June 24, 2025 • 18 mins
It took me by surprise, but I actually felt energised after taking my resit technical exam at my conservatoire. How? Let's talk about it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatoire ofScotland literally my dream
school and it took me a long wayto get there.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work but,oh my gosh, so worth it.
(00:24):
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals, so comewith me as we go on this journey
together.
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat or, if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusicianing Podcast.
(00:45):
During my first year at musicschool, I had two midterm
technical exams, one that Ifailed and then one a few months
later.
That was my reset that I passed, which I'm very excited about.
I, like, have recently passedit, so it's still very exciting.
And after the reset exam, Irealized something that honestly
(01:07):
surprised me I felt energized.
I felt energized.
I literally that day I wastalking with a friend and I was
saying like I am so excited forthe summer.
I cannot wait to like, becauseI have some ideas about, like
the podcast and also some otherthings that I am very excited to
share with you guys and I'mlike, oh my gosh, you know, I
(01:30):
have so many ideas, so many like.
I just felt so creative, I feltso inspired and excited and I
just felt energized.
And I was like, how could I beenergized after an exam you know
what I mean?
A very, very important exam,one that I really needed to pass
and I like I mean don't get mewrong, I was also tired, but I
(01:53):
was still energized and Irealized that the reason why I
was energized was because I tookthe RISA exam with a whole
different approach than I didthe original exam, and I am so
grateful that I was able to dothat.
And so today I am hoping tokind of just compare and
(02:15):
contrast these two exams,because I approach them in so
different ways, like suchdifferent ways, and I think it's
important to just take a stepback and to look at it and to
see.
Because I think it's importantto just take a step back and to
look at it and to see, because Ithink it's so easy to do what I
did in the first exam so easyand the second way that I did
(02:35):
the exam in the reset washonestly more stressful because
I wasn't sure if it was going toproperly work.
But I, I trusted the processand it worked.
So let's dive into exam oneversus exam two, what I did
differently and how it workedand versus how it didn't work.
Okay, so exam one, exam one wasat the beginning of the year and
(03:01):
I'm going to be honest, I'mgoing to be a bit vulnerable.
I was struggling mentally LikeI really be a bit vulnerable.
I was struggling mentally likeI really I was in, I was in a
bit of a low mentally and Ididn't listen to myself when I
knew that I had it, when I knewthat I had to take a break, when
I knew that I had to be kinderto myself, because if I took a
break I would realize just howmuch I'm struggling mentally.
(03:24):
So what did I do?
I distracted myself.
I distracted myself withpracticing and so I just locked
myself up into a practice roomand just went and went and went
and went at practicing and Imean I was really solid
practicing, like I, you know, Iknew my extracts, I knew, you
know, I, I knew the stuff, but Ididn't actually take care of
(03:46):
myself and what I needed at thetime.
So I ended up not beingprepared in myself.
I took care of the oboe, I didnot take care of the oboist, and
so when the when the you know,when I actually got to the exam,
the oboist was not ready.
The oboist was burnt out, wastired, was not able to give um,
(04:10):
to give a, to give a good examto the best of her abilities.
And so during that exam I Ihonestly forgot everything, like
not everything, but especiallylike there was one specific part
of the exam that just it wentwhoosh over my head and I just
completely like forgot thingsand it it honestly took me as
(04:35):
like on such a surprise and sucha shock.
I was so surprised.
I was like I thought I wasready, but the thing is, when I
thought I was ready, but thething is, when I thought I was
ready, it was because the oboewas ready, right, but the oboist
was not ready.
I did not take care of myself,I did not take care of myself.
I remember the day before thatexam I did like a mock-ish exam
(04:58):
with friends and that was great.
But looking back on it, I havea feeling that I probably should
have done that exam, mock exam,a bit earlier and, you know,
kind of tapered off my practiceso I could rest.
I think after that mock exam, Iwent home and I kept practicing,
(05:18):
like, honestly, I just kind ofkept going and going and going
until it was actually time, andthen, when it was actually time,
I had nothing left to give andso after that exam, I was
drained.
It's interesting, I think Iknew that I failed.
