From Practice to Performance: All-Region Final Preparations

all-region competition contest performing Oct 01, 2026

Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes

By Rob Chilton

In the first two posts of this series, we discussed my overall system for preparing students for All-Region and how to structure weekly sectionals to make the most of limited rehearsal time.

Now, the audition is almost here.

By this point, most of the work should be done. Students have spent weeks learning scales, working through etudes, attending sectionals, and hopefully practicing on their own.

As the audition gets closer, our role as teachers begins to change. We must shift from teaching students how to play the music to teaching them how to perform what they know under audition conditions. Here are some strategies I used during the final weeks and days leading up to an audition.

Shifting from Practicing to Performing

There's a big difference between being able to play something correctly and being able to play it correctly on demand and under pressure.

Two weeks before the audition, students should still be practicing heavily and working to fix problems. There is still time to isolate difficult passages and slow things down. But they should also begin practicing larger passages and full run-throughs without stopping.

One week before the audition, students should shift almost entirely toward complete performances. I encourage students to do multiple full run-throughs at home each night, and call on students to perform complete etudes in class. They need practice playing from beginning to end, even when something goes wrong.

In the final few days, students should focus on complete performances and practicing audition procedures. At this point, it's not about rebuilding a passage or making major changes. It's about reinforcing what they know and becoming comfortable performing it consistently. The goal is to arrive at audition day confident in what they're able to do, not frantically trying to fix everything at the last minute.

Practice Recovering from Mistakes

Students spend a lot of time practicing what to do when things go right. But we also want them practicing how to respond when something goes wrong, because mistakes are going to happen.

They might start at the wrong tempo, crack a note, miss an accidental, rush a passage, or briefly lose their place. The mistake may be small, but what happens afterward determines whether it's hardly noticed or becomes something much bigger.

Students need experience making a mistake and continuing to play. They need to recover without stopping, making a face, or allowing one mistake to affect the next several measures. I always tell my students:

It's not if you make a mistake, it's when.

Some mistakes are super small. Others are catastrophically large. What matters is that you keep going.

Final Preparations: The Night Before

The night before an audition is not the time to cram. I often compare an audition to running a long race. If the race is tomorrow, you probably shouldn't spend the night before doing two hours of sprints. Your body needs an opportunity to recover so it's ready to perform.

The same principle applies to playing an instrument. Don't overdo it the night before. I advise students to play enough to be comfortable and reinforce what they've prepared, but not to exhaust themselves with heavy practice or repeated full-tempo run-throughs. It's generally too late to make significant improvements. The purpose of the night before is to keep things fresh.

And don't forget about your instrument. Make sure everything is functioning properly. Valves should be oiled, and reed players should have multiple reliable reeds prepared. Audition day is not the day to discover an equipment problem.

Beware of the Warm-Up Room Phenomenon

I warn my students about what I call the "warm-up room phenomenon." You walk into the room and suddenly hear every musician playing your instrument. Someone is zipping through scales while someone else is playing an etude lightning fast. And somehow, everyone sounds amazing. For a nervous middle school student, it can be easy to think, "Everyone here is better than me."

I want my students to know beforehand that this is going to happen. The truth is, everyone probably isn't as good as they sound. The noisy environment can mask mistakes, and when we're nervous, it's easy to focus on everyone else and start questioning our own preparation.

The warm-up room isn't a competition. Students don't need to prove anything or match the person across the room. Their job is to warm up, make sure everything feels comfortable, and stay focused on their own preparation. This isn't the time to make big changes based on what they hear or evaluate themselves against everyone else.

Check out our music literacy method:

Develop an Audition-Room Routine

Before the audition, I want students to know exactly what they're going to do when they enter the room. We practice this during our mock audition, so the process already feels familiar by audition day.

✔️ Walk in
✔️ Set up
✔️ Adjust the chair and stand
✔️ Get comfortable
✔️ Mentally establish the tempo
✔️ Breathe
✔️ Play

I especially want students to understand that they don't have to rush. When we're nervous, everything tends to speed up. We walk faster, breathe faster, think faster, and often play faster. Teach students to get settled, think about the opening, establish the tempo internally, take a good breath, and play the best they can. The best antidote for audition-day nerves is preparation.

Redefine a Successful Audition

Obviously, students audition because they want to earn a spot—and we want that too. But placement isn't the only measure of whether the experience was worthwhile.

Students just spent weeks preparing some of the most difficult music they've encountered. They learned new notes, rhythms, scales, techniques, and practice strategies. They performed individually under pressure and learned how they respond when they're nervous. Regardless of the result, there's something to learn from that experience.

After the audition, celebrate the successes, but also reflect. What went well? What would you prepare differently next time? Were you as prepared as you could have been? How did you respond when something didn't go according to plan? That's information students can carry into their next audition, solo, concert, competition, or any other performance under pressure.

Final Thoughts

Over the course of this series, we've talked about creating a plan for learning the music, structuring sectionals efficiently, breaking difficult passages into achievable steps, and preparing students for the experience of auditioning. Eventually, though, we have to let them do it. Now it's their turn to walk into the room and perform.

Students don't have to be the best-prepared person in the room to perform well. Some will walk in more prepared than others. The goal isn't to be the best. It's to give their best performance with what they've prepared.

And whether they earn a spot or not, they'll walk out having done something difficult and be better prepared for the next challenge that comes their way.

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About the author:

Rob Chilton is the creator and owner of Readymade Music, LLC and its content. Previously, Chilton was a middle school band director from 2007-2021. His most recent teaching position was the Head Band Director at Killian Middle School in Lewisville, Texas from 2014-2021.

Under his direction, the Killian Honors Band was named the 2018 Texas Music Educators Association CC Honor Band and performed at the annual 2018 TMEA Clinic/Convention. In 2019, the Killian Honors Band was invited to and performed at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Additionally, the Killian Honors Band was named a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors Project in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Chilton is a graduate of Southern Methodist University where he had the opportunity to study music education with Lynne Jackson and Brian Merrill. During his years as a middle school band director, Chilton continued his professional growth under the guidance of his primary clinicians, John Benzer and Brian Merrill.

Chilton’s mission for Readymade Music is to promote the overall well-being of music education and support school music teachers by providing solutions to help make teaching music more efficient and inspirational while increasing engagement for 21st century learners.