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03-02-2010, 03:35 PM
| | | | Jazz Band Audition, need some support
I need to prepare a piece to get into my schools Advanced Jazz band, the teacher said he wanted a 12 bar blues piece, if you guys could post some sheet music of some fairly easy songs to play that are 12 bar blues it would help me out so much. thanks guys
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03-02-2010, 08:31 PM
|  | Registered User
Maker of HPF-Pre upright bass preamp | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Madison WI | | | Bessie's Blues is a good basic blues progression
Blue Monk has one "extra" chord, but is a legitimate blues tune
Above and beyond this, a good learning exercise would be to learn to form a decent walking bass line on the blues progression in any key. |
03-03-2010, 06:54 AM
| | Inadvertent Microtonalist | | Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Portland, ME | | | Well, somebody's got to say it so . . .
Twelve bar blues songs are as common as dirt. Rather than searching for sheet music head to the library and grab some sounds. A few places to start:
a) Robert Johnson, "The Complete" -- Chilling music, and I mean "feel cold" not "kick back."
b) Charlie Parker, "Parker's Mood" -- Listen over and over for a week.
c) Chuck Berry, "Little Queenie" or take your pick. I dig "Little Queenie" just to hear Chuck say, "Meanwhile, I was still thinkin'."
d) Miles Davis, "Walkin'" -- This is what your jazz band director wants most to hear.
e) Brother Jack McDuff, "'Rock Candy" off "Live!" -- Chitlin circuit sounds preserved. Check out 20-year-old George Benson too!
f) John Coltrane, "Coltrane Plays The Blues" -- Often my favorite Coltrane record. "Mr. Knight" still turns my hair curly after thirty years.
g) Allman Brothers Band, "Stormy Monday" -- A few chordal variations on the basic theme
We could go all the way through the alphabet seven times and overlook more than we list. Have fun and good luck with the audition. You'll do great.
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"We can give to those who listen to the essence the best of what we are. But to do that, at each stage we have to keep on cleaning the mirror." -- John Coltrane
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03-03-2010, 07:14 AM
|  | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Vin Dirnt  I need to prepare a piece to get into my schools Advanced Jazz band, the teacher said he wanted a 12 bar blues piece, if you guys could post some sheet music of some fairly easy songs to play that are 12 bar blues it would help me out so much. thanks guys | I would suspect that the reason your teacher has chosen this exercise is because he wants you to improvise a bass line, rather than playing something written out ...?
If it was about reading, then I think he would have named tunes - but just saying a 12 bar blues is a cue for improvising and that's what Jazz is all about! 
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03-03-2010, 07:29 AM
|  | Supporting Member | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Metro Boston MA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Vin Dirnt I need to prepare a piece to get into my schools Advanced Jazz band, the teacher said he wanted a 12 bar blues piece, if you guys could post some sheet music of some fairly easy songs to play that are 12 bar blues it would help me out so much. thanks guys | This can be simpler than you expect. All 12 Bar Blues are I/IV/V;
| I | I | I | I |
|IV|IV| I | I |
|V|IV|I|(ii m7, V)|
There are several variations with substituted chords the most common is called 'Swing Blues';
| I | IV | I | I |
|IV|#IVdim| I |iv m7|
|ii m-7| V | I |(ii m7, V7|
The most likely reason you've been asked for this song form is, it is very simple to transpose into any key. Given that, practice the song form in all 12 keys by running through a Circle of 4ths. Start anywhere & keep moving a 4th in the same direction every 2 chorus' until you come back to the starting point. There are just a few fretboard patterns to learn. The exercise will take less than 15 minutes to play. Practice with a Metronome!
When you audition, you will be prepared to play in any key that is called. You will also be prepared to change keys with just a few bars warning. Hope that helps 8-)
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"... you have to be a musician first and an instrumentalist second." - John Lewis
Music is not a competitive sport. It is a communal activity - Abe Laboriel
Headless Club #14 Hartke Club #121
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03-04-2010, 02:38 AM
| | | | well i basically failed the3 audition but somehow managed to get in, anyways i need books that will help me with site reading which is the biggest and main issue |
03-04-2010, 02:55 PM
| | Supporting Member | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Metro Boston MA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Vin Dirnt well i basically failed the3 audition but somehow managed to get in, anyways i need books that will help me with site reading which is the biggest and main issue | Good news. Whatever works. It probably means the Jazz Band leader will treat it like a music lesson where you are supposed to bring the things you can't quite do, yet.
Ask around the band & find a book of Trombone exercises. They are in Bass Clef & are unlike other charts you will find in Jazz Band.
I find it best to say each note as I play it & work with a Metronome running at ballad speed. Commit to 10, 15, or more minutes of reading per day. Be patient, keep a diary of what you practiced, for how long & judge your progress in 8 or 10 weeks (that's May 5th)
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"... you have to be a musician first and an instrumentalist second." - John Lewis
Music is not a competitive sport. It is a communal activity - Abe Laboriel
Headless Club #14 Hartke Club #121
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