You know which is the most icky, yucky feeling you could feel,
honestly, with this.
I I, because I, you know, put alot of my although life on the
(05:44):
internet.
I films myself after my examand you can just tell by my
facial expressions like I knew,I knew that I did not do well, I
knew that I failed, I knew thatthis, this wasn't, you know,
good enough I'm, I just knew it.
You could see it in my face,which is so heartbreaking,
honestly.
And after that exam, I was sodrained, I had no desire to do
(06:13):
anything, honestly anything.
And when I got the news aboutmy exam, I just was devastated.
I was just devastated, honestly.
Um, I like, I, I actually likegot a migraine that night Cause
I was just so I think my mind, Ithink my body was so not taken
care of.
Right, I didn't take care of mymental.
I think my body was so nottaken care of, right, I didn't
take care of my mental health atall, and so, you know, when it
(06:36):
got that news, it was like itfelt like it needed to kind of,
you know, shut down almost, soit gave me a migraine.
So then I had to, you know, Imean, so it was kind of really
stressed out, um yeah, which Idon't recommend.
I'm telling you, I really don'trecommend it.
I think for us, especially asmusicians, there is kind of a
(06:58):
sense of safety in the practiceroom.
If I practice enough, if I keeppracticing, then I'm gonna be
okay.
But in actuality I wasn't okay.
I just neglected my needs.
So that's exam one.
Let's move on to exam two.
Exam two was completelydifferent and I did a few things
and I think I want to breakdown these things in other
(07:21):
episodes, episodes coming up.
I'm planning on breaking downthese specific things because
there's so much that I did.
But the first advantage, I feel, was I already knew the rep, I
already knew the repertoire.
I just kind of got it back outand polished it off, and so that
was.
That was good.
But I practiced it in adifferent way as well.
(07:45):
I think I think there was a lotless stress in the practice
session.
I think that that is somethingthat's really helpful.
I had a friend tell me you know, maybe don't put so much stress
on your practice, just practice.
Don't put so much pressure onyour practice in every session,
because every session isdifferent.
If you put pressure on everysession, then that's not going
(08:06):
to help.
I remember, literally a fewdays before my exam, I had a
really bad run through and I wasin a in a better place mentally
.
So I was like you know what?
That's really great.
We got the bad run through outand now we can just focus on the
good ones.
Um, but yeah, don't like notputting as much pressure on
every single thing to be okay,cause practice in its nature is
(08:29):
not supposed to be perfect.
That's why it's called practice.
Um, yeah, so I.
So that's kind of how Iprepared.
And then the week before, um,the most important thing was my
mental health.
Honestly, the most importantthing was my mental health.
I, in terms of like content andstuff, I I kind of had things
planned, so I didn't necessarilyhave to work myself a lot.
(08:54):
I went for walks, I took timeoff, I did hobbies, I hung out
with friends, I focused onstaying in the moment as well,
and I think that was reallyhelpful.
I had kind of a plan with myteacher where we took the few
days before the exam and reallykind of planned out what I was
(09:15):
going to do, whether I was goingto do run-throughs, whether I
was going to focus on specificparts of what I needed to do,
whether maybe I wasn't going toplay much at all, and that was
really helpful.
And it was really interestingas well, because two days before
my exam I realized the planthat my teacher and I came up
with wasn't actually going to begood.
He wanted me to do somethingthe day before that.
(09:38):
Honestly, I was like, if I dothat the day before, it's going
to be too much, and so I textedhim and I was like actually, can
we change the plan?
And he was like yes, totally,if you feel like you need to
change the plan, change the plan.
It it is your plan.
You know.
Listen to yourself, be kind toyourself.
That is so, so, so important, Ithink as well.
(10:00):
I spoke like with other studentsas well.
I mean, I put it on theinternet.
That was a big thing that I did.
I put the fact that I failed onthe internet and I got so many
amazing messages.
I felt so supported by you guys, like honestly, to every single
one of you who sent me anamazing message or just a
(10:20):
message like I think they're allamazing.
Honestly, I am so grateful, so,so, so grateful.
