Frustration during practice.
 

Hi guys, I'm new to talkbass.

I have an audition coming up to go to a school for artists. However since the audition is already in a few months, I get really frustrated from playing. I know that it's coming up so every time I try to play something and it doesn't go right, I get angry and have to quit for a while. I feel like i'm racing against a clock and that's ruïning my ability to practice. I keep thinking that I haven't been playing long enough (2 years, 6 months with teacher.) to do an education in it even though people around me think I am ready for it. Even my bass teacher thinks I could be up for it. Does anyone have any tips for an audition and for keeping it cool under that pressure? Any help at all is deeply appreciated.

I used to get frustrated a lot when I was practicing for a few hours at a time, seems like I could never get anywhere, I talked to a friend of mine who plays guitar and he said to split up my practice times, no more than 1/2 hour at a time, practice chords one session, next work on songs, ect.... I dont get frustrated as much as I used to.

Have you talked this over with your teacher? Hopefully they'd be able to break down whatever you're practicing for the audition into managable sections, chunks of music, etc... so that you're working on specific things at a time, and building to a goal, rather than trying too much at once, and then getting frustrated.

What exactly are you practicing for your audition?

Think of it this way. Depends on how far down in the pool the music school needs to reach to fill the classes they have for this year. They are in the education business and need people to educate. If you knew everything before you got there - there would be no need for what they are offering. So..... if your teacher thinks you have a chance, go with that.

Relax - you gotta practice - so enjoy the process. Picture yourself already at the school - think positive.

Good luck.

Thanks for your reply's. It's giving me motivation and helps me putting things in perspective.

At the moment I am not sure what song I'm doing for the audition. Most likely something I already play with my band. It might not be top notch bass guitar, but I figure it counts how I play the song. So it might be ''Downtown Song'' by ''Anberlin''. However I'm still in doubt. It's best to play a song that's not too difficult but done correctly than to make tons of mistakes I figure. So I'm trying to pick something right in between and go for that. If someone has a good suggestion I'd like to hear it though, because I'd like to see what others would pick.