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My high school orchestra is giving a Veteran's Day concert tomorrow (even though tomorrow isn't Veteran's Day.. lol)
Anyway, one of the songs we're playing is Ashokan Farewell, which has a solo part. We had auditions last week for the solo, but my orchestra teacher didn't pick the soloist until today. I got it. 
I've never soloed before. I'm so nervous and excited at the same time! But more nervous, I think.. do you guys have any tips for me?
My mom is going to tape the concert, so you'll get to see it! …. if I play good.. what if I totally mess it up? D:
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Oh man! Nice job mustang! 
I can't give any advise on nervousness I never had to get up on a stage...
But I extend a hearty huge Congrats!!! & WOOHOO!!! 
On "Cheap eBay violins" … Just tell people they are like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. With a little love, and some practice, they too can be made beautiful.
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Thanks, RP! 
Hey, one more post and you've got 100.
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Congratulations. Have fun with it!
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Good luck, cant wait to see it.
No matter where you go, there you are!
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BTW- One you hit 100 posts the math changes to long division! *cries!*
On "Cheap eBay violins" … Just tell people they are like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. With a little love, and some practice, they too can be made beautiful.
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Congratulations Mustang, you will do just fine , try to forget anyone else is there and play to yourself just for fun.
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OMG I don't know how to do long division. I'll have to find my abycuss.
Mustang You will do wonderfully, that is why you were chosen
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Congratulations! That's a challenge for your limits:P Take it!
Take deep breaths -- breath in through nose and breath out through mouth slowly several times; focus on what you are going to do, what you are doing and not what your audiences are doing or what you think they would do. If you don't want to look at your audiences, you could look at your violin:P but if you look at your audience and smiles, you have made a big step forward!
Once i was in a speech contest, guest what? My legs were shaking horribly behind the podium, but I did it (I still don't know how I did it).
Last but not least: YOU CAN DO IT!!
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Read these two threads.
/forum/life-as-a-musician/your-most-amazing-performances-or-really-cool-things-that-happened/
/forum/life-as-a-musician/how-do-you-avoid-stage-fright-during-a-solo/
You'll find some great tips on these.
Good luck. I'm looking forward to hearing about it and possibly seeing a recording.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I'm thinking... "What's the worst that could happen?... 
You could mess up and everyone would laugh?" Oh well! If anyone laughs, they are not too smart because they OBVIOUSLY don't know how hard the violin is to play. You could potentially totally prove it and get up from your seat and hand them your violin and tell them to do better. That would shut 'em up, huh? 
Everyone else would be smart enough to know just how hard it is to play the violin and even harder to play in front of people and the only thing that they would be thinking would be that they give you a LOT of credit for being SO brave to get up ther eand do that. They'd WISH they had that much nerve and ability to play the violin.
So... you should just get up there, play your heart out, do your best and if you mess up, oh well... you mess up... you keep going... you stay proud of yourself for the parts you did well in and you learn from the mistakes you made for the next time. In the meantime, you enjoy yourself and have a good time!
You can do it! I'm excited for you!!
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Mazel tov good for you!!
Shalom Shalom
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Congratulations! You'll do well, I'm sure, and I'm also looking forward to the video.
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Hey, Mustang, Congratulations!!!
can't give any particular advice for you, i always thought that soloing is very scary.. But i really think that you'll make it great!! I believe that you are ready for that... You were on stage before, didn't you? But i still can understand your feeling! My teacher wants me to play on December school concert.. i tried to refuse, but she promised to kick my a__ if i do !
After she told me that i've found myself staring at the '"evacuation plan", looking for emergency exit to escape from the stage 
.. Have anybody some magical experience of disappearance?
joking! /still planning to escape/
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What?! Long division? I don't want to do that! Okay, I'm not making anymore posts.
Jk. xD
Thanks everyone. You guys made me feel a lot less nervous! It went well! 
Mad_Wed, you should totally play in the concert! If I can survive a solo, you can play at a concert! Don't try to escape. What would you be playing?
Well, here's the video… I just wish my camera had better audio.
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You did it!! YEAH!! It wasn't too scary was it? You took the first step -- the hardest step! you should be proud of yourself!
Despite the sound, I think you guys did great! Too bad we can't even see your face!
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Can you hear me clapping for you. Too bad you were hiding behind the music stand.
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Very nice! Were you nervous?
No matter where you go, there you are!
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That was really very good. Much better I'm sure than the recording.
What make of violin do you have ? (good projection)
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
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I know! You couldn't see me! But I was kind of glad for that. It eased my nerves. I didn't have the feeling that everyone was looking at me. xD
LB: Yes, I was nervous. I'm glad it's over now, though. 
Oliver: You mean what kind of violin do I have? It's a William Lewis and Son Ton Klar the Danlca violin, from around 1975. I paid $50 for it on Ebay... I got a good deal. 
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