MUSIC EXAM TALK #1: What are the benefits of music auditions?

I have always believed in the benefits of enrolling students in formal assessment, such as exam, test, audition, and festival. In general, it involves students playing for a judge or examiner and receiving feedback on their performance.

Many parents, students, and even music teachers feel reluctant to participate in testing programs. “My child is learning already. Why do I need to take a test?” “I don’t want to know levels or grading system. I only want my child to play an instrument.” “I don’t want to teach exam pieces. I don’t know the syllabus.”

I would like to share my thoughts.

Benefit #1: Set a goal and get motivated.

Learning a piece after a piece, the private music lesson and practice becomes just another routine. Students begin to lose interest in this repeated, endless cycle. Audition or test will be a good goal, a reason for students to practice.

Benefit #2: Know how much progress your child made and celebrate the milestone. Understand the value of hard work.

All tests have levels. Therefore, you will know how much your child has learned in the past year, and what to do in the coming year to advance to the next level. A ribbon, medal, trophy, or certificate is the best reward for accomplish such goal.

The students’ hard work will ultimately be recognized. The success is truly yours and no one can take it away. All the time and effort students spent in practice and polish their performance, it was all worth it.

Benefit #3: Improve student’s concentration level.

A typical audition or test requires at least 2 pieces plus scale and arpeggio. It takes a high level of concentration to play through all requirements at once and play them well in a hearing. This is an excellent training and a lifetime benefit.

Benefit #4: Learn to perform well under pressure.

Many students claim “I play better in my own practice.” We all have to learn how to perform well under pressure in music recital, school presentation, or even office conference. Handling pressure, anxiety, and learning to perform one’s best under pressure is one of the most important life skills students can learn.

Benefit #5: Meet deadlines.

Certain pieces must be learned, memorized, and polished in a given time frame. Having a deadline teaches students about time management, study plan, and progress in each stage.

Benefit #6: Accept criticism. Challenge yourself.

Play in front of a judge in a formal audition, competition, festival, or exam is very different from play in front of an appreciative audience such as friends and family. Being evaluated by other professional teaches children to accept comments and criticism, and learn from different opinions.

When the students get unfavorable result, they still learned a lot from the experience. The children might show tears or anger, but deep down in their heart they know exactly what they didn’t do well and what they need to improve. The students must know there is only one winner in a competition, but nobody will always be the winner. It is more important that students learn from the failure, take on the next challenge, and adjust the strategies.

I strongly believed that the students will learn a lot from participate in a competition/exam. I encourage you to take a challenge in the near future. On the other hand, there are couple rules I want to mention. Most of the auditions require minimum 6 months of experience or 6 months of study with current music teacher. And many only allow “teachers register for students,” which means the students cannot register for themselves. In some higher level auditions, it requires teacher’s recommendation letter in order to enroll. You must discuss with your teacher in advance.

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