So I auditioned for my college's music department today and...

Dregin · #1 05-22-2009, 01:21 PM

I auditioned to get enrolled in a private lesson class for bassists. I asked the guy what would I need to play and he just told me some scales and stuff like that. So I played One Octave Major Pentatonic Scale(G,C, and D7) I played it perfectly, now I understand that it wasn't mind blowing or anything but I nailed it.

Then he busts out something that looks fairly easy to play but says from what he's heard me play I probably can't play it. I take a look at it and honestly I could have played the first few bars had I known ahead of time he wanted me to play something like that(It was something french probably classical?) and I struggled with it after the first measure.

He then tells me I'm not at college level. So I can't enroll in the class and was told to enroll in music theory 101. Fine thats great i probably do need to brush up on my theory I have only been playing for a year or so.

I felt crushed. Like I practiced that scale all day yesterday and I played it perfectly twice for the guy and then he gives me something I didn't even get five minutes to look at. I guess their criteria is someone who can play something on the spot without looking over it for awhile. That's fine but I haven't gotten to the point where I can read music and play it right on the spot I'm not that skilled yet.

I got a little instruction my senior year of high school and I learned the basics(rhythm, meter, note names, etc.) but I never learned any scales or all twelve keys or whatever this guy was telling me. I don't have money for a teacher and I learn off a freaking website.

On my way home I felt like throwing my guitar away and never playing again i was pretty pissed. Now I feel like maybe i can't play jazz or classical but my friends say I have created some good riffs from just jamming or whatever but i feel like i should be able to play scales or something professional.

That audition was all about me trying to be a music major and I failed and I feel horrible about it. Yeah I can keep practicing stuff but I need some guidance, some instruction, some advice. I just lost all my confidence today because I couldn't play at "college level" I will never forget those two words and I will never forget the look on that guys face when I got done playing that scale.

anonymous02282011 · #2 05-22-2009, 01:25 PM

Don't feel bad.

Take the music theory class and make sure you get a good grade; learn to read music (not tab, real music) and try again next semester. You will have shown the instructor you're serious.

Dregin · #3 05-22-2009, 01:28 PM

I learned how to read music, I could read that sheet he showed me I just couldn't play it right off the bat had i taken it home and played it for a couple days I would have nailed it. I despise tab I have never learned anything by tab.

anonymous02282011 · #4 05-22-2009, 01:30 PM

Sorry, I should've said learn how to sight read. It's a whole other skill, but you can totally learn it with persistent practice. If you're up for, don't give up.

Dregin · #5 05-22-2009, 01:32 PM

So sight reading is basically being able to play on the spot?

anonymous02282011 · #6 05-22-2009, 01:35 PM

exactly.

Dregin · #7 05-22-2009, 01:45 PM

How in the world do I practice that? I need some kind of structure to my practicing because I want to play this stuff and I want to play it well. I've looked at study bass.com and stuff like that but It's really not working for me like I have learned some stuff from it but I think an actual teacher would be best.

JTE · #8 05-22-2009, 01:49 PM

Well, I'd say that if you had to practice a pentatonic major scale over one octave all day, then you're probably not at a college level. But don't be crushed. Take the theory class, and study it well. Keep playing, and work on learning music (not just playing the bass, but learn MUSIC). Work on your ear, practice reading not to memorize a part, but to HEAR the music that's written on the staff. If your thought process is like "lemme see, the first note is a quareter note on the second space so that's C, so that'll be the third fret of the A string; then an eighth note rest; then a dottetd quarter on the third space to that's E, so I'll play that at the 2nd fret D string" rather than being able to see the staff and knowing that the first note is C and the second note is a third higher then you need to work on reading.

To practice sight-reading, get a whole pile of books. Trombone books, real books, anything. Put them in a pile and pull the frist one. Open it to a random page, and play it. Don't go back, don't try to repeat, just go through it. Do this PAINFULLY slowly at first. Repeat for like fifteen minutes or half an hour or what you have time for. Then put that book at the bottom of the pile so you won't see that bit of music again for at least a month. Next day grab the next book.

Bud don't get discouraged, you'll do fine!

jte

anonymous02282011 · #9 05-22-2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dregin

I think an actual teacher would be best.

correct.

Find one in your area, perhaps an older student in the music department. The idea is to get a book with some different 'etudes' or 'studies', get your metronome going (slow is OK) and start reading. You will struggle at first. Do this every day and you will slowly get better.

ttmnky · #10 05-22-2009, 01:53 PM

I'm sorry that you had to experience that, but as a trained pianist, I can tell you that sight reading is pretty much a required skill anywhere. Anytime someone finds out that you're a musician, they will try to get you to try and play music, and so sight reading is really handy tool to have. I'm guessing that their Bass lessons will probably start off at a pretty high level too.

As for scales, I can also tell you that it takes a long time to get it all down. In piano, it took me about 2-3 years of solid daily practise to just get the Majors and Minors, much less the other modes. A lot of beginner musicians make the mistake of not practising their scales, but scales are basically like summaries of songs. If you know D major, you'll be able to fluently play any song in D major.

