Auditions

[HolmeBass]

Years ago before my tail above. I answered an ad for an original music band. I asked what kind of music it was it be. They say its "original" music and can't describe it, I'll just have to hear it.

So I go by and they are all happy friendly people ready to show me their "original" music. They take off on one of their numbers, telling me if I can pick it up to join in but I probably wont get it, cause it's "original."

So I listen to what they got, it's a blues waltz. I don't know what the lyrics are about but it's blues chord changes in 3/4 time. So, I play along, in key and tempo. Fine no trouble at all. So the next one they show me the chords, it's in a different key but again 1-4-5 changes, so they ask if I need some time to absorb what they just showed me? I say no, lets go! I play it, thought I nailed it. The next one was more blues changes only minor this time. I play it and ask if they need me to play some fixed "original" bass patterns they had or if they were looking for something particular from me to play? They indicated what I was doing was fine but I could sense some tension in the room. We did a few more and called it a night.

Two days later I get the call that it won't work out. I asked if I didn't perform their songs well enough? No that wasn't it, it was they felt I didn't give their "original" songs the reverence they were due. I jumped in and played them without having trouble playing them or holding back in awe, because these were their "original" songs and I was playing them like they were common songs.

I tried to explain to them they were fine songs just that those chords changes are common but that's not to take away from their original melodies and lyrics. I immediately get "What do you mean common chord changes?" Oh no!


I try to explain a 1-4-5 chord change is common in a lot of songs and that is why I was able to jump in and play along. I asked if they preferred me not being able to play along. These are "original" songs I was told and I shouldn't be able to play them that fast. I told them there is nothing wrong with basing original songs on known chord changes, it's done all the time. It seemed at that point the person dealing with me thought differently and rather than belabor the point as if I was trying for the bass chair, I said, that's fine.

But warned them you would have to look far and wide to find a bass player that couldn't recognize 1-4-5 changes and if you did, you may not want to work with them

Dang that is two really tweaky situations you’ve suffered through. Not enough “reverence” for the original blues waltz?

Some people.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Dang that is two really tweaky situations you’ve suffered through. Not enough “reverence” for the original blues waltz?

Some people.

Well...

I did ask if they have a chance to listen to other music. They said no, did not want it to influence their "original" music.

I have met folks like that, that have little musical training or understanding and stumble on a chord shape they have never played or heard before and think it's something new and undiscovered.

It seem at the time they were better players than that and had heard those chord changes before. I guess I was wrong.

It was not so bad for me, as after I heard both situations I didn't want to get involved.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi all,

I never successfully auditioned for a band before. I currently play in my church's praise team, but I didn't have to audition to join. I unsuccessfully auditioned for a band when I was ultra new to bass about 30 years ago, but bombed due to not knowing crap about anything. Since then I've learned a lot songs and tuned my ear well enough to pick out the bass lines and know what notes are being played, but I have never taken time to learn to read notes, memorize all the scales, and the like.

Basically my question is, what are the paces you've been put through when applying/auditioning for a band as a bass player? Do people expect you to know all your scales, know triads, be able to read notes, or are most bands more interested if you can pick up and play songs to cover easily, and are generally more content with that?

I'm asking because I have been pondering on trying out for a rock/pop band vice playing in my church band. I am interested in what your experiences have been; whether, trying out for a band yourself, or putting other musicians through auditions to join your band. - THX!

If it's a cover band, they usually give you like 10 songs to learn a week (or a couple days) before you meet them for the first time.

If it's an originals band, you'll either get a few songs to get familiar with, or you'll just go jam with them and they'll see if you can pick things up.


Tryouts, are more about personality than your abilities. If you can play your instrument, and you're cool, and they didn't audition Nate Navarro, then you're good.

If they tell you their practice schedule, or send you a list of 60 songs or more, you're in. If you blow it, then you blow it. No big deal. Try another one.

 

[GreyBeard]

I was given a list of songs to learn. I've passed every audition I've done.

 

[HMZ]

I usually ask for a song list. If I know a bunch of the songs on the list I will start there. I'll be ready with 5-10 songs. Many years ago my bass teacher told me, when going to an audition think of it as you auditioning them, and do you think they are good enough to play with. That has helped me nail a few auditions.

 

[Wesley R]

I met a cat that hauled his two day old SVT (two cabinets) to an audition. Made it into the band but he had to get a Marshall, it was a band image thing. Two days later he traded in the SVT, and got his Marshall. Two weeks later the band imploded.

One audition I had, I was asked to leave my amp behind for a few days so other people auditioning didn't have to bring an amp.

The BL asked me to show up (,at a gig) and play a few songs. I did, won a great position and some huge coin at many of the gigs.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

Hi all,

I never successfully auditioned for a band before. I currently play in my church's praise team, but I didn't have to audition to join. I unsuccessfully auditioned for a band when I was ultra new to bass about 30 years ago, but bombed due to not knowing crap about anything. Since then I've learned a lot songs and tuned my ear well enough to pick out the bass lines and know what notes are being played, but I have never taken time to learn to read notes, memorize all the scales, and the like.