It's really amazing.
Yeah, they were so amazing andI felt more supported like the
like my friends, you know, inreal, like in my, in my life at
the conservatoire.
I they, they were so helpful aswell.
(10:44):
You know, I had friends who whowould like help me with
run-throughs and things likethat, which was like so amazing.
I am so grateful, honestly, so,so, so grateful, and that
support was so important to me.
And then, before the exam, I didsomething called visualization,
(11:09):
which I think I just did anepisode on.
So if you want to see thatepisode, I'll put it in the
description, in the show notesand basically how to do
visualization.
It is so helpful.
Basically, you visualize youdoing well, it going well, how
you feel about it.
Right, you visualize how youwant to feel about it and that
(11:31):
can really help you.
You know, feel good about itwhen it actually happens.
And I did that a lot.
I did a lot of visualization.
I did a mock exam in the actualroom.
That was like two weeks before.
That was really, really helpfulas well.
And then, because I took careof myself, because I took care
of my mental health, I was ableto see this exam as something
(11:53):
for what it was.
It was just 15 to 20 minutes ofme in a room playing for people
, you know, and showing them howfar I've grown, and that was so
important to me, and so that'swhat I did and, oh my gosh, it
was so much better.
And afterwards I was so excited.
I was so excited because I knewI mean, obviously you don't
know if you pass or fail in themoment, but I knew that I did
(12:16):
the best that I could and I wasso proud of that, and so I was
able to see that and to do that,and I was so energized and
excited.
And now I feel like, okay, Ican do this, I don't feel burnt
out, I don't feel burnt out.
I don't feel burnt out, woo,it's so exciting.
And so that's really important,I think when we do our exams,
(12:40):
when we do our auditions,trusting in the process,
trusting in the process, becausesometimes the process is a bit
stressful we're like, oh, willthat actually work?
Will that be okay If we trustin it?
You know, even if it doesn'tfeel like as like safe safest,
(13:03):
you know what I mean.
Like like, when we think ofpracticing, especially in the
first time around, I was like,okay, I don't, I feel nervous
about this exam, so I'm justgoing to practice and practice
and practice and practice andpractice.
That didn't help me.
When I was the second timearound, I was like, okay, I feel
nervous about this exam, I'mgoing to meditate, I'm going to
visualize, I'm going to chatwith a friend and go for a walk,
(13:29):
you know.
And, yes, I'm going to do myoboe practice today, but that
oboe practice is not going to befull of stress, it's going to
be full of excitement and, andyou know, fun.
You know because I have alreadydealt with the, with the
feelings of nerves.
So, and then, of course, like,the nerves were always kind of
there, but like being okay withthem being like okay, nerves are
normal, nerves are normal.
So, yeah, um, the first exam, Iput the oboe first, not the
oboist, and the second, I putthe oboist first and that was,
(13:51):
you know, the result was I wasnot even close to burnt out.
The second time I wasn't burntout at all.
Really Like um, yeah, it wasreally good.
Like um, yeah, it was reallygood I was.
I'm really grateful for that.
So I think, when we go and doour exams and our auditions, um,
like, it is so important tolook at it with, with gentleness
(14:14):
and with kindness, and I hopethat this episode helps you in
whatever you're working towards,to realize that you know,
gentleness, kindness, softnessis the way forward.
Honestly, because what's themost important part of this
whole thing?
The musician, the musician, andso we need to take care of
ourselves.
And, honestly, I feel like inmy next practice or in my next
(14:36):
audition and you know, examsI'll probably listen to this
episode, not going to um, Iwould.
That was one of the otherthings.
The second time around I started, I listened to some episodes of
this podcast because, um, yeah,because, because it helped me
as well.
So, anyway, yeah, um, one ofthe things just to like, touch
(14:59):
on this because it was wasreally helpful, one of the
things that have helped me in mypractice, and to also know that
I have finished practicing sothat I can go do fun things is
planning my practice, and one ofthe ways that I plan my
practice is with a notablepractice journal.
As, like, this notable practicejournal has been so helpful for
me in not only planning mypractice but also looking back
(15:21):
and reflecting.
