every situation, so make sure that it is appropriate for that situation.
Speaker 1:
All right, that is about it for this episode. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. That is amazing of you. As always, all of the stuff to do with this episode will be in the show notes, from the blog post that goes with this episode to the link for episode 14, trial lessons coming up. Here's how to prepare for them and the link for the audition guidebook. Make sure you do yourself a favor and look at these show notes because, let's be honest, there's some good stuff in them. And if you want to show your love and support for the Confident Musicianing Podcast, make sure you give it a follow and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.