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
Takeaways From My First Summer Orchestra Course
This was a week long course full of intense rehearsals and a ton of fun. Today we talk about the ins and outs of my experience!
This episode has an accompanying blog post. Click here to read!
Use code ELEANOR15 for 15% off your Notabl_ practice journal, and level up your focus in your sessions! Click here for your journal.
I never recommend anything that I don't love. This contains an affiliate code which means that I receive a commission -- with no extra cost to you! 😊
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, hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Confident Musicianing Podcast. I am so glad that you are here. We're going to have some fun today. It's going to be good. Today we are going to be talking basically, about something really exciting.
Speaker 1:I did my very first orchestra course, and what I mean by that is like it was a week-long summer intense course, as it like as being in an orchestra. And so what when I, when I say that, know I've done youth orchestra things before. I've been in youth orchestras, but they weren't like week-long intensives. I've never done that format before and it was interesting and it was such a fun experience and I want to share with you my takeaways, because, whether you have done so many of these and you're just interested to see what maybe I think about them, or you're thinking about doing your first one. Let's just dive right into what my takeaways are, but before we do that, there's like a little life update, part of the episode, and basically what that is is I just share something with you, something small sometimes it's not that small about something I've either been working on or I've done, or something exciting. And today it's an interesting one because I've been posting a lot on Instagram. For over three years now I have been posting on Instagram and I love sharing my journey as an oboist with you guys on Instagram, and it's actually really funny because people ask me all the time why did you start doing Instagram? Why did you decide to start posting videos about obo? And it's a really funny story as to why I started.
Speaker 1:I started at the beginning because I wanted to create a portfolio, a portfolio for universities and conservatories that I was applying to to kind of see my playing, because I was nervous that, like I would do an audition and afterwards I'd be like, oh, I wish I had done it like this or like that. And so my strategy was I created an Instagram and I created it was like a portfolio. It was just like playing videos and things like that. I think there were some other videos, but like it was playing, and I put that in my like personal statements, in my, at least for the UK, my applications, and I don't the UK my, my applications and I don't know if they saw it. I don't know if they looked at it, but for me that was kind of like oh, I want to show them more of you know what I practice and and other things that I've been playing and things like that. And so for me, um, that was that was a portfolio I did.
Speaker 1:And then, after I got into the programs I got into and I decided I actually started getting messages from some of you guys saying things like oh my gosh, you know your videos are really helpful to me or I find them really fascinating or interesting. And I thought, thought, okay, I need to continue to do this on Instagram for the reason of sharing these things. And I realized after that I was like it's interesting, because during my applications for conservatoires, there were things that I felt very lonely in, very kind of isolated. I think that that was just kind of me. Um, I think especially because I was transitioning from the American style of overplaying to the European at that point not yet, but I was thinking about it and I was nervous that it wouldn't work. And I was scouring the internet and I couldn't find anything. And I was like, oh gosh, wouldn't work. And I was scouring the internet and I couldn't find anything and I was like, oh gosh, you know, I wish there was someone on the internet who could tell me if this will work or not. Um, and obviously there couldn't be anyone who would definitely tell me, but, like someone who has experienced this before, and so I decided, after I got into the school that I got into, I decided, um, I was going to be that person. So that's why I have been documenting my Oboe journey on Instagram.
