The Confident Musicianing Podcast
Want to get better at your music auditions? You CAN transform the way you audition and The Confident Musicianing Podcast guides you through it.
I’m Eleanor, and together we dive into concrete strategies for the before, during, and after of your audition process so that you can be better prepared and crush that performance! If you’re a music student ready to revolutionize your auditioning, let’s jump in. Tune in every Tuesday for another insight-filled episode; see you there!
The Confident Musicianing Podcast
Creating a new year that works for you
In this episode, we chat about how we can shape our new years. I bring you three things that are helpful to remember when planning for this new year!
This episode is available as a blog post. Click here to read!
Get your Notabl_ practice journal here, and use code ELEANOR15 for 15% off!*
*I never recommend anything that I don't love. This is an affiliate code which means that I receive a commission -- with no extra cost to you! 😊
This year. I want to set up a consistent routine so that I know when I practice, but I know that things will change and I will have to adapt them. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. My name is Eleanor and I am a British-American oboist studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Literally my dream school and it took me a long way to get there. I applied and auditioned for 12 schools in three different countries. It was a lot of hard work but, oh my gosh, so worth it. I want you to have the confidence to work hard in achieving your goals. So come with me as we go on this journey together. So sit down, pull up a chair, take a seat or, if you're on the go, welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode of this podcast. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1:I'm feeling extra cozy today because I am wearing a sweater, a jumper that I have knit and I knit it last year and every single time I wear it it just feels like I'm wearing a hug. So I'm feeling extra cozy and extra excited to dive into this episode. It's a very interesting thing. It is currently 2025, already 2025. I've seriously I'm like probably two years ago, it was 2020, like that's how I think you know, that's like my mind right now and it's like how has it been five years since 2020, six years from 2019? Oh my gosh. It is crazy. But you know what? It's interesting because I feel like a lot of the time when I am thinking about the new year, sometimes I get a bit nervous, a bit overwhelmed by so many things. For me. I don't know about you, but New Year's Day and New Year's Eve is always a bit emotional. It's a bit emotional. It's a bit like, oh my gosh. You know, number one, I'm so grateful for the past year. And number two, two, I'm excited to see what I'm gonna do, but I'm also a little nervous about, you know, starting things, how things are gonna go.
Speaker 1:My new year's was so, so wholesome, I feel, because I wanted to go out not like go out out, but just go outside, and I live in a city. So I wanted to go to, like the city center, like the main area of the city, because I knew there would be some people there and I didn't make it in time for midnight and I ended up it being midnight when I was kind of on the street. That usually is quite crowded, but but really there was no one there and it was interesting because I heard everyone count down in the distance and everyone was like cheering and stuff and it was loud over there, right. But where I was it was quiet and I think it was the best way to start this year because I was kind of just there in the moment. You know, I was like, ok, everyone's partying, everyone's excited, it's just turned 2025. And instead of me being like 10, 9, 8, like how it usually is, I just it changed very quietly for me and I was like, oh, it's now 2025. Changed very quietly for me and I was like, oh, it's now 2025. It was just like really nice, really nice quiet change and just being in the moment. So that was my new year's and that was something that I I really, really really was grateful for.
Speaker 1:So last episode we talked about um, things that I learned, and I hope my hope with that past episode is that you were able to kind of use that episode to reflect on your year and how your year went. Now, if you haven't listened to that episode, I will link it below in the show notes, in the description, so that you can take a look at that, because I think reflecting on the past year is so, so, so helpful for you realizing all the amazing things that you've done, because 365 days is a lot of days and sometimes you don't remember all the things you did and, kind of, how much you did and the joyful experiences you had. So if you haven't listened to that episode, please do listen. But today we are going to be stepping right into goals for 2025 and kind of things that I like to remember when I'm setting goals. So goals can be quite daunting, to be honest, but there are some things that I think are so helpful to remember when setting goals that I want to share with you. So let's dive right in.
