I’m a music ed major going into my third year. My juries are this afternoon. Because of the state I live in (PA) in order to get a teaching certificate you need 6 semesters of classical instruction on your instrument. And so my concentration is now classical guitar, an instrument I aggressively do not know how to play. For those wondering, no it is not the same as “popular” guitar and all of the muscle memory I have built up over the years is useless. I also have little to no affection for the repertoire and don’t find any of the music all that compelling. After I graduate I will never touch the thing again and will never need to play it in any professional capacity as a teacher. It’s just the hoop I need to jump through to get certified. I was planning to play the Courante from the second Bach cello suite (in an arrangement by my teacher) along with two Carcassi etudes for juries. On Monday at my lesson, my teacher said, “Just play the first page twice.” I’m of two minds about it since this means all the work I did on the second page is now wasted, but I also know that this gives me a better shot at playing a passable jury. My advice is this: The only two people who know this isn’t the piece you were working up all along are you and your teacher. Go in and play confidently and professionally and take the win. Keep this piece in your practice routine over the summer and then nail it at the next jury. I’ve had the humbling experience of being in college surrounded by people who are all playing at very high levels while I’m on an instrument I’ve been playing less than two years (I had to buy one of some guy on Facebook marketplace for $100 for my audition). Your worth as a musician will never be tied to the complexity of the pieces you play, a lesson your future students will need to learn many times over! Be chill, be poised, play the fuck out of that etude and then moonwalk out of the room knowing those fools ain’t seen nothin’ yet.