Well, I had my first ever audition on bass tonight. It was with a guitar/vocalist and a drummer. The music is all originals that the guitarist has written. It was very heavy rock. Very metal-ish.
I thought I did okay. The songs were all 3 chord songs. They all seemed to work where I was just hammering away on the root. Some of them, I threw in some R-3-5 arpeggios. Or R-3-5-8. And some octaves. But, I've only been learning to play for 3 months or so, and these guys have been playing their respective instruments and gigging with bands for years. So, I don't really know (yet) what they thought.
Regardless of whether they want to have me back or not, I feel like I did learn at least 2 things about going to an audition:
1) Even if I'm planning to play a 4-string, bring a 5-string, just in case. In this case, there were several songs where I could have used a low D and probably even the low B.
2) Don't bring a knife to a gunfight. I brought my Promethean 1x10 combo, thinking it should be plenty for a jam with a 3-piece. I thought about throwing my Aguilar GS210 cab in the truck to use as an extension cab, "just in case". But I was running late this morning and didn't take the time to unhook it and put it in the truck. I sure wish I had now. The drummer plays LOUD. So, the guitar player cranked his gear. And my little combo was cranked pretty much to the max. We could hear it, but that was about it.
Even though I know that their decision on whether or not to invite me back SHOULD be based on things like whether they think I can do the job, I know that, in reality, a lot of the decision will probably be based on their gut reaction to my sound. If I showed up and made the overall band sound GOOD, then they would probably overlook some flubs and simplistic playing. But, showing up and being "average" (to be generous to myself) AND not giving them a gut-pleasing sound certainly does not help me get another chance.
So it goes.
I thought I did okay. The songs were all 3 chord songs. They all seemed to work where I was just hammering away on the root. Some of them, I threw in some R-3-5 arpeggios. Or R-3-5-8. And some octaves. But, I've only been learning to play for 3 months or so, and these guys have been playing their respective instruments and gigging with bands for years. So, I don't really know (yet) what they thought.
Regardless of whether they want to have me back or not, I feel like I did learn at least 2 things about going to an audition:
1) Even if I'm planning to play a 4-string, bring a 5-string, just in case. In this case, there were several songs where I could have used a low D and probably even the low B.
2) Don't bring a knife to a gunfight. I brought my Promethean 1x10 combo, thinking it should be plenty for a jam with a 3-piece. I thought about throwing my Aguilar GS210 cab in the truck to use as an extension cab, "just in case". But I was running late this morning and didn't take the time to unhook it and put it in the truck. I sure wish I had now. The drummer plays LOUD. So, the guitar player cranked his gear. And my little combo was cranked pretty much to the max. We could hear it, but that was about it.
Even though I know that their decision on whether or not to invite me back SHOULD be based on things like whether they think I can do the job, I know that, in reality, a lot of the decision will probably be based on their gut reaction to my sound. If I showed up and made the overall band sound GOOD, then they would probably overlook some flubs and simplistic playing. But, showing up and being "average" (to be generous to myself) AND not giving them a gut-pleasing sound certainly does not help me get another chance.
So it goes.