Speaker 1:The first thing is understanding that your practice will look different over the year. So this is kind of specifically talking about practice goals. But, to be honest, you could probably apply this to any goal. You could probably apply this to any goal, any part of your life, but your practice will look different over the year and the challenge for you is to adapt right. I think when we think about goals and we think about practice goals, we might think, okay, I'm going to practice, you know this time, this time, at this time, and I did that one time. I remember I think it was like three years ago. Oh my gosh, 2022 was three years ago. How did that happen? Anyway, I remember, specifically in March of 2022, I decided I am going to practice at these specific times 10, 2, and 5, and an hour for each of them, and that was kind of like, at that point I had the time to do that, I had the structure to be able to kind of make it the same every day and it was for me, that was so much, so helpful and I was able to grow in that time. But then I ended up, you know, over the summer that year or you know, whenever things changed and I couldn't do, you know, 10 to 5 the way that I did.
Speaker 1:So it's interesting how things change and adapting is so so important. For instance, this summer, this past summer, in 2024, I didn't have much time to practice at all. I had a summer job, I was taking a lot of my time up and I got home every day and I was like, so tired from this job and I was like, okay, now I have to practice and, to be honest, I didn't get that much time. So what I focused on was efficiency. I focused on okay, how can I be the most efficient in this practice session, because I do not have as much time as I did, say, a few months ago. So adapting to your practice can be so helpful and I think when you're setting goals of being like, okay, I'm going to do this, that and the other understanding that sometimes you might have to adapt those goals and that does not mean that you're failing, that means that you are adapting to the situation and if you do that, then you can still have good results from your practice. So I think that that is is really, really, really helpful.
Speaker 1:Um, this year I want to set up a consistent routine so that I know when I practice. But I know that things will change and I will have to adapt them. So, so, a consistent routine. I'm not sure what that will look like For me. I start school next Monday by the time. You know when I'm recording this, and for me it's a bit kind of nerve-wracking in terms of what's my schedule going to look like, and I have to think about what's my schedule going to look like, how things are going to be set up and what am I going to do with my practice? So I challenge you for your goal setting. When you are setting goals for your practice, remember that things will will change and to be consistent and to focus on that, but also to be like, okay, things will change and I need to adapt and still be able to kind of focus on that, but also to be like, okay, things will change and I need to adapt and still be able to kind of focus on that and practice, but adapt and that is completely fine. You're getting into the groove, okay, it's, it's fine to get into the groove, okay.
Speaker 1:The next thing that I think is important is to set audition goals. Setting audition goals. I have an audition by the time this comes out next week. I'm currently practicing and preparing for it and it's very exciting. It's my first audition of 2025 and I haven't done an audition in a while, so it's a bit kind of exciting to get back into that and see how it goes um. So I am also going to be auditioning for some other things this year as well, and for me, this year isn't like a audition for university year type thing. It's going to be more auditions for youth orchestras, for different scholarships and, um, things like that.
Speaker 1:So I'm thinking about how I'm going to do that, what I want to do with those auditions For me. I usually use a spreadsheet, to be honest. I have like a spreadsheet and I type in you know when things are due, what I'm going to do for them, etc. But plan out what you want to go for For me. I'm thinking, you know, I have this audition next week and then I have a few auditions in the spring, but nothing much in the summer or in the autumn. And I'm thinking to myself what do I want to go for? You know, if you have a summer free, maybe go for something in the summer. Like, think about what do I want to audition for? What piques my interest? What am I excited about? If you have the time to kind of do that, go for it.
Speaker 1:Like you know, even audition for things that maybe you don't necessarily plan on doing you just want to get that audition experience that can be so helpful as well. So maybe 2025 for you is the year of auditioning because, to be honest, auditioning is a skill we need to build it and, um, it is a great way to kind of get in the groove of things. If you audition for a lot of things, then you'll get better at auditioning. Do you know what I mean? And, to be honest, I wasn't going to do this but, like, this is kind of a great opportunity for me to tell you about the Conf musicians audition guide. Um, I have a guide. I don't know if you know this, but I have a guide and it takes you through all of like how to audition for things, and all the things from planning your practice efficiently to getting an accompanist, to like how to work with accompanists, um, all the way to like what to do right before the audition, what to do during the audition, after the audition, you know how you can reflect, dealing with nerves, all of these things, all the things that you're kind of like oh, what do I do? I have a guide for that. So if that's something that you're interested in, please do check that out. I will link it in the show notes, in the description, and I hope you check that out because I poured my heart and soul into this guide. It's so, so, so, like exciting for me when I can share things like that with you. So if that's something that you're interested in, please do go for it. The link is in the show notes. So, for something when you're doing auditions, I think it's really really, really helpful to do a spreadsheet. I do actually talk about doing a spreadsheet in the Confident Musicians Audition Guide, but doing a spreadsheet and kind of creating that so that you can see all of the auditions that you want to do at once, and that really helps deal with the kind of overwhelm of oh my gosh, what am I doing with all these auditions. So think about what you want to audition for. It's something you have a whole year. You have a whole year of opportunity. What do you want to go for? How do you want to shape this year? That's, I mean, to be honest, that's really exciting, all right.
