HELP!!! Audition soon...need a good song!!

JAL · #1 08-10-2005, 10:58 AM

Hey TBers. In about 4 months, im applying to berkeley college in boston for electric bass. I need some help choosing a good audition song: something hard and impressive. Any suggestions?? (Fretless is preferable...any artist!)

conk97 · #2 08-10-2005, 12:03 PM

any jaco.

Suckbird · #3 08-10-2005, 12:57 PM

Racer X - Scarified

Symphony X - Sea of lies

Rush - YYZ

Thats the songs i might play on the audition if i go to a musical college.

Fretless? You can play any song fretless.

OWW, i forgot it's very hard to tap on a fretless, the upper 2songs contains tapping..

Okay, Sting of the bumblebee - Manowar

dlloyd · #4 08-10-2005, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAL

Hey TBers. In about 4 months, im applying to berkeley college in boston for electric bass. I need some help choosing a good audition song: something hard and impressive. Any suggestions?? (Fretless is preferable...any artist!)

Smoke on the water...

bass349 · #5 08-10-2005, 05:25 PM

hi,

i guess it depends what type of music you'll be studying. over here where i study, there is a jazz course and a contemporary course. i know for a fact that if you try and do a tapping song or similar wank for the contemporary audition, there is no way in hell you're gonna get in. i'd recommend something like "what's going on" by marvin gaye. it's a jamerson line, and you can use the backing from the jamerson book. i can't speak for berkley, but that's what goes on over here.

if it's a jazz course you're auditioning for, try something like Autumn Leaves. play the melody, then walk over the changes, then solo and finish with the melody again. or you could do a bebop tune like Donna Lee or Ornithology. really depends what stage in your playing you're at..

good luck!

andy.

Whafrodamus · #6 08-10-2005, 06:28 PM

Berklee!

JAL · #7 08-10-2005, 07:33 PM

I know i killed the spellin'...wont get it wrong on the app. :-)
Thanks for all the input!!!

Correlli · #8 08-10-2005, 09:56 PM

I would choose something with loads of FEEL.

Maybe something adapted from a classical guitar piece.

just an idea.

CaM90 · #9 08-10-2005, 10:51 PM

Make and original piece of music 3+ minutes. All in 2 handed tapping or slap/pop/DT. They will probally give you a piece of music and you will have to play it. I doubt they are looking for people playing covers. If you insist of a cover do some Jaco, Dream Theater, or Wooten, or transcribe a classical piano piece to bass and two hand tap it.

quatre03 · #10 08-10-2005, 11:28 PM

I suggest you dont play Jaco, and dont play too much techniques, they're looking for 3 things, reading, musicianship, and improv. I suggest you find a difficult jazz piece and play it. my instructor went to berklee he auditioned with A Remark You Made and they just kind of snuffed him off. but they accepted him thats why they have an 80% acceptance rate.

I'd suggest Something fun like Coltrane's Impressions, or if you're really up for the task something like Giant Steps.

Suckbird · #11 08-11-2005, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bass349

i know for a fact that if you try and do a tapping song or similar wank for the contemporary audition, there is no way in hell you're gonna get in.

Oww, i didn't think about that. How could i even mention songs that has 2bars of tapping in it, i mean 5secs? That's an eternity...

JAL · #12 08-11-2005, 11:06 AM

My best choice so far seems Wayne Shorters "Ana Maria"...whadya guys think?

Amastacatious · #13 08-11-2005, 03:53 PM

It's Berklee not Berkley. I played Victor Wooten's "U Can't Hold No Groove" last year and got 10,000 a year scholarship. I've heard from teachers and students that the people doing the audition hate slap though and would rather have someone just walk and improvise over a standard. Don't worry too much about your prepared piece though. Just make sure it's something that shows what you are capable of technically and stylistically. Make sure it's something you like to play (Don't play a jazz standard if you play prog rock, don't play prog rock if you're a jazz guy). Reading, Improv, and a "call and response" test are more significant portions of the audition. You'll get 15 minutes before your audition time to look through a few pages of reading examples. In the audition they may ask you to do all of the examples (I did at my first audition) or they may ask you just a few (they only asked me 3 on my last audition). For improv they'll probably have you walk and solo over a blues in a normal jazz style and maybe a rock or funk style. They'll also probably make you play some other styles like latin. The Call and Response is probably the most important. They'll tell you the starting note and then play short "licks" or whatever. They start out real simple like C C G A C or something to an old moltown rhythm or something. Then they'll start changing up the starting note and don't tell you. So you need to pay attention what the starting note is. They'll eventually start making the examples longer with passing tones and synthetic scales and stuff. I screwed up real soon on my last audition and it's not a good feeling. You don't get to noodle around for a second trying to figure out the line either. They play it, they might wait a few seconds or just count you off. If you screw up one note and correct yourself quickly they might let you move on.