Basically my question is, what are the paces you've been put through when applying/auditioning for a band as a bass player? Do people expect you to know all your scales, know triads, be able to read notes, or are most bands more interested if you can pick up and play songs to cover easily, and are generally more content with that?

I'm asking because I have been pondering on trying out for a rock/pop band vice playing in my church band. I am interested in what your experiences have been; whether, trying out for a band yourself, or putting other musicians through auditions to join your band. - THX!

As lots of folks have said, 2 of the main things you’ll get judged on are
1) how well did you learn and play the audition songs?
2) how easy or difficult will it be to get along with you?

but if this is a gigging band, there is a third key area where you may be judged, and it’s pretty brutal, in my experience.

3) how does your visual image fit the band?

It’s a harsh, sucky concept, but in reality I have seen, heard of or been in many situations where a player (self included) had #1 and #2 but didn’t get the gig because #3 wasn’t what the band was looking for.

It’s a bummer, but in reality, this is a big reason why people don’t make the cut. And sadly there is usually not much you can do about it.

 

[Sarge79]

Back in the 80's we auditioned female singers for a soul band. It was really more of an open casting call. BL fumbled with one disaster candidate after another until one of the other guys asked if he could help speed things along.

"Did you learn the songs?" he'd ask each candidate (there were only 3 to learn). For any answer short of a confident "yes", he replied, "Thanks for your time. This isn't going to be a good fit. Next."

The majority of tryouts hadn't bothered to learn the music. I remember one asking if we could write the lyrics out for her.

If the candidate couldn't carry a tune in a bucket or just had a terrible voice, he'd stop us before the second verse, then politely tell her, "Sorry. Not going to be a good fit. Thanks for your time. Next."

And the irony of it all is we were working at the time, with jobs on the books.

Video clips as a prerequisite to even attending an audition are such a welcome thing on both sides of the equation IMO.

Though in full transparency, I haven't formerly auditioned in decades. I sub or do pickup gigs that sometimes end up being auditions for further work, so there's that I guess.

Subbing sounds interesting. I never thought about that.

 

[Sarge79]

I met a cat that hauled his two day old SVT (two cabinets) to an audition. Made it into the band but he had to get a Marshall, it was a band image thing. Two days later he traded in the SVT, and got his Marshall. Two weeks later the band imploded.

One audition I had, I was asked to leave my amp behind for a few days so other people auditioning didn't have to bring an amp.

The BL asked me to show up (,at a gig) and play a few songs. I did, won a great position and some huge coin at many of the gigs.

Man, I would be very hesitant to leave my amp behind for others to audition on. I would be afraid I 'd never see my amp again.

 

[HMZ]

Man, I would be very hesitant to leave my amp behind for others to audition on. I would be afraid I 'd never see my amp again.

Sorry I would never ever do that. Back in the day my band use to do this two day fair up in Oyster Bay. The band leader would ask me and the drummer if the other band could use my amp and his drums. For the first few years I said yes but every year it was the same. I would tell the bass play, please before you unplug your bass turn the volume down on the amp. You would think that's simple right? Ever year it was the same, loud pop and guess what, the bass player just pulled the cable out of his bass. After that never again. The band leader came to me one year and said "the bass player showed up with a little practices amp can he use yours?" Nope, too bad maybe he'll learn a lesson.

 

[pepj]

I'm not looking at how well they have the song down, I'm looking at what they bring to it.

 

[brianrost]

Do people expect you to know all your scales, know triads, be able to read notes, or are most bands more interested if you can pick up and play songs to cover easily, and are generally more content with that?

I have never been asked to play scales in an audition, hopefully I never will unless it's for an orchestra job! Playing scales is not music and I've actually played gigs with people who couldn't even tell me what the key of the songs was or even tell me what the chords were

The #1 expectation is being able to play some (or all) of the songs in the repertoire. Sometimes, you will be asked to just jam or play a song by ear that you have never played before. I've never been asked to sight read a part, but I have turned down offers to audition when told that the job required sight reading charts.

The best auditions are when you are asked to fill in on a gig and afterwards they want you to join permanently

 

[brianrost]

Brought the booze and the weed to the audition? Jeesh.

I hope he was willing to share

 

[3Liter]

Well...


I did ask if they have a chance to listen to other music. They said no, did not want it to influence their "original" music.

I have met folks like that, that have little musical training or understanding and stumble on a chord shape they have never played or heard before and think it's something new and undiscovered.

It's funny. Even art has conventions. Music: consistent time, chord structure, etc. Books, movies, etc. Ever watch an art film or something made its doesn't make sense. I don't know movies that well, but there's a whole craft of showing you something silently or hinting at it so when it shows up "out of the blue" later on it's not really a surprise. I've heard that "if you show a gun on screen, it must be used later in the film" those sort of conventions. When those conventions are not respected in some manner, the audience is confused.

