Is it okay to do this during a musical audition?

Question

is it okay to ask for them to give you the tempo? and can you give me tips on how to do really well on sight reading? i play Bb clarinet. thanks!

Answer 1

no it's not ok to ask for the tempo. Just practice with a metronome before you go in constantly and make sure you can play it was fast as needed. You won't get marked down for taking the wrong tempo as you will for playing it wrong. So, if you can't play it up to speed, slow it down a little bit.

Sight-reading is SO much easier if you know your scales (which you obviously must know if you're auditioning for something). Also, try to skim the piece for hard rhythms before you start playing. Don't be afraid to pat your let and hum to yourself to try to get a rhythm right. The worst thing you can do is jump into it without looking it over once before.

Answer 2

My best 'tip' of how to do well on a sight reading audition is ignore fast tempo markings in the music. Look at the piece, decide what speed you can play it cleanly and play it that speed. Slow and clean trumps fast and sloppy every time.

Answer 3

I hate to tell you this, but if you need to hear the tempo to play... then you are just wasting your time with the audition.  The people judging you will be able to keep time and as soon as they see you can't... you will hear "thank you... NEXT".

Answer 4

There will normally be a tempo marking on the sight-reading piece, and you should be able to estimate that - if you're struggling, look at the second hand on your watch, it's an easy way to get 60 and 120 beats per minute which is a good starting point.  You won't look good if you ask.  I always finger the piece through silently before starting, and quickly try and go over anything that's tricky.  Other than that, practicing your sight reading is really the only way to improve it.