Good Luck.

Amastacatious · #14 08-11-2005, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaM90

Make and original piece of music 3+ minutes. All in 2 handed tapping or slap/pop/DT. They will probally give you a piece of music and you will have to play it. I doubt they are looking for people playing covers. If you insist of a cover do some Jaco, Dream Theater, or Wooten, or transcribe a classical piano piece to bass and two hand tap it.

You're not supposed to do original compositions in the audition. If they're not familiar with the song you play, they don't know if you're just improvising or if you really had something prepared.

Correlli · #15 08-11-2005, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amastacatious

It's Berklee not Berkley. I played Victor Wooten's "U Can't Hold No Groove" last year and got 10,000 a year scholarship. I've heard from teachers and students that the people doing the audition hate slap though and would rather have someone just walk and improvise over a standard. Don't worry too much about your prepared piece though. Just make sure it's something that shows what you are capable of technically and stylistically. Make sure it's something you like to play (Don't play a jazz standard if you play prog rock, don't play prog rock if you're a jazz guy). Reading, Improv, and a "call and response" test are more significant portions of the audition. You'll get 15 minutes before your audition time to look through a few pages of reading examples. In the audition they may ask you to do all of the examples (I did at my first audition) or they may ask you just a few (they only asked me 3 on my last audition). For improv they'll probably have you walk and solo over a blues in a normal jazz style and maybe a rock or funk style. They'll also probably make you play some other styles like latin. The Call and Response is probably the most important. They'll tell you the starting note and then play short "licks" or whatever. They start out real simple like C C G A C or something to an old moltown rhythm or something. Then they'll start changing up the starting note and don't tell you. So you need to pay attention what the starting note is. They'll eventually start making the examples longer with passing tones and synthetic scales and stuff. I screwed up real soon on my last audition and it's not a good feeling. You don't get to noodle around for a second trying to figure out the line either. They play it, they might wait a few seconds or just count you off. If you screw up one note and correct yourself quickly they might let you move on.

Good Luck.

Interesting stuff.

Sounds like the best idea would be to keep it simple, and demostrate that you have a grasp of the basics?

Amastacatious · #16 08-11-2005, 08:56 PM

Not really. I've auditioned twice, once at the 5 week and once last september, and still have one more audition to get a little more money before I actually go next year. Both times I've played Victor Wooten songs. But I've also done perfectly on the reading both times and my improv has been alright as well. My low point is my ear. Basically, don't go in there playing something like Classical Thump unless you can do well in the other parts of the audition as well. I think they do like to hear jazz more than anything else but if jazz isn't your thing don't force yourself to do it, just make sure you can improv of some changes. At the 5 week alot of the professors were telling kids to just walk a few choruses over a standard and play the melody and solo. Lot's of kids did that. I didn't, and I got the most money out of any electric bassist at the camp. Just be yourself and play what you want to play.

Mike Shevlin · #17 08-12-2005, 02:50 AM

Play Eruption by Eddie Van Halen -on bass. Then blow fire like Gene Simmons. Then set your bass on fire & smash it into a million splinters.

Suckbird · #18 08-12-2005, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Shevlin

Play Eruption by Eddie Van Halen -on bass. Then blow fire like Gene Simmons. Then set your bass on fire & smash it into a million splinters.

That would be impressive!

JAL · #19 08-12-2005, 05:54 AM

I like the setting fire! :-)
Im lookin' at a few good jazz pieces...but Vic is doable as well. Thanks for all the input!

Amastacatious · #20 08-12-2005, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Shevlin

Play Eruption by Eddie Van Halen -on bass. Then blow fire like Gene Simmons. Then set your bass on fire & smash it into a million splinters.

HA! I had a friend who was seriously thinking about going into the audition playing some steve vai song or something but dressing and acting just like him. Get a giant fan to blow his hair, wear spandex, at the end of a solo get feedback with the amp. Just act like a complete rock star. I think something like that would either get full scholarship or get you kicked out the audition. BUT if it was videotaped it and you got kicked out, I'm sure you could sell enough copies to berklee students to pay the tuition anyways. (You'd only have to sell about 3,000 a year at 10 bucks a piece for 4 years to do it...)