There are reflection questionsso that we can or that you know,
we can like know what workedand what didn't work, and
continue to grow.
And yeah, so this, this journal, has been really helpful for me
, and as soon as I realized thatit has been helpful, I knew
that I needed to give you a codeand tell you about it.
(15:41):
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal.
That is, e-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for15% off your journal and go get
yourself a notable practicejournal and plan those practice
sessions.
It can be so helpful whengetting a good, effective
session.
The link is in the description,in the show notes, so make sure
you go check that out and usethe code.
(16:03):
You know me, I do not recommendanything that I don't
absolutely love.
This code is an affiliate code,so I do receive a commission
with no extra cost to you.
All right, I feel like usually Ido a recap, but I'm not sure
how to recap this Exam one.
I was struggling mentally, so Idistracted myself with
(16:23):
practicing.
I focused on the oboe ratherthan the oboist.
I, you know, just kind ofbulldozed it through.
So then when I got there, I wasburnt out.
And then I was burnt out afterNot ideal.
The second time.
I learned from my mistakes.
I did visualization, I didmeditation, I focused on what I
needed.
You know, I tapered off mypractice before the exam.
(16:46):
I talked to my teacher aboutthis, because I feel like
everyone's different, you know.
Some people might want to tapertheir practice off before the
exam, other people maybe it'smore effective not to.
So I talked to my teacher and II did an exam that was full of
joy and I'm so proud of myselffor it.
Honestly, um, yeah, and I amsending you the biggest, biggest
(17:09):
just I don't know what's theword the biggest gift of
encouragement.
There we go, the biggest giftof encouragement of whatever you
are doing in your musicaljourney, whether that's exams,
auditions, performances, evenjust difficult practice sessions
.
I'm sending all of thisencouragement to you and I hope
(17:29):
that you have, you know, thenext practice session of joy and
courage.
And, yeah, if you enjoyed thisepisode, please do give it a
like, a share, a subscribe, acomment, a follow, whatever it
is.
Share it with all of yourmusical friends and, yeah, I
(17:51):
will see you in the next episode.
All right, take care, bye.
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatoire ofScotland literally my dream
school and it took me a long wayto get there.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work but,oh my gosh, so worth it.
(00:24):
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals, so comewith me as we go on this journey
together.
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat or, if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusicianing Podcast.
(00:45):
During my first year at musicschool, I had two midterm
technical exams, one that Ifailed and then one a few months
later.
That was my reset that I passed, which I'm very excited about.
I, like, have recently passedit, so it's still very exciting.
And after the reset exam, Irealized something that honestly
(01:07):
surprised me I felt energized.
I felt energized.
I literally that day I wastalking with a friend and I was
saying like I am so excited forthe summer.
I cannot wait to like, becauseI have some ideas about, like
the podcast and also some otherthings that I am very excited to
share with you guys and I'mlike, oh my gosh, you know, I
(01:30):
have so many ideas, so many like.
I just felt so creative, I feltso inspired and excited and I
just felt energized.
And I was like, how could I beenergized after an exam you know
what I mean?
A very, very important exam,one that I really needed to pass
and I like I mean don't get mewrong, I was also tired, but I
(01:53):
was still energized and Irealized that the reason why I
was energized was because I tookthe RISA exam with a whole
different approach than I didthe original exam, and I am so
grateful that I was able to dothat.
And so today I am hoping tokind of just compare and
(02:15):
contrast these two exams,because I approach them in so
different ways, like suchdifferent ways, and I think it's
important to just take a stepback and to look at it and to
see.
Because I think it's importantto just take a step back and to
look at it and to see, because Ithink it's so easy to do what I
did in the first exam so easyand the second way that I did
(02:35):
the exam in the reset washonestly more stressful because
I wasn't sure if it was going toproperly work.
But I, I trusted the processand it worked.
So let's dive into exam oneversus exam two, what I did
differently and how it workedand versus how it didn't work.
Okay, so exam one, exam one wasat the beginning of the year and
(03:01):
I'm going to be honest, I'mgoing to be a bit vulnerable.
