Audition Success: An Olympic Sports Psychologist Teaches Performing Artists How to Win

by Don Greene

Audition Success presents a groundbreaking method that has already made Don Greene one of the country's leading audition trainers. Combining specially designed self-tests and real-life examples from the careers of two performers, Audition Success will help performers understand what prevents them from nailing an audition and give them the tools to reach their goals.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don's process and strategy would be helpful to any musician. That said it is a crappy book to read.

[Julien Haynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple gems in terms of ´centering techniques’ advice. I like the process cues as well. The format of the book is just… hard to enjoy. It’s like listening to a really boring phone call except 1 in every 20 exchanges has some great advice.

[Christina Gerakiteys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of great techniques to avoid nerves and perform with energy.

[Emiel Vertongen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this book and still failed my audition.
Would give zero stars if possible
Still good read tho, go practice!

[raquel roldán i montserrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

un 10!! es llegeix rapidíssim perquè està escrit en forma de conversa! tinc una prova en exactament 2 setmanes i vinc de fer-ne dues aquesta setmana. la meva feina tècnica està millorant considerablement però tot el treball em segueix costant i és el que no em deixa tocar bé. tots els dubtes, pensaments intrusius, nervis, expectatives, etc... tinc moltes ganes de començar a provar el que proposa aquest senyor!!!!!

[Dan Graser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Greene is a well-known pedagogue in the area of sports psychology and artistic training. Having been a guest teacher at numerous prestigious conservatories and schools of music he has an admirable grasp on the workings of a musician's mind for someone with no training as a musician. In this work he focuses mainly on the idea of Centering and learning to use the energy kickstart we musicians get before performances, auditions, and other high-stress situations in a positive way as opposed to a crippling reaction that needs to be controlled. He accomplishes this by detailing some basic work he did with two musicians, and opera mezzo-soprano and a horn player, who had different issues with performance. Though not particularly thorough, this is a fine introduction to some of his concepts and will give you a good amount to try immediately.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and easy read — maybe 90 minutes tops. The entire book is in the form of conversations and I didn’t particularly care for that, but there was some very good information provided that made it worth it.

[Breana Bauman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My student and I agreed that this would be much more useful if it was formatted as a workbook with journal prompts and exercises. Good information but not engaging writing.

[Becca Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

His other book, performance success, has a lot more solidified advice

[Raychel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading when I was preparing for graduate school auditions!

[Kim Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Greene, Olympic Sports Psychologist, takes the reader through his process for channeling performance nerves via transcriptions of his sessions with two musicians embarking on major auditions in their careers. He takes each musician through the process of mindful practice, of learning how to "center" one's self, and the formulation of "process" cues to use for each excerpt performed.

This is all really great information and I would have given this book five stars had I been able to figure out a process that would be good for ME from reading the story of these successes. I found that his description of what to do for one person was completely different than for the other, which makes sense, as they are two different personalities...but I was left not understanding exactly which way would be best for me to apply his advice in my own life.

I wish that his suggestions would have been summarized more clearly at the end with a generalized list of the process each player should go through to "get there." Even at the end of the book, where he describes the "centering" process, it's different than what he asked the two people in the book to do, and left me confused and conflicted.

[Cecy Abaroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for performing artists!

I don’t think that many professional musicians know or realize how important is to build up your confidence and be mentally prepared for the high stress activity that performing in front of a big audience is, or competing for a job (auditioning).

This book have great tools to help with mental preparation, but this is not magic… no amount of confidence can substitute actual physical preparation and practice, but not being mentally ready can ruin that physical preparation and lead to failure.

[Carlos Amador · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the preceding book to Performance Success which I have read as well - both of which were recommended reading from my recent Social Styles class.

The books are somewhat the same although there was more application of the techniques (Centering, process cues, and intention) and you could see how they worked together as you follow along the two storylines in Audition Success.

I would recommend it if you have read Performance Success and gained valuable insight from it.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent companion book for Performance Success. Don Greene has done excellent work in the field of performing arts and performing arts medicine. Anyone who has to "perform" anything should read this book.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must for all musicians struggling with performance anxiety. Read alongside Greene's excellent "Performance Success" and it will be life-changing. It certainly was for me.

[Beth :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second time reading this book, and I just wasn’t the hugest fan. I think if you’re going to read a Don Greene book you’re better off reading Performance Success.