3 Quick and Simple Tips When Auditioning For WGI and DCI Groups!

(1.5 min read)

Alright, so you found this article because you are interested in auditioning or you are getting ready to audition and you want some quick and easy tips you can use to kill it at your audition. Don’t worry; you’ve come to the right place!

Now, some might look at these tips and go:

“What the heck! Everyone knows this!”

Maybe so…but there have been people who have been cut for not knowing these very simple concepts.

I’ll tell you right now the first tip is the learn the audition packet, but even if you know that is something you need to do, have you really learned the packet? Can you play everything perfectly? Are you paying attention to ALL of the articulations and dynamics? Did you read the technique portions of the packet and are approaching things exactly the way the packet is telling you to execute them?

So when I say, you must learn the packet, I mean…you gotta really know the packet and it's gotta be fully memorized!

The second tip is related to knowing the packet, which is playing with detail. A lot of times I’ll work with students and they’ll miss an accent or play a note accented when it’s supposed to be a tap. Or they might play a phrase a little too loud, when it’s supposed to be pianissimo.

Little things like this affect your chances of making a group, so play with detail!

The third tip is to allow yourself to be nervous, if you are feeling nervous at an audition. Chances are, no matter how much you prepare, no matter how much you know the packet, no matter how much you play with detail, you’re probably still going to be nervous.

In that case, allow yourself to be nervous because it’s part of the process.

Also, if you try to suppress your nervousness, that’s just going to make you more nervous and being overly nervous CAN lead to mistakes so be careful with this.

The best thing to do is acknowledge your nervousness, let it be there, trust the process and believe in the work that you’ve put in. If you do that, you’ll do just fine!

So to recap, my tips are:

1.) Know…I mean really KNOW the audition packet!

2.) Play with detail

3.) Allow yourself to be nervous if you are nervous at an audition

For more perspective, watch the video below: