Does Competition Order Matter? (does it matter if you go first?)

January 24, 2024, 2:05 PM · May I respectfully suggest that, since you don’t control the order you are assigned, that you give exactly zero brain space to this and focus instead on playing the best you can play.

People sometimes do the same regarding the order they play in an audition group, and there is hardly anything less productive to worry about. You can’t control it anyway.

January 24, 2024, 2:05 PM · To some extent, yes. Being first is not great, but being last in an earlier group can be better than being last in a later group when the judges are tired and grumpy.

January 24, 2024, 5:50 PM · I'm with Mary Ellen. For heavens sake someone has to go first. It's like what lane you get in the 100 yard dash.

January 24, 2024, 8:50 PM · Perhaps a better question would be are there any strategic things you can do depending on where you are placed?

I actually don't know the answer to this (not being in the competition circuit!) but would be intrigued if anyone has any ideas.

January 24, 2024, 8:50 PM · Perhaps a better question would be are there any strategic things you can do depending on where you are placed?

I actually don't know the answer to this (not being in the competition circuit!) but would be intrigued if anyone has any ideas.

January 24, 2024, 9:44 PM · I prefer to play first if I'm given a choice. There's the psychological benefit of not hearing any other contestant and just going up and doing your best. You don't have to sit and fidget and boil in your own adrenaline while other contestants play. You can enjoy everyone else's performances. (I've been doing fiddling contests in recent years, after many decades of not playing competitively.)

You're also setting the baseline for scoring, which can be to your advantage or disadvantage. But ultimately there are tons of variables involved in order, and in most cases you don't control it, so take Mary Ellen's advice.

January 25, 2024, 4:23 AM · Being first or last is helpful.

Regardless of your order, there are in theory things you can do to potentially improve your rating. There is a bias in such judging to compare you to the previous contestant. If that contestant did well, and you have some similar qualities to that contestant, then your score will be inflated. If that contestant did poorly and you are different than them, then your score will be inflated. One way in which one can change such similarity is by changing the works we play, or the order of such works. However, in the real world we probably do not have as much control of this. It is not as if we can change the piece we play in a competition, mid competition.

Edited: January 25, 2024, 7:49 AM · Kahneman and Tversky did a study of a courtroom dealing with parole cases. A lot of the verdict depended on where the judges/jurors were vs their lunchtime. https://www.econlib.org/archives/2012/01/kahneman_mental.html

But as many have said correctly, if you can't control it, don't worry about it. Maybe be extra sure to grab attention if you're in a dead zone, but there's not much else you can do. If it were as simple as dialing in Heifetz tone and precision, you'd have done that already.

January 25, 2024, 7:40 AM · A couple of years ago there was a study about this at the Queen Elzabeth competition in Brussels. And yes, if you play in the beginning of the competition your chance to to go to the next round was increased massively. But the Queen Elizabeth competition is held on several days, so you can’t compare it to a competition held on 1 day. If you play on Monday and the jury will decide on Friday it’s a disadvantage to start early. With a competition where everybody plays on the same day I think it doesn’t make a lot of difference.

January 25, 2024, 5:16 PM · Greetings,
Frieda gives great advice which I would like to expand on just a little.
First of all, if you can go early and stand in the actual concert hall on stage that will make a major difference.
Second, if you know what time you are going to start then you should be dressed as you plan to be dressed and running through your program or whatever from beginning to end exactly at that time starting about a week in advance.
Cheers
Buri
Also Vizualization performing every night before you go to bed and, the first thing you do when you wake up ( if you have time for that one…)

Edited: January 25, 2024, 5:56 PM · "There’s a reason why some universities schedule final exams to be during evenings rather than mornings."

I give evening exams, but it has nothing to do with my students being night owls rather than morning people. Evening exams allow me to give students more time for their exam than the usual 50-minute (or even 75-minute) class period, so that the exam tests knowledge and understanding rather than speed. Also, evening exams don't displace content. Moreover, courses like General Chemistry or Calculus, that might have multiple instructors and total enrollments in the thousands, can be given the same test simultaneously if logistics are well coordinated, which, at my institution, they are.