Speaker 1:Number three planning your practice. Now this kind of goes back to number one, the idea of when do you want to practice. But this is more about planning the specific sessions. This is something that I started doing, that I started doing a few about a few months ago. I mean, I planned my practice before. I have. I have done my practice plans before and I did it a lot for university auditions. And I talk about planning your practice in the Confident Musicians Audition Guide, but after my university auditions I'm going to be honest I kind of stopped planning my practice and I was like, okay, you know, I don't really have much to do in terms of oboe, like I'm just going to practice and I know what I need to do and I'm not necessarily going to write it down. And then a few months ago I started to plan it again and, oh my gosh, it was so helpful, like seriously, it was so amazingly helpful.
Speaker 1:And the thing that I use, the tool that I use to help plan my practice, is a Notable practice journal. Notable is a practice journal company and I started to use their journals and, oh my gosh, like literally, literally, it really changed how I practice. Not only was I able to um plan my practice and know what I'm gonna do, I also knew when to stop. And I think that as musicians, that is so helpful for us, especially if we have so many auditions and performances and things like that. Knowing when to stop, if you know, constantly my brain's like we did not practice enough today, we didn't do enough today. And if I can look at a notebook, if I can look at a notable practice journal and say, actually we have because we did this, that and the other, and we've already completed this page in the journal for today and we have practiced, and you know you can get on with other things. That is so, so, so helpful. So as soon as I realized that this was helping me and this was working, I knew that I had to tell you about it and I knew that I had to give you a code. So use Eleanor15 for 15% off your order that is code E-L-E-A-N-O-R 15 for 15% off your order and seriously get yourself a journal and start the new year off right, because this is so, so, so helpful. Seriously, as a stress uni student, this really changed how I practiced. Now you know me I never recommend anything that I don't love, and this is an affiliate code, which means that I do receive a commission with no extra cost to you.
Speaker 1:All right, let's do a recap. Shall we Recap time? Number one understanding your practice will look different over the year and adapting to it. Planning your practice, planning when you want to practice is so great, but knowing things will change and I am going to adapt to things is also so helpful as well. Literally, sometimes, what can be great is like on Sunday before you start your next week, look at your journal, look at your notebook, your planner, your diary, whatever you use to kind of schedule your week, and just jot in practice sessions so you know that you have them, even if they're different from last week. So stay consistent and also adapt is so helpful.
Speaker 1:The next thing is setting audition goals. Think about, like what are you going to audition for? What are you looking for, if you have, if this year isn't really audition heavy, what do you want to go for? What are you looking for If you have? If this year isn't really audition heavy, what do you want to go for, like is there a youth orchestra that you've always been like, oh, I want to try. I don't know. I want to try, go for it. I remember I did that once and I got in and it was like one of the best experiences I've had music wise. So, yeah, go for things that you are thinking about, because you know music opportunities are the best.
Speaker 1:And the last thing is planning a practice. I did this. I have done this more recently as well. It's so helpful and Notables.
Speaker 1:Practice journals are so amazing. They just set it up for you. I mean, like before when I was planning my practice for university auditions. I kind just set it up for you. I mean, like before, when I was planning my practice for university auditions, I kind of set it up myself. I started with a blank page and you can do that totally. But, to be honest, sometimes, especially when you're tired and you're like, oh my gosh, I don't want to practice and I don't want to set up today's journal page and I you know. But if the journal page is already set up, like in Notables, practice journals, you've kind of already got that set up and then you just write down the things you want to do and then you practice. And it's such a game changer, like seriously.
Speaker 1:All right, that link is in the show notes. Oh, also use the code if you want to get a journal Code Eleanor15. E-l-e-a-n-o-r. 15 for 15% off. That is 1-5, 15% off. Okay, that is about it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I want to give you a big old, happy new year. It is so exciting. 2025 will be your year. It's going to be so good and I cannot wait to see all the amazing things you do in the year. All right, take care Bye.