Speaker 1:Now, the life update thing. You might be wondering why I'm telling you this is because I'm starting to do it more on TikTok. Now I kind of didn't do TikTok for the majority of the time. I only got it in this year, like earlier this year, and I am really starting to kind of post more on there as well, and so if you want to join me on Instagram and join me on TikTok, those things will be linked in the description in the show notes. I really hope to see you there because I'm very excited about the things that I am sharing over there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, let's get back to the course. Let's get back to this. The thing that you know is the title of the episode my very first orchestra course. This course was so much fun, so it was in Edinburgh. I commuted every single day. It was, I think, eight or nine days. It was eight days. It was eight days. Um, I commuted every single day and I have not really commuted that much continuously before, so that was something that was really exciting. Um, and, yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:We played Holst's Planets and then we had some other supplementary pieces to go with it, and it was every single day. The rehearsals were like from five or sorry, from seven hours to nine hours long, and we just did these, these pieces and these pieces, and we had sectionals, and then we had rehearsals together and then we had, you know, other other things and it was so intense. It was so intense and so much fun, and afterwards I was so tired, just so extremely tired, and it's been about a week-ish since I've done that a little more and I am excited to tell you about the takeaways. So let's dive right into the takeaways. The first takeaway was that it was so intense and so worth it. And this is interesting because my mindset changed throughout the course.
Speaker 1:The first two days of the course I was really overwhelmed by the intensity. I had never really done something like that as much and I was really nervous about doing every single day at this intensity. I was nervous and I think I kind of started to psych myself out. I let the overwhelm kind of take over me and for those first two days I enjoyed them, but I was also extremely anxious and extremely nervous and I yeah, I was just kind of worried about it. And it's interesting because I took those two days and then the third day there was actually a storm and the trains, all the trains, got cancelled and I couldn't actually get to Edinburgh and so they, I like, couldn't go that day and like that was that was fine, like there were other people who couldn't go. It was kind of like a thing that like part of the orchestra was not able to other people who couldn't go. It was kind of like a thing that like part Of the orchestra was not able to be there that day and I was one of those people.
Speaker 1:And having that extra day to kind of just sit and think about this situation and kind of have some breathing space, I felt quite claustrophobic in this, in this schedule. Having breathing space really helped me realize. In this schedule, having breathing space really helped me realize. Number one it's not that long, it'll be okay, it's just a week and it's an intense week, but it's a week. And number two this is an amazing opportunity. Like it's an amazing opportunity to be able to play this. We're playing host planets, all of the planets, and I was like I want to give this my all, like I, I really want to give this my all and yes, I'll be tired, but that is just the byproduct of having a really good time in orchestra. And so then when I got back um the next day, I just gave it my all and the thing about it, because then you're like, okay, well, how did you not burn out? Or feel burnt out? I think at the end of it, I definitely felt like I didn't want to play the oboe for a day or two.
Speaker 1:But I made sure I had a balance. I had a balance of doing things where I'm like really focused in orchestra. Then when I got home I really rested, I rested, I did things, I enjoyed. I didn't think about the music, I didn't think about that, so I could create kind of that balance. On the train I knitted, I made a thing like I just would knit and knit and knit. That really helped my brain just kind of chill and that was a really good balance to have between the you know, really important go time and the really important rest time.
Speaker 1:The second thing is the importance of playing in an orchestra setting. It's interesting because I did youth orchestra for three years in the US and that was an every week thing. It was like three hours every single week and so it wasn't like a week-long course, right. And it's interesting because I did that. And then I came over to the UK, I started my degree and during my first year I did orchestra projects, like I played in an opera and I did wind orchestra and things like that. But I wasn't in like full orchestra. I didn't get put in that for first year for first year, and so because of that. Like I don't think I realized it was like, oh yeah, no, I'm doing projects and whatnot.
Speaker 1:But then when I got into this orchestra course, it just reminded me of just how much I love playing in a full orchestra and just how important it is to get practice playing in a full orchestra, and so I think it's so important if you have not joined, like a youth orchestra or something like that, like I invite you to do that, just audition, just join. You know, it depends, some of them you audition, some of them you don't. But, like you know, if you, if you need to audition, just audition and and and just have fun with it, because it's such a good learning opportunity, um, to be able to be in that setting in an orchestra, and it's so much fun. It really really is and it just it felt kind of nostalgic as well, like I felt really cool because that orchestra I was in in the States was such a cool, amazing place to be, an amazing orchestra and and it just reminded me of that and that made me really happy as well.
