Audition Pieces

[Bribass09]

So I'm going to be auditioning for college (with a jazz emphasis), and they told me I have to have "One jazz standard, demonstrating melody and walking bass line; demonstration of walking bass, Latin, rock and funk styles". I have no idea what songs I can even use for the audition. A good friend who is a Jazz guru suggested "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" by Charles Mingus (any thoughts?). They also go on saying that the song I will be auditioning with has to have an accompanist with the song. So If theres any ideas, please tell me. This is my first choice college so it means alot to me to get in.

[TomSauter]

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is a pretty tricky tune if you don't know it. I'd suggest going with a standard that you're pretty comfortable with...There is no Greater Love, Just You Just Me, etc.

[Trabo]

Go with giant steps, that is pretty much the standard that virtuostic skill is challenged at a whole other level.

[Eli_Upright12]

Originally Posted by Trabo

Go with giant steps, that is pretty much the standard that virtuostic skill is challenged at a whole other level.

Thats a good one if you have a talented pianist, is got some really tricky chord changes and its fast.

[Eric Swanson]

"Giant Steps" is a great tune, but it may not be what they are thinking of when they say "standard." I don't even think that "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" qualifies as a "standard" as great a tune as that is. I am thinking of the old show tunes, etc. that have been turned into jazz over the years.

I would resist the temptation to pick the "hardest, baddest" tune out there to try and show how advanced you are, musically. Remember, they aren't expecting you to be a virtuoso, they are interested in hearing your talent, your musical voice. I would guess that they would rather hear somebody play "Autumn Leaves" nicely and creatively than to hear somebody struggle with "Giant Steps."

Better to play an easier tune musically and creatively, than to bash through a harder tune and play the most rudimentary solo, I think.

I would say (since you are asking) go with something with a more typical chord pattern/tonality that will allow you to master the harmony easily and really work on your soloing. Practice different rhthyms, motives, etc. throughout the changes.

I am thinking of something more along the lines of "Stella by Starlight," "Beautiful Love," "There Will Never be Another You," "But Beautiful," "April in Paris", "All the Things You Are," etc., when I think of what a "standard" is.

In my mind, a standard is not a badd*ss bop tune and not a pure jazz tune (like something by Mingus, Coltrane, Parker, Gillespie, Shorter, or Davis, for example). Those things have become part of the tunes that are played routinely, but they aren't "standards." (IMHO)

Once you've picked your standard, memorize it. Play the head (arco if you can do it nicely, perhaps), be able to walk the changes, and be able to solo on it, pizz (or arco, if you can). Do it all from memory, of course.

Just another thought...

[Thunderthumbs73]

Originally Posted by Trabo

Go with giant steps, that is pretty much the standard that virtuostic skill is challenged at a whole other level.

Interesting. Unless you are really VERY comfortable with this song, don't pick it for an audition to get into a school. Remember the audition committee will want to hear what you do well that shows your best side. If that means that you play a relatively "simpler" tune such as All Blues, but you can show that you "own" that tune, it's going to sound exponentially better and more impressive than if you're stumbling over Giant Steps. Solid, comfortable playing over flash should be the benchmarks for the audition... ...just like bass playing itself.

[nathanmcnathan]

I was going to be auditioning this year, but I've decided to wait an extra year to work before going to college. For my audition piece, I'll probably do somehting like Lullaby of Birdland or Autumn Leaves, not too complex, not too simple, but somehting I've memorized, and can play with my eyes closed.