I was struggling mentally LikeI really be a bit vulnerable.
I was struggling mentally likeI really I was in, I was in a
bit of a low mentally and Ididn't listen to myself when I
knew that I had it, when I knewthat I had to take a break, when
I knew that I had to be kinderto myself, because if I took a
break I would realize just howmuch I'm struggling mentally.
(03:24):
So what did I do?
I distracted myself.
I distracted myself withpracticing and so I just locked
myself up into a practice roomand just went and went and went
and went at practicing and Imean I was really solid
practicing, like I, you know, Iknew my extracts, I knew, you
know, I, I knew the stuff, but Ididn't actually take care of
(03:46):
myself and what I needed at thetime.
So I ended up not beingprepared in myself.
I took care of the oboe, I didnot take care of the oboist, and
so when the when the you know,when I actually got to the exam,
the oboist was not ready.
The oboist was burnt out, wastired, was not able to give um,
(04:10):
to give a, to give a good examto the best of her abilities.
And so during that exam I Ihonestly forgot everything, like
not everything, but especiallylike there was one specific part
of the exam that just it wentwhoosh over my head and I just
completely like forgot thingsand it it honestly took me as
(04:35):
like on such a surprise and sucha shock.
I was so surprised.
I was like I thought I wasready, but the thing is, when I
thought I was ready, but thething is, when I thought I was
ready, it was because the oboewas ready, right, but the oboist
was not ready.
I did not take care of myself,I did not take care of myself.
I remember the day before thatexam I did like a mock-ish exam
(04:58):
with friends and that was great.
But looking back on it, I havea feeling that I probably should
have done that exam, mock exam,a bit earlier and, you know,
kind of tapered off my practiceso I could rest.
I think after that mock exam, Iwent home and I kept practicing,
(05:18):
like, honestly, I just kind ofkept going and going and going
until it was actually time, andthen, when it was actually time,
I had nothing left to give andso after that exam, I was
drained.
It's interesting, I think Iknew that I failed.
You know which is the most icky, yucky feeling you could feel,
honestly, with this.
I I, because I, you know, put alot of my although life on the
(05:44):
internet.
I films myself after my examand you can just tell by my
facial expressions like I knew,I knew that I did not do well, I
knew that I failed, I knew thatthis, this wasn't, you know,
good enough I'm, I just knew it.
You could see it in my face,which is so heartbreaking,
honestly.
And after that exam, I was sodrained, I had no desire to do
(06:13):
anything, honestly anything.
And when I got the news aboutmy exam, I just was devastated.
I was just devastated, honestly.
Um, I like, I, I actually likegot a migraine that night Cause
I was just so I think my mind, Ithink my body was so not taken
care of.
Right, I didn't take care of mymental.
I think my body was so nottaken care of, right, I didn't
take care of my mental health atall, and so, you know, when it
(06:36):
got that news, it was like itfelt like it needed to kind of,
you know, shut down almost, soit gave me a migraine.
So then I had to, you know, Imean, so it was kind of really
stressed out, um yeah, which Idon't recommend.
I'm telling you, I really don'trecommend it.
I think for us, especially asmusicians, there is kind of a
(06:58):
sense of safety in the practiceroom.
If I practice enough, if I keeppracticing, then I'm gonna be
okay.
But in actuality I wasn't okay.
I just neglected my needs.
So that's exam one.
Let's move on to exam two.
Exam two was completelydifferent and I did a few things
and I think I want to breakdown these things in other
(07:21):
episodes, episodes coming up.
I'm planning on breaking downthese specific things because
there's so much that I did.
But the first advantage, I feel, was I already knew the rep, I
already knew the repertoire.
I just kind of got it back outand polished it off, and so that
was.
That was good.
But I practiced it in adifferent way as well.
(07:45):
I think I think there was a lotless stress in the practice
session.
I think that that is somethingthat's really helpful.
I had a friend tell me you know, maybe don't put so much stress
on your practice, just practice.
Don't put so much pressure onyour practice in every session,
because every session isdifferent.
If you put pressure on everysession, then that's not going
(08:06):
to help.
