Originally Posted by tpter1

I could not agree more with Sieg's last post. As good as you are, there's always going to be someone better. This is about making music, not competing.

Practice smarter. Practicing smarter means cracking the Arban book, the Clarke book and getting busy on your weaknesses. Put yourself under a microscope. If you have only 15 minutes to practice on a given day because of homework sports practice/game, work, chores, then make that 15 minutes focus on 1 aspect of your playing you find difficult. Maybe articulation. Or scales. Don't waste time noodling around on band music. Concentrate on fundamentals and the rest will fall into place; you won't have to work so hard to get that tricky passage because you'll have practiced it many, many times already.

As for morale: use this not as a defeat but as an opportunity to look at where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.