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How to run Guitarist Auditions?

#21
I agree with the interview-first approach. Less time wasted with "guitar players" answering your ad who:

a. need a new home (your garage, ok?)
b. need an advance to get their gear out of hock
c. need a ride everywhere
d. call 45 minutes after the appointment time & attempt a re-schedule
e. smell of alcohol & are strangely jittery
f. panic when a cop drives by

I could go on,went through it a while back, and you wouldn't believe what shows up.
 
#22
Back when I did the auditioning thing I got it down to a fine art. This was because, up until then, every time I was involved with auditions, half the guys wouldn't show up and 70% of the rest were a total waste of time. I figured out a way of streamlining the audition process which worked really well for me.

We'd have a "preliminary round". This would be purely to see if the guy could play, and we'd stress that to each candidate. Each guy would be given 3 songs to learn (if I was doing it nowadays I'd probably give them a list of 6 and get them to just choose 3).

This was to weed out the no-hopers and flakes who "just want to jam. man" and had no intention of actually seriously auditioning. If they'd give me the crap about "got to get my TONE, man" I'd just repeat, the first round is purely to see if you can play. If they kept arguing I'd just say don't bother auditioning.

We'd hire/borrow a Marshall half stack (or, in the case of Drummers, a decent kit) and a Fender Twin so they'd have a choice (back then, pretty much every pro standard guitarist where I lived used one or the other).

That way they'd walk in, set up in a couple of minutes, and be ready. We'd do the three songs and then just do off-the-cuff stuff for 10 minutes or so. That way we could see how they handled being thrown in the deep end.

The ones who got through the first round would get offered a "real" audition where they'd get a couple of hours to bring their own gear and "strut their stuff" and just generally hang out a bit.

As for questions to ask in the initial contact;

How long have you been playing?

What band/gigging experience do you have?

What equipment do you have?

Do you have your own transport?

Can you audition X times a week al location Y?

What do you want out of a band and how serious a commitment are you prepared to make (o.k.; maybe not live in a dumpster in LA and pay to play showcase gigs, but who knows) to try and get it?

This is probably the most important question. It's no good if you want to take a band as far as you can and the Guitarist just wants to jam in a garage once in a while and maybe gig every couple of months. Everybody's ambition vary, and all are valid, but if you're in a band together with differing ambitions and goals, it's 100% guaranteed to self-destruct.
 
#24
The tactic that worked great in my last band for auditioning both drummers and guitarists was as follows:

We gave them a demo and choose a song off it from them to learn (same song for everyone auditioning). We also chose a song we liked that was well known enough that anyone who'd be into our music would be at least familiar with, if not already know. The third thing we did, which was the most telling of all was spent part of the audition teaching them one of our songs they've never heard. Nothing to crazy, or hard, one of our simpler songs. But it was really great to see how to learn, respond, and work with others. Oh, they knew they'd be learning a new song at the audition before hand, we didn't sneak that in on them, that would be mean.
 
#25
mutedeity said:
Personally I wouldn't recommend this at all. I know if people have asked me to meet with them before I audition I have refused. It's a complete waste of time and quite frankly I find it rude.

People can meet you and audition you at the same time. If they want to have a talk at a later date once they have heard you play fair enough, at least that way you aren't going to waste your time if they don't even like your playing, or if you don't like theirs for that matter.
Click to expand...

I am totally on the other side of the fence on this. I'm of the camp that says personality is more important than musicianship. All of the best bands I've been in were friends first, bandmates second. You can't tell that much about a personality at an audition. A conflicting personality can break up an entire band. A jerk in the band can cost you gigs. Audiences respond to charisma.

Being a good player is important. You will find a lot of people who are in the same ballpark, musicianship wise. And people can grow as musicians or a band can work and morph into something other than the sum of its parts. Personalities don't change very quickly if at all.

Pay at least as much attention to the personality. Do they make you laugh? Do they keep the audition going forward or do they derail it. You can find someone who makes you laugh yet still keeps the situation moving forward. It's more important than slightly "better" musicianship.

KO

P.S. Try doing some of the stuff semi-acoustically. What does a player sound like without an impressive sounding rig behind them?
 
#28
You might try asking:

"What's the next thing you want to add to/change on your rig (and why)?"

"What do you want to improve on most, and what are you doing about it?"

How they answer should give you some good insights. An "I don't know" answer to either question is probably a good indication to move on.
 
#29
I have no problem meeting up with someone first before an actual musical jam/audition. I do this, in part, to find out if the person would actually show up, or at least show up sober. Also - and as politically incorrect as it is to say this - looks do matter. If you're auditioning a guitarist for a wedding/cocktail hour jazz trio, and the guy shows up with a mohawk and a Misfits T-Shirt...well, it may not be the best match, IMO.

After that comes the musical audition. Give him/her a list of 6-10 songs (depending on how long the audition is) and have at it. Even if you think the person is awesome/sucky after 1 song, keep going...he/she might get better or worse as the audition goes on.

Also, you may want to invite a few people to audition, rather thabn devote the whole time to one person - if the guy sucks, it's gonna be a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG two hours. Or what if he doesn't show up at all?