I remember, literally a fewdays before my exam, I had a
really bad run through and I wasin a in a better place mentally
.
So I was like you know what?
That's really great.
We got the bad run through outand now we can just focus on the
good ones.
Um, but yeah, don't like notputting as much pressure on
every single thing to be okay,cause practice in its nature is
(08:29):
not supposed to be perfect.
That's why it's called practice.
Um, yeah, so I.
So that's kind of how Iprepared.
And then the week before, um,the most important thing was my
mental health.
Honestly, the most importantthing was my mental health.
I, in terms of like content andstuff, I I kind of had things
planned, so I didn't necessarilyhave to work myself a lot.
(08:54):
I went for walks, I took timeoff, I did hobbies, I hung out
with friends, I focused onstaying in the moment as well,
and I think that was reallyhelpful.
I had kind of a plan with myteacher where we took the few
days before the exam and reallykind of planned out what I was
(09:15):
going to do, whether I was goingto do run-throughs, whether I
was going to focus on specificparts of what I needed to do,
whether maybe I wasn't going toplay much at all, and that was
really helpful.
And it was really interestingas well, because two days before
my exam I realized the planthat my teacher and I came up
with wasn't actually going to begood.
He wanted me to do somethingthe day before that.
(09:38):
Honestly, I was like, if I dothat the day before, it's going
to be too much, and so I textedhim and I was like actually, can
we change the plan?
And he was like yes, totally,if you feel like you need to
change the plan, change the plan.
It it is your plan.
You know.
Listen to yourself, be kind toyourself.
That is so, so, so important, Ithink as well.
(10:00):
I spoke like with other studentsas well.
I mean, I put it on theinternet.
That was a big thing that I did.
I put the fact that I failed onthe internet and I got so many
amazing messages.
I felt so supported by you guys, like honestly, to every single
one of you who sent me anamazing message or just a
(10:20):
message like I think they're allamazing.
Honestly, I am so grateful, so,so, so grateful.
It's really amazing.
Yeah, they were so amazing andI felt more supported like the
like my friends, you know, inreal, like in my, in my life at
the conservatoire.
I they, they were so helpful aswell.
(10:44):
You know, I had friends who whowould like help me with
run-throughs and things likethat, which was like so amazing.
I am so grateful, honestly, so,so, so grateful, and that
support was so important to me.
And then, before the exam, I didsomething called visualization,
(11:09):
which I think I just did anepisode on.
So if you want to see thatepisode, I'll put it in the
description, in the show notesand basically how to do
visualization.
It is so helpful.
Basically, you visualize youdoing well, it going well, how
you feel about it.
Right, you visualize how youwant to feel about it and that
(11:31):
can really help you.
You know, feel good about itwhen it actually happens.
And I did that a lot.
I did a lot of visualization.
I did a mock exam in the actualroom.
That was like two weeks before.
That was really, really helpfulas well.
And then, because I took careof myself, because I took care
of my mental health, I was ableto see this exam as something
(11:53):
for what it was.
It was just 15 to 20 minutes ofme in a room playing for people
, you know, and showing them howfar I've grown, and that was so
important to me, and so that'swhat I did and, oh my gosh, it
was so much better.
And afterwards I was so excited.
I was so excited because I knewI mean, obviously you don't
know if you pass or fail in themoment, but I knew that I did
(12:16):
the best that I could and I wasso proud of that, and so I was
able to see that and to do that,and I was so energized and
excited.
And now I feel like, okay, Ican do this, I don't feel burnt
out, I don't feel burnt out.
I don't feel burnt out, woo,it's so exciting.
And so that's really important,I think when we do our exams,
(12:40):
when we do our auditions,trusting in the process,
trusting in the process, becausesometimes the process is a bit
stressful we're like, oh, willthat actually work?
Will that be okay If we trustin it?
You know, even if it doesn'tfeel like as like safe safest,
(13:03):
you know what I mean.
Like like, when we think ofpracticing, especially in the
first time around, I was like,okay, I don't, I feel nervous
about this exam, so I'm justgoing to practice and practice
and practice and practice andpractice.
