Hello everyone!

I've decided that I wish to study music, and trying out lots of places. I need atleast two pieces of different styles and approaches that will leave a good, positive impression of my playing of myself. So far I've got "Ain't nothing like the real thing", bass playing by J. Jamerson, not sure which artist who sings the song. I think it's a fun and nice line to play, which is why I choose it. Do you have any other recommendations? I should also have played a more solistic piece. Please help, I really don't have as good time as I wished I have .. Thank you guys!! :)

things by jaco: donna lee, continuum, portrait of tracy, teen town

or find bach's cello suite in G (u know, that one). its not too hard, and can be played in the lower or upper octave.

It might fun to impress someone with like My Generation or something but yeah, Bach Cello Suites are good, if you know treble clef you can tranpose something like a Mozart Clarinet Concerto or something as well. I'm playing one on clarinet it is has a bunch of scale runs and sixteenth notes.

Jaco stuff and bach chello suites are good stuff. But keep in mind what type of school you are applying to, it would make alot more sense to play jazz at a jazz school than to play classical music.

If you've got a good ear, I'd try and pick out this song.

Broken Pt.1 by Adam Nitti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVOFtTi5Ox0

It's cool to do the Jamerson tune as a contrast, but I would replace it with a Bach piece. The other tune HAS to be jazz, you won't get around it. That's what cats want to hear in auditions, because that's what most of the curriculum is going to be. Learn the head, walk, take a killin' solo.

By jazz I do NOT mean Jaco. He is so overdone no one wants to hear his stuff anymore. You can do Donna Lee, but you must swing it. Basically what you should be doing for the jazz tune is taking something from a chart and making it your own, interpreting the melody with your own accents and elaborations, and soloing with as much of your own voice as you can muster.

edit: And please don't even think about that Nitti tune. Tapping is a cardinal sin in any audition.

If you've got a good ear, I'd try and pick out this song.

Broken Pt.1 by Adam Nitti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVOFtTi5Ox0

But if you must tap :) (and save it as you "piece de resistance" to really knock someone out after your standard audition piece is completed), do Bach's Invention #4 in D minor from his 2-part inventions series....THAT's something I'd love to see on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxgh762lcRY) but on a bass!

If Jaco is "overdone," try Stanley Clarke's bass line from "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" when he was with Chick Corea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFP-alYNq5I. Or perhaps something from Percy Jones' "Masques" from Brand X. http://www.easydownloadmp3s.com/brand_x_masques/ if you are unfamiliar.

You'd also better be able to improvise a jazz solo over chord changes with jazz ensemble, and not get in the way of the soli parts. Practice doing so with these guys - http://www.gordongoodwin.com/index1.html.

If you're going to audition for a school that emphasizes Classical music, though, forget all of this electric stuff, though. Get yourself a doublebass and a bow and perfect your fretless technique.

Z

Tapping is a cardinal sin in any audition.

not necessarily

I did Frosty Acres by Jean Baudin and here I am :hmm:

for my audition at the university I played

Dry cleaner from des moines

The number of the beast

Oratorio - are you auditioning for a university music program on electric bass? Is it a jazz performance program, teaching program?

If you are a serious student of music, you should have a bass teacher. Is that correct?

I would think your teacher should be all over this.

If it's a jazz program, I would pick a standard, be able to play the melody, outline all the chords and play a one chorus solo. Perhaps a transcription of something Bach as somebody else pointed out. That shows technical ability and command of the entire instrument. (not that Adam Nitti won't but Bach is generally recognized by any member of the music education community as a staple of music education, both jazz and classical)

All due respect to Jamerson, he was a pop monster, but music school is dedicated to a deeper and well rounded approach to your instrument and music in general.

Oratorio-

Are you auditioning on electric or upright? I see you had earlier posts about the upright. Your private teacher can help you select a tune that would showcase your strengths. If you don't have a private teacher, you should find one- if nothing else than to help you prepare for the audition. Failing that, you could ask advisers or teachers of the schools you plan to audition at for guidance on what sort of compositions are suited for an audition. Have you met with any advisers at any universities? Or, if you have schools in mind, maybe you can post them and possibly we can give you more specific advice. But in all honesty, I think you'll need a lot more guidance than just an Internet chat room.

edit: I just your subject specifies electric.