One more thing: if a guy has a crap audition, resist the urge to grant him another chance. If he can't learn 6-10 songs in one week - at least at a passable level - then he won't be able to do it at all. Rarely do guys "develop" or "play themselves into shape" in a band....they either can play, or they can't.
 
#30
Personally I like to give them a little assignment. Point them in the direction of a few songs to learn (preferably originals as they won't get any outside help), and tell them to have them ready. This alone will tell you a lot about their time management, musicianship, and work ethic. Play those songs, then try an improv. Have a little gear or theory talk if you want (nonchalantly, of course - no quizzing).
 
#31
mutedeity said:
I think that's fine as long as it's over the phone. Phone interviewing is almost essential in setting up auditions, I should have said earlier too. I just think it's completely unnecessary, inefficient and for the most part unprofessional to meet someone in person before you audition them.

You can do the social thing with them if you like them musically, if you don't like their musicianship why waste everyone's time?
Click to expand...

+1. The important interview questions can be done over the phone.

I went to one audition where I played with the band and then we had a beer afterwards and discussed things. No need to draw it out longer than it has to be.
 
#32
kraigo said:
I am totally on the other side of the fence on this. I'm of the camp that says personality is more important than musicianship. All of the best bands I've been in were friends first, bandmates second. You can't tell that much about a personality at an audition. A conflicting personality can break up an entire band. A jerk in the band can cost you gigs. Audiences respond to charisma.

Being a good player is important. You will find a lot of people who are in the same ballpark, musicianship wise. And people can grow as musicians or a band can work and morph into something other than the sum of its parts. Personalities don't change very quickly if at all.

Pay at least as much attention to the personality. Do they make you laugh? Do they keep the audition going forward or do they derail it. You can find someone who makes you laugh yet still keeps the situation moving forward. It's more important than slightly "better" musicianship.

KO

P.S. Try doing some of the stuff semi-acoustically. What does a player sound like without an impressive sounding rig behind them?
Click to expand...

It's your time if you want to waste it.

I think it's completely unprofessional, personally and as I said I have bluntly refused to do this meet and greet nonsense unless there is an audition involved. I don't have time to drive all over town to meet people just to talk about their "plans" for their band. I also want to see the money. By that I mean I want to see these guys are for real. That is what professional people do. I'm not joining the social club.

I'm all for the phone interview, it's absolutely essential in screening people and making sure that the person you are auditioning knows what they are doing to some extent. But seriously if you can't screen people sufficiently to know whether they are worth an audition you really don't know what you are doing.

Also keep in mind that I have a lot of experience in doing this from both perspectives. Both in auditioning people and in being auditioned. Given that I make myself available for freelance work in a number of different musical aspects, I do not have time to socialise about town with people because they want to see if my clothes are right and whether I am interested in their great plans. I am sure that a lot of other musicians feel the same and in that respect I think you are probably going to miss out on some potentially good musicians if you insist on them spending this time just to have a little chat.

You can do all of that stuff once you know whether they can play or not. Also by getting them to come to an audition right away you know whether they can turn up, you see how efficient they are at setting up, what gear they actually have and how they present themselves. If you like them and their playing and all the other aspects you can follow up with an interview.

That way they know you aren't wasting their time just as much as you know they aren't wasting yours. The interview chat thing first is no guarantee of that at all and from my perspective is just a waste of time.

Sorry to be so black and white about this, but I really feel that there are two ways to do this and one way is right. If you can't see my point of view on this I would have to say it's due to a lack of experience in the area.
 
#34
Bass Viking said:
I agree. I play music for fun and I don't want to feel like I'm going for a freaking job interview!
Click to expand...

You know, it's funny, I think my approach works whether you are trying to be as professional as possible or whether you are just in it for a bit of fun. I think it's interesting that you see my approach as not being like a job interview since I bet a lot of people will look at what I am saying and think I am taking all the fun out of it.

Personally, I guess like you, I don't see the fun in wasting my time if I go and meet some people and then they say "we don't really think you are right for us" before they even hear me play. I think that is an affront to be honest. What fun can anyone possibly think that is?

What it is that makes music fun, and I guess that Bass Viking realises this too, is not having your time wasted and dealing with people in a way that causes the least drama. In other words people who act professionally enough to put the music before the nonsense. Trust me, not giving someone the respect to hear them play before you decide whether their personality suits your band is complete and utter nonsense.
 
#35
I agree that the guy/gal has to be able to play the instrument, and that should be first and foremost, but at some point you'll need to find out if the person is gonna jive with the rest of the guys in the band.

If the guy is a total douchebag heroin addict that can shred on guitar, is that the type of guy who you want in your band?

If he's a born again Christian who regularly attends AA meeting and you're in the "Party Band of the Millenium" is that going to work just because the guy kills it on guitar?

I'm just saying personalities are important, and goals, gigging schedule & stuff should be discussed at some point before making the guy a full fledge member of the band.
 
#36
Zappstorius said:
I agree that the guy/gal has to be able to play the instrument, and that should be first and foremost, but at some point you'll need to find out if the person is gonna jive with the rest of the guys in the band.