Of course it could be argued that we've optimized everything these days into no risk situations: billable actors, superhero plots, pop music with a hook 5 sec in so we're not bored of it, etc. There's little new under the sun, but the new isn't always accepted, oft for good reasons.

 

[micahwc]

‘How did you do with your Army audition? I have a son that made a career in the Marine Fleet band program as a bassist. He will be retiring in about a year and a half. It’s been a great gig.

i went in thinking it would be really easy. I walked out having barely passed, but with a lot of really good constructive criticism. It was a great experience.

I ended up leaving the army instead of joining the band, but it was a time I can point to and say definitively that I am a good bass player. It’s good for my ego.

 

[SteveHeissner]

How to approach the audition has been described in the threads above. It's also helpful to become part of the social network of musicians so that you're a known entity and people know if you're reliable and sober, etc. Getting into that social network is usually the result of playing in a band and going out to see other bands and supporting your local music scene. Good luck.

 

[3Liter]

I usually ask for a song list. If I know a bunch of the songs on the list I will start there. I'll be ready with 5-10 songs. Many years ago my bass teacher told me, when going to an audition think of it as you auditioning them, and do you think they are good enough to play with. That has helped me nail a few auditions.

I got recruited or recruited myself into a terrible band. I hadn't played bass much but just bought a new one for some reason. (I already had one, just bought a new one and an amp...go figure). Anyhow, I knew the feel of the very basic stuff they were trying to play. We jammed a little and they were like "Oh, you must have been in a band before..." Yikes.

Anyhow, I knew the root notes and the 5s but didn't have an appreciation for minors and major 3rds or 7ths. I had always played off TAB. But during playing with those guys I learned a whole lot about that, and how the bass works with the drummer, etc. I was 1,000x smarter on this stuff when I exited the band.

 

[3Liter]

Army band audition:

4 pieces of music given to 3 days before the audition. 1 was a chord chart, 1 was a score, 1 was "play a samba in this key", 1 was something else I forget. In addition to this I had to play, from memory, four pieces of contemporary music in different genres, and then there were about 5 short pieces of music I had to sight read.

I went to buy a PA from a guy that was moving. He was a keys player. He had a guy over and was showing him something to do for an audition (I think). The guy doing the showing was moving closer to the city because he'd been recruited into the Navy band and I guess he had to join the Navy. I don't know all the details. I was only there for a few minutes, but he was instructing the guy for his audition... "you could play it like this...(plays the tune)...or you could play it like this... (same notes/song, completely different feel)". It was like sorcery to me.

 

[ebo]

This is my favorite audition story.

 

[Bass Viking]

Years ago before my tail above. I answered an ad for an original music band. I asked what kind of music it was it be. They say its "original" music and can't describe it, I'll just have to hear it.

So I go by and they are all happy friendly people ready to show me their "original" music. They take off on one of their numbers, telling me if I can pick it up to join in but I probably wont get it, cause it's "original."

So I listen to what they got, it's a blues waltz. I don't know what the lyrics are about but it's blues chord changes in 3/4 time. So, I play along, in key and tempo. Fine no trouble at all. So the next one they show me the chords, it's in a different key but again 1-4-5 changes, so they ask if I need some time to absorb what they just showed me? I say no, lets go! I play it, thought I nailed it. The next one was more blues changes only minor this time. I play it and ask if they need me to play some fixed "original" bass patterns they had or if they were looking for something particular from me to play? They indicated what I was doing was fine but I could sense some tension in the room. We did a few more and called it a night.

Two days later I get the call that it won't work out. I asked if I didn't perform their songs well enough? No that wasn't it, it was they felt I didn't give their "original" songs the reverence they were due. I jumped in and played them without having trouble playing them or holding back in awe, because these were their "original" songs and I was playing them like they were common songs.

I tried to explain to them they were fine songs just that those chords changes are common but that's not to take away from their original melodies and lyrics. I immediately get "What do you mean common chord changes?" Oh no!


I try to explain a 1-4-5 chord change is common in a lot of songs and that is why I was able to jump in and play along. I asked if they preferred me not being able to play along. These are "original" songs I was told and I shouldn't be able to play them that fast. I told them there is nothing wrong with basing original songs on known chord changes, it's done all the time. It seemed at that point the person dealing with me thought differently and rather than belabor the point as if I was trying for the bass chair, I said, that's fine.

But warned them you would have to look far and wide to find a bass player that couldn't recognize 1-4-5 changes and if you did, you may not want to work with them

Years ago I knew a guy who wouldn’t listen to other people’s music because he wanted to be original. Totally the wrong approach. As Frank Zappa said, if you want to deviate from the norm you need to have at least a passing acquaintance with the norm.