Has anyone used Don Greene's 21 day audition/performance preparation routine? Did you find good results?

I have used it several times, & have found the advice very helpful. Of course trying to get the routine going for your own schedule is very tricky, but I did notice a change in thought patterns in my preparation & in an audition a couple of years ago that I used to sort of 'test' it out. I did feel a little nervous, but I was able to do something with the nervous energy that I didn't really think or know I could do before. Like anything, you can't expect it to be the end-all-be-all answer to your problems, but there's a lot of good advice & information in this book that one can take into their own preparation & experience. Good luck, I hope you get good use out of it!

This sounds very interesting... where did you get ahold of this book/information?

The books are available on Amazon.com and probably other book vendors.

This book is awesome! won my first gig with it!

the book is a total sham!

look, if you cant perform well under pressure you have two options:

1) propranolol

2) QUIT

stop putting more and more money into this guys pocket! don greene is the musical equivalent of dr. phil... and we all know what (or who) dr. phil sucks!

I think you are being overly harsh about Don Greene. I've only read one of his books but found it full of sound advice that many can benefit from. Getting your head in the right place before auditionning and getting a handle on your nervousness without propranolol is not a bad thing.

Auditions are hard and trying for all of us. We should all find what works for us. Weather or not that’s with or book or not. What’s important is recognizing what you need to succeed at an audition and capitalizing on that. Personally I think what we need to succeed we can find on the inside. But that’s just my opinion.

WELL SAID, Paukenguy and Phoenix! I agree!
I've been using the Don Greene books for a few years now and have found them to be very helpful.
I also use his stuff with my students and it has helped them tremendously not only for orchestral auditions but also for competitions, grad school auditions, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by chuckd:
the book is a total sham!

look, if you cant perform well under pressure you have two options:

1) propranolol

2) QUIT

stop putting more and more money into this guys pocket! don greene is the musical equivalent of dr. phil... and we all know what (or who) dr. phil sucks!

I'm not going to disagree with you about Doctor Phil, but that's a very ignorant view of Don Greene. He has helped a lot of big time players get over the hump and get big jobs. It's not just about overcoming nervousness but also finding out how to put yourself in the ideal mental state to perform at your best.

I have studied the Don Greene books and I think that the second book - Performance Success is quite useful. The content is all based on sports psychology techniques and mastering the psychology of auditioning truly is a science. After you have your playing technique and style mastered, the rest comes down to psychology and external variables.

Many excellent players never win jobs because they are unable to master the audition process. I believe that auditioning requires many skills that are totally different than a live performance and anything that can help musicians navigate that path is worth checking into. Although I have found it difficult to find time for the entire 21 day pre-performance routine, I have used many of the techniques for specific situations.

I have read his books as well as many other books on sports psychology and psychology in general. They each have their pearls of wisdom that may apply to you. Each person is different when it comes to performing underpressure and what they need to succeed and looking at a variety of sources can help you find what you need.

Ultimately - I feel that the following things are most important.

1 - preparation
2 - getting honest feedback from professionals and friends...do not take anything personal....take what you feel will help you get to the performance YOU want.
3 - figuring out how you want to sound...what your musical personality is and working on that.

I have great problems with the way students and professionals approach auditions - and - this is why (in my opinion) I think so many orchestras are not giving tenure to audition winners. The problem is this: working on perfecting an audition vs working on playing the music with conviction - how you strongly feel it should be played. So many candidates are very accurate and all sound like the last recording they listened to, but not special - with the spark that really gets a musician excited. If the committee hears this in a player but wants a different tempo, interpretation they will ask to see if you are flexible. I have listened to many auditions and even if a tempo is way off, but the music is played with great style I am impressed.

Of course, rhythm, intonation, dynamics and correct notes (ie what is on the page) is a given.

Best of luck and again this is just my opinion. Oh yes - the library is great as is getting books used - it saves money

Hi...I was the original poster of this thread; thank you to all who responded. I was curious to see what people thought. Having read all of his books at this point, and used his 21-day plan, I can't say enough good about his ideas.

Of course, everything should be taken and used from each's own perspective...you have to be competent (in terms of rhythm, intonation, and other structural things which make a solid, clean impression) before you can go in and focus, because no matter how focussed and optimally you play, if your intervals aren't right, they're not right...etc. The books really helped me to get closer to competence. Before I read his first book, I really didn't understand the impact that negative self-talk had on me, as a practicer, as an orchestra member, or as an auditioner. Since changing the way I talk to myself on a minute-by-minute (second by second, ok really milli-second by millisecond) basis, I have come closer to the adjective I used earlier--"competent". *see end of post for a book all about self-talk.

Beyond that, in audition, I also find strength in my physical preparation when I follow his guidelines for water, sleep, exercise, and food (except I don't do the carb-loading thing...I just don't do that...everything else I do)


I agree that it's very very difficult to find time to do everything in the 21-day plan...and 21 days is a strange number anyway, with musicians' work schedules as unbalanced/inconsistent as they sometimes are...so what I do now is I make up a customized plan that I follow, incorporating most of his adversity training steps, mental strength-building exercises, mock auditions, etc...I do it according to my own schedule, so for instance I don't have to do anything big on Saturday, since I teach for like a million hours straight that day, with usually a job at night. Or for instance, a holiday, I won't schedule any big projects, so I can spend time with my family and not neglect anything. And if I only have two weeks in between auditions, I customize the schedule to fit into 2 weeks, instead of 3. Overall I go into audition very confident in my preparation.

The biggest impact the books have had on me is in my playing--I am confident, I can play in equal temperament, adjust as necessary, I can make all the jumps smooth, I can match any articulation, etc etc, all th skills that are necessary as an orchestral musician. The second is that when preparing for an audition, I am really focussed for that audition, weeks in advance...I used to feel like life was throwing me around, all of a sudden when I had an audition to prepare for I'd have a million jobs to prepare for at the same time, or ten family members would be visiting from out-of-town, etc, all the twists and turns that life throws would literally knock me around, and I felt it was impossible to prepare for the audition. Now all I do is make up my schedule and follow it every day...there's always white-out if some people come for a visit.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my 2 cents...hopefully someone out there who needs a jumpstart (or complete overhaul maybe) as badly as I did before I read his books will read this, and start to take charge of their audition and preparation.

Another book I highly recommend, despite its ridiculous title *"What to Say When you Talk to Yourself" by Shad Helmstetter. Don Greene was like an introductory step for me into this book. It's a totally direct, easy-to-implement way to change your thought patterns, your playing, your auditions, anything. If you're brave.