Speaker 1:So the third thing is being resourceful and focusing on the joy. I think I kind of smushed two things in this third one. So let's break it down. So, for instance, this week I had a specific challenge for me and that was that I had to play the cor anglais, the English horn, and there are two styles of like keys on on oboes and cor anglais, and the style that I'm used to is called the conservatoire style and that is a key style. They're, like you know, different kind of fingerings for whatever the notes are. But then there's a different style that's very common in the UK, called the thumb plate style, which I am not as familiar with, and the core anglais that they have me play was a thumb plate core anglais. And so basically some of the notes were different, like how you, how you play the notes, how you you know what fingers you put down to play the notes. They were different.
Speaker 1:And so at the beginning of the week I was kind of like, ah, you know, I was stressed out and I was like working through it and I was making a lot of mistakes. But by the end of the week, you know, I decided at that point I had decided to be resourceful and flexible. I was like, okay, this is something I've never well, I have kind of played thumb play a little bit before, but it was like this is a big deal, this is really important. I'm not really sure how to do this, but I'm going to give it my all and I'm going to be resourceful and I'm going to learn from it so that later in my oboe career, if anyone's like, hey, you know you need to do this, or let's say, I don't know, my oboe needs repairing and I have something I need to do and the only oboe that I'm able to get a hold of is a thumb play oboe, having this experience might be really helpful for that. So for me, I saw it as a really important learning opportunity and by the end of the week, I was doing it, and I was doing it without thinking and I was so proud of myself and it was so cool, and so I think that that is a really important thing and I'm really proud of myself for that. But being resourceful, you know, if you have an issue, if you have an issue, if you have a problem, I invite you to be like how can I creatively solve this, rather than, oh my gosh, there's another issue. Do you know what I mean? And then, with the focusing on the joy at the end of the week I was playing two concerts in a church. I I was playing Holst's Planets. It was amazing and it was actually part of the Edinburgh Fringe, so that was quite a surreal experience and it just reminded me the importance of joy in playing. It is so important to focus on the joy and the feeling of the music. It's so important and I had so much fun, right, yeah, oh, it was so good.
Speaker 1:Before we do our recap, I want to tell you about something very exciting. Um, this is a tool that I use in practice to really help me, um, with effectiveness and organization, and that is a notable practice journal. In my notable practice journal, I can not only plan my practice but also reflect so that I can make sure I continue to grow in my sessions. As soon as I realized that this was helping me, I knew I needed to tell you about it and I knew that I needed to give you a code. So use code Eleanor 15 for 15% off your journal and let's get organized and like work through our sessions effectively, because don't we all want that? Um, I do not recommend anything that I don't absolutely love. This code is an affiliate code, so I do receive a commission with no extra cost to you. All right, let's do a recap.
Speaker 1:So the first thing it was so intense, but so worth it. And once I changed my mindset from oh my gosh, this is so intense to this is intense, but I'm ready for it, and I I changed my mindset from oh my gosh, this is so intense to this is intense, but I'm ready for it and I'm gonna balance out working hard to resting hard. It was so much better. The second thing is the importance of playing in an orchestra setting. This experience reminded me of how important playing in an orchestra setting is and I invite you to do that, to play in an orchestra setting and to join that youth orchestra or audition for that ensemble or whatever it is, because it is is so, so, so good to get that experience. And the last thing is being resourceful and focusing on the joy. I had a problem, right, I had one type of experience in terms of playing one type of cor anglais and they had a different cor anglais and I really needed to figure that out and work through it and I decided I'm going to do it and it's going to be a learning opportunity. And by the time it was the concert oh my gosh, it was so much fun.
Speaker 1:All right, that is about it for this episode. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. I am so, so, so grateful. Again, all the links to do with this episode will be in the show notes, from the link to Instagram, to my TikTok, to the Notable Practice Journal as well. Yeah, I hope you enjoyed this episode and if you did, please do like and subscribe, follow all of the things and share it with all of your musical friends, and I will see you in the next episode. All right, take care bye.
