772 - Is it possible to over-prepare?

@Ray Trevino posted about being prepared as compared to always preparing.

I understand the context that Ray was talking about.

It is better to be improving ourselves constantly than get caught off guard.

There is another way to look at preparation. It's something many people do when preparing for an exam, an interview, or a presentation.

It is possible to over-prepare.

My French horn professor gave me some of the best advice I was ever given.

He said, 'You must prepare to give your performance 3 times back-to-back.'

The two-fold purpose is to have your music memorized and to have the stamina to play all of the required pieces multiple times.

You never know when you will be asked to play passages several times in different ways.

BE PREPARED!

On the day of an audition (job interview), you should have everything internally.

KNOW YOUR MATERIAL!

He also coached me to ignore everyone around me at an audition and clear my head.

At auditions, there would be 30-40 other French horn players who made it to the live audition.

This was the equivalent of going to a live interview.

Have you ever heard 30-40 musicians on any instrument all playing different pieces at the same time?

The best description is that it is a cacophony.

People's nerves are on edge, everyone is trying to outdo the others, and some are running around asking if anyone has music they can borrow.

I've even seen people show up to an audition with no instrument in their case!!

I learned to warm up quietly then put down my instrument and leave the room. I would find a quiet place to breathe in silence.

Inevitably, there would be one other person doing the same thing.

I always knew that that person was my only competition that day

...and it was true every time.

Back in the room, people who were not prepared were wearing out their lips trying to get that one passage right.

They were wearing themselves out mentally by attempting to show everyone else how good they were. They could play higher, faster, and louder than the rest.

I watched more horn players crash and burn because they weren't prepared or focused on getting the job.

Being over-prepared has the same effect as not being prepared at all. An over-prepared person may know all the information but they haven't internalized it with confidence.

Have you ever been over-prepared?