2023 WSMA HS Honors Audition

Get your 2023 WSMA High School Honors audition info here!
​Audition requirements
  1. Etude: Melodious and Progressive Studies for Oboe Book 1, ed. David Hite. Play pg. 37, No. 8 (D Minor)
  2. Class A solo: 3-minute excerpt
  3. Scales: Bb, Ab, Db, C, G, and chromatic - look at the audition sheet for range & articulation requirements
  4. Sight-reading
Audition to-do list
  1. Print the WSMA audition sheet
  2. Start learning the audition etude. It's in your binder, under the Etudes tab
  3. Play the audition scales every time you practice
  4. Select a 3-minute excerpt from your solo
  5. Practice sight-reading every time you practice

Etude Practice Strategies

⭐️ Learn section by section
  1. Learn A section first (mm 1-16; stop on low D)
  2. Learn A' section (pickup to m 35 - end)
  3. Learn B section (pickups to m.17 - m. 34)

⭐️ Rhythm & Notes practice
  • Count out loud! Try it in 6 to count all the dotted notes & 16ths
  • Put your metronome on 8th notes, under tempo to keep track of the beat
  • Play all 16th note measures slowly until you 100% know the notes. I know they look fast, but go for accuracy, not speed.

⭐️ Musical practice
  • Make a Breathing Plan (scroll to end of this page)
  • Mark in your musical high points
  • Plan out your phrases with dynamics and shape them to bring out the musical high points
  • Use vibrato if you are able

⭐️ Use Deliberate Practice Strategies to help you with problem spots

Reference Recordings

Printed Tempo
Good Audition Tempo ( ♪ = 152 /♩. =  50 )
Section Practice, under tempo (♩. =  40 )
A Section, ♪ = 120
B Section​, ♪ = 120
A' Section​, ♪ = 120

Breathing Plan

You have to play all the way through the whole etude to know if your plan works for you. Do this soon and often!

1. Mark in a breathing plan

2. Start with mine and see how it feels for you
Here's what my markings mean:
  • sm = small breath
  • NB = no breath
  • o/in = out/in breath
  • '! = breath for a long phrase
  • o = out breath only

3. Practice breathing - work backwards!
  • Start from the last breath you have marked and play to the end. Do this a few times and notice how much or how little air you need to play this phrase.
  • Then go to the previous breath and play to the end, and see
  • Repeat this from the previous breath, and so on
  • Once you are playing through several phrases, you'll get a feel for when you need a small breath or a normal breath and when out/in is necessary
  • Work your way backwards to the very beginning and see how things feel
  • As you get better (and faster) at playing the etude, you may need to tweak your breathing plan
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