Upcoming Berklee Audition

[Sentinel1759]

Hey there everybody,

I'll go ahead and get to the point, I have an audition for Berklee coming up soon and to be honest I have some idea of what to expect, but I have no idea what to play.

Now I notice that many people say to play something you are comfortable with that shows who you are. Well I am a metal bassist, as such it is the style I would prefer to play. Is this a reasonable choice? Or would that be a huge mistake?

I have little knowledge of jazz or improv, I can play all the scales, I understand music theory pretty well, however I still consider myself a beginner since I don't have proper instruction and basically taught myself while playing with others.

Basically any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


A little bit about me:
I started playing double bass in highschool orchestra, and at the end of my senior year i began playing electric bass. After highschool I moved to Sweden (Göteborg to be precise) as my dad took a job there, while there I joined a band with some fellow friends, after a while we were practicing/playing everyday of the week and then we started playing (small) live gigs. A year later I moved back to the states and decided it was time for me to pursue school, and with music being my biggest passion and after getting some feedback from friends and teachers I decided to pursue Berklee.

I really want to get into the MP&E Program since I have some experience doing that in highschool.

Sorry if this was a long post, but thanks to any who reply

[CrashBang]

You should of course play what you are comfortable with but from looking at your profile you site Geddy Lee as an influance (unless he has been giving you lessons). I would not consider Geddy a metal bassist. You also mentioned double bass, I've seen a lot of metal and have never seen a double being played.

It sounds like you have a well rounded backround and to be at the point of a Berklee audition you must have some skills. So don't sell yourself short. Go in and kick some ass, but rember that when you are kicking ass to be respectful of the people giving the audition, they hold your future in their hands.

Break a leg, knock em dead.

Al

[tank4checo]

my friends going to berklee from what i understand they dont deal with metal and the audition has an improv part to it where you jam with a band they have set up. if you are comfortable with metal play metal but dont expect them to have classes dealing with stuff like that. the audition is three parts one part you play a peice of your choosing(anything your heart desires) the second they give you a peice to play and third being the improvisation. the really important parts are the improv and the piece they give you to play. of course im no expert since im not going to berklee or do i ever plan to go to school for music as a career but my friend is always talking about it.