If the guy is a total douchebag heroin addict that can shred on guitar, is that the type of guy who you want in your band?

If he's a born again Christian who regularly attends AA meeting and you're in the "Party Band of the Millenium" is that going to work just because the guy kills it on guitar?

I'm just saying personalities are important, and goals, gigging schedule & stuff should be discussed at some point before making the guy a full fledge member of the band.
Click to expand...

You are absolutely correct, but....

A. That is the purpose of phone interviewing. It will give you at least some indication of what they are like. If they are unprofessional over the phone, chances are they aren't going to be much better in person.

B. You can find all that stuff out and at least have the knowledge of how they play and other aspects covered by the audition after the audition. That way you aren't wasting anyone's time, yours or the "applicant's". You are never going to find out everything about a person on one meeting anyway.
 
#38
For those grousing, even if it's for fun, it's a job interview. The way we've handled all of our auditions is basically this:

1. We put our ad up and were very specific as to what we were looking for (singer/guitarist/whatever). Not the typical "band looking for <insert role here>, e-mail if interested". That weeds some people out immediately.
2. Once people e-mail you, much like over the phone, you can do another round of weeding out and get some of the BS out of the way (i.e. what's your schedule, where do you live, etc.), and at this point request sound clips/websites.
3. For those who make it through that round, schedule an audition. We did ours all over two consecutive days. Since we have a list of 50+ songs, we told people to pick four. We scheduled one audition per hour, giving us 30 minutes to play, a little time to chat, and then in comes the next one.

That's worked for us each time. It's no BS, very up front, but not impersonal at all. We do chit chat when they come in, inbetween songs, and after in a low key, relaxed way. It's not a grilling. You do need to get a sense of who they are because the wrong personality will kill a band as someone says. I've been in enough bands with drama to not want it anymore.

For our latest round of auditions for a singer (our singer just left), we had probably close to 20 responses, we scheduled 11, and 9 came up (two cancelled; we had zero no shows without any notice). All were good, but one stood out above the rest. There were no auditions from hell because we did our homework up front.
 
#39
mutedeity said:
Sorry to be so black and white about this, but I really feel that there are two ways to do this and one way is right. If you can't see my point of view on this I would have to say it's due to a lack of experience in the area.
Click to expand...

Experienced and humble, obviously.........

I've been gigging for 20 years, and I've been in dozens of bands. I've probably auditioned for a hundred, and I've probably auditioned hundreds of potential different bandmates. There's one thing I've learned from my experience: there will be an interview first. When I am the one holding the auditions, I let the auditionee decide: they can either do the interview over the phone, or we can do it in person. But....they're going to do an interview before they waste my time in a formal audition. If they don't want to do an interview, they don't get an audition......simple as that.

Many factors can make even the best musician a complete waste of time: excessively busy schedule, utter stupidity, unreliable transportation, ego, attitude.......Any one of these issues can make this potential bandmate a complete waste of time and effort. Being able to play the music is one ONE part of being a good musician. Anyone with decent people skills can vette out these types of issues with a simple interview.

I could give dozens of examples, but I'll use the most recent. The last female lead in my band had a terrible interview. She was clearly pretty ignorant, was between "day jobs", and spent 5 minutes telling me about her alcoholic boyfriend. But.....she could really, REALLY sing. I discussed it with my band mates and we decided to giver her an audition despite our better judgement. At the audition she continued to prove that she would be unreliable. But....she could really, REALLY sing. We hired her, against our better judgement. The fun started right away. She constantly missed practice because she couldn't remember the dates, even when they had been given to her a few days before. She lost her day job. Her car died and she couldn't pay to have it fixed, so we had to transport her to gigs for a month. I ended up in a fight with her drunk boyfriend, in the middle of a gig, because he said I gave him a look (which I did, because he was trying to paw a 14 year old girl.) Despite her fantastic singing skills, we fired her, because all of the personal antics and drama were simple too much for the rest of us. Had we followed our instincts, we never would have wasted our time.

Adding a new member to a band is a significant investment in time. It behooves you to get to know as much as you possibly can about these people before you waste that time. Skipping the interview process is about as unprofessional (and ignorant) as you can get.

This works both ways for me. When I was looking for a band a few years ago, I responded to an ad that sounded perfect. I emailed the guy, and he emailed me back giving me an audition time and nothing else. I responded and asked him to call me. He did finally call, but he didn't want to talk. He said "just come to the audition and I can answer all your questions there." Because he refused to talk, I passed on the audition. A buddy of mine, however, went for an audition. He reported back that the band leader was a complete jerk and the band wasnt nearly as good as their ad led the reader to believe. None of them had gig-worthy gear, and they were expecting their new bass player to purchase a large amount of They also tried to physically intimidate him into leaving his gear for their guitarist buddy who was auditioning next (and didn't own a bass.)
 
#40
This tough,

The best band mate would be someone you already know as a friend.

Back in the day, if you were in a band, you not only played together, you hung out together, showed up (any place ) together, schemed on chics together ect.

It seems like with the new generation you guys play with each other but you don't know each other.

I am going to hold auditions for a guitarist and drummer soon. It will start with a coffee meeting just to make sure the guy isn't a loser.
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