That didn't help me.
When I was the second timearound, I was like, okay, I feel
nervous about this exam, I'mgoing to meditate, I'm going to
visualize, I'm going to chatwith a friend and go for a walk,
(13:29):
you know.
And, yes, I'm going to do myoboe practice today, but that
oboe practice is not going to befull of stress, it's going to
be full of excitement and, andyou know, fun.
You know because I have alreadydealt with the, with the
feelings of nerves.
So, and then, of course, like,the nerves were always kind of
there, but like being okay withthem being like okay, nerves are
normal, nerves are normal.
So, yeah, um, the first exam, Iput the oboe first, not the
oboist, and the second, I putthe oboist first and that was,
(13:51):
you know, the result was I wasnot even close to burnt out.
The second time I wasn't burntout at all.
Really Like um, yeah, it wasreally good.
Like um, yeah, it was reallygood I was.
I'm really grateful for that.
So I think, when we go and doour exams and our auditions, um,
like, it is so important tolook at it with, with gentleness
(14:14):
and with kindness, and I hopethat this episode helps you in
whatever you're working towards,to realize that you know,
gentleness, kindness, softnessis the way forward.
Honestly, because what's themost important part of this
whole thing?
The musician, the musician, andso we need to take care of
ourselves.
And, honestly, I feel like inmy next practice or in my next
(14:36):
audition and you know, examsI'll probably listen to this
episode, not going to um, Iwould.
That was one of the otherthings.
The second time around I started, I listened to some episodes of
this podcast because, um, yeah,because, because it helped me
as well.
So, anyway, yeah, um, one ofthe things just to like, touch
(14:59):
on this because it was wasreally helpful, one of the
things that have helped me in mypractice, and to also know that
I have finished practicing sothat I can go do fun things is
planning my practice, and one ofthe ways that I plan my
practice is with a notablepractice journal.
As, like, this notable practicejournal has been so helpful for
me in not only planning mypractice but also looking back
(15:21):
and reflecting.
There are reflection questionsso that we can or that you know,
we can like know what workedand what didn't work, and
continue to grow.
And yeah, so this, this journal, has been really helpful for me
, and as soon as I realized thatit has been helpful, I knew
that I needed to give you a codeand tell you about it.
(15:41):
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal.
That is, e-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for15% off your journal and go get
yourself a notable practicejournal and plan those practice
sessions.
It can be so helpful whengetting a good, effective
session.
The link is in the description,in the show notes, so make sure
you go check that out and usethe code.
(16:03):
You know me, I do not recommendanything that I don't
absolutely love.
This code is an affiliate code,so I do receive a commission
with no extra cost to you.
All right, I feel like usually Ido a recap, but I'm not sure
how to recap this Exam one.
I was struggling mentally, so Idistracted myself with
(16:23):
practicing.
I focused on the oboe ratherthan the oboist.
I, you know, just kind ofbulldozed it through.
So then when I got there, I wasburnt out.
And then I was burnt out afterNot ideal.
The second time.
I learned from my mistakes.
I did visualization, I didmeditation, I focused on what I
needed.
You know, I tapered off mypractice before the exam.
(16:46):
I talked to my teacher aboutthis, because I feel like
everyone's different, you know.
Some people might want to tapertheir practice off before the
exam, other people maybe it'smore effective not to.
So I talked to my teacher and II did an exam that was full of
joy and I'm so proud of myselffor it.
Honestly, um, yeah, and I amsending you the biggest, biggest
(17:09):
just I don't know what's theword the biggest gift of
encouragement.
There we go, the biggest giftof encouragement of whatever you
are doing in your musicaljourney, whether that's exams,
auditions, performances, evenjust difficult practice sessions
.
I'm sending all of thisencouragement to you and I hope
(17:29):
that you have, you know, thenext practice session of joy and
courage.
And, yeah, if you enjoyed thisepisode, please do give it a
like, a share, a subscribe, acomment, a follow, whatever it
is.
Share it with all of yourmusical friends and, yeah, I
(17:51):
will see you in the next episode.
All right, take care, bye.
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