Which is also tied to the problem with Sight Reading. In order to sight read well, you need to know your scales. At that level, what you're reading is no longer the individual notes, but the pattern (semitone above tonic, then down 3 whole tones, etc). It's difficult, but as I said previously, it's necessary.

I'd suggest that perhaps you take this year to really get your sight reading and scales down, along with chords, arpeggios, etc. It's one thing to be able to jam along with friends, but another to be able to actually know the bass.

Don't be discouraged. Practise sight reading by trying to play anything written in score (know both score and tab), and practise all your scales (ALL) until you can play them when you're asleep!

Dregin · #11 05-22-2009, 01:57 PM

Yeah I played that scale flawlessly but apparently it doesn't require much skill lol. So if i can play sheet music without thinking where certain notes are on the fret board and just being able to play them thats sight reading?

I'll keep on playing but I need get my confidence back I feel pretty down. Like I think I'm bad at something I love.

funkythumb · #12 05-22-2009, 02:02 PM

To practice sight-reading, get a whole pile of books. Trombone books, real books, anything. Put them in a pile and pull the frist one. Open it to a random page, and play it. Don't go back, don't try to repeat, just go through it. Do this PAINFULLY slowly at first. Repeat for like fifteen minutes or half an hour or what you have time for. Then put that book at the bottom of the pile so you won't see that bit of music again for at least a month. Next day grab the next book.

This is exactly the advice I would have given you. It'll work.
Make sure that before you start this process, you spend a couple weeks learning the names of all the notes on your staff. Then, begin the above mentioned process. It will work but remember that you need to go as slow as you have to to play it almost perfectly.
If you're serious about music, you'll need to be serious about doing this.
Best of luck! :-)

elgecko · #13 05-22-2009, 02:03 PM

I play with a guy who after a year in college decided that he was going to be music major...never mind that he never touched a musical instrument in his life. He chose sax, put his nose to the grindstone and ended getting his doctorate in music. He's now a university teacher.

This is probably a very rare case, but if it's what you really want then suck it up and get at it!

totallybacan · #14 05-22-2009, 02:05 PM

I previously auditioned for Berklee College of Music. By no accounts am I amazing, but I do realize that practicing a scale or two for a few days isn't going to get you a music degree. I played my audition piece easily 4 hours EVERY day for 5 months. Even though I played it flawlessly, it was still considered to be below par. As far as sight reading goes, grab yourself a music technique book (bout 5 bucks from your local music store. Rubanks is good so are a few others) get them for either double bass, trombone, or bass clef baritone. Learn to play the easier passages first. just keep working on them. Then when you are fairly comfortable playing the basics, sight read a harder piece. Only one try. then move on to the next one. Many may object to this method, but if you play it over and over it becomes muscle memory. Which defeats the purpose of sight reading. I managed to get my sight reading skill to a much higher level using this method. Now I am enrolled as a music ed major in sax and bass.

totallybacan · #15 05-22-2009, 02:08 PM

One more thing, don't consider tabs to be helpful in getting accepted at a college. Sure, they might be easier when learning songs, but you need to be able to FLUENTLY read bass clef before your audition.

Dregin · #16 05-22-2009, 02:11 PM

I never used tabs. I learned from sheet music. I hate tabs. I'll get back to learning but I just feel discouraged but I feel like eventually I can get back to it.

salcott · #17 05-22-2009, 02:12 PM

"So if i can play sheet music without thinking where certain notes are on the fret board and just being able to play them thats sight reading?"

In a nutshell. Sightreading is "sit down and play it". One of the most valuable periods in my 40ish years 0f playing for a living was the year I spent in the show band at a Catskills resort. Six nights a week, we played two acts per show on, at most, a ten minute talkthrough in the bandroom. The leader/trumpet player knew the acts from before my time, but the drummer and I had to sightread every night and get it right, period, end of story.

ttmnky · #18 05-22-2009, 02:19 PM

Yeah. Think of sightreading like reading. You don't spell out or sound out every word you see when you read, but you know what the paragraph is about. Same as sight reading. ]

You see the music, and before playing it, you have a sense of what it will sound like. Then, you look at the phrasing, etc, and just let it all come out of the bass.

Admitedly, it took me a few years before i realised how to do that. It's an abstract idea, but once you can get a hold of it, and go beyond "playing the notes," it'll be amazing.

JohNLA · #19 05-22-2009, 02:27 PM

My sight reading has really improved over just a few lessons at studybass.com

Captain_Arrrg · #20 05-22-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dregin

How in the world do I practice that? I need some kind of structure to my practicing because I want to play this stuff and I want to play it well. I've looked at study bass.com and stuff like that but It's really not working for me like I have learned some stuff from it but I think an actual teacher would be best.

You have to audition for the music department to take bass lessons? I have yet to audition for my schoo'ls music department, but am starting my second semester of lessons, and will be taking Music Theory and Music Appreciation in the fall. I'll audition when I'm good and ready.

Check with your school. You shouldn't have to be a music major to take music classes, and you shouldn't have to declare a major for a year or so.

This is only the first blow your ego will take, but it will get easier over time. You'll focus less on the negative connotations of criticism and see the guidance. You will be judged on things that are purely subjective, and it will happen often.