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You never know about an audition
- Thread starter lfmn16
- Start date
Just as well Satarini would be fired from a county/blues /Rock n roll band for playing too many passing notes .Not much danger of me shredding like Satriani.
Good deal, yes you never know. We always looked for personality above chops (hang).
So send us some YouTube links of the band.I went on an audition last night for a singer that has a couple of CDs out and has won some pretty prestigious awards. Country/blues/rock and roll, mix of originals and covers. I was auditioning for the guitar spot and although it was a stretch, I'm trying to get to the next level so I thought I'd go for it. I almost didn't audition after listening to the CDs and live shows on Youtube, I thought they were too far out of my league, but as my brother says, "Asking is free."
I had to take my brother to the hospital for some tests in the afternoon (he's fine) and wrestled with rush hour to get home in time to run over some of the trouble spots and try to relax before the audition. As usual life got in the way so I wasn't able to chill, I forgot the directions (which fortunately I had put in my iPhone), forgot my notes and forgot the list of tunes. Way to make a good first impression ... NOT.
I got to the audition still a bit flustered, got set up and when I took a few seconds to warm up it felt like my left hand had glue on it. Sticky fingers, and not the good Rolling Stones kind. I got through 3 or 4 tunes and I kept thinking they'd say, "Thanks for coming by, we'll give you a call" but they kept asking what else I'd learned. I'd give myself a solid D+ for my playing.
So I played everything I knew, I thanked them for their time and the opportunity to play with them, we exchanged a few pleasantries and I was told they'd be in touch. I came home and told my wife that the good news was that I didn't have to figure out how to juggle another band, that I'd stunk the joint up.
I wake up this morning to a very nice email asking me if I'd like to join the band.
All I can say is that if they liked that playing, they'll love me when I'm on. I'm usually pretty good at reading a room, but I missed that one by a mile.
Very cool!
I had an audition situation tonight myself (also on guitar) and feeling similarly unprepared. I was very up front about my age and (lack of) available time, and I think that pushed me down the list a bit, but I got the call anyway.
I had less than 24 hours to prepare and feel my way through about 6 songs (all originals). Definitely not enough time to learn anything note for note, but I really surprised myself. There was one song with a well defined hook, so I focused on that. We even ran a song I'd never heard before in my life and it wasn't half bad. The gear I brought worked really well sonically with what they were doing too.
Too early to say if it will lead to anything, but it felt great.
Oh, and to keep things on topic I was probably too focused on not messing up to pay full attention but the bass player was really solid which makes everything easier.
I had an audition situation tonight myself (also on guitar) and feeling similarly unprepared. I was very up front about my age and (lack of) available time, and I think that pushed me down the list a bit, but I got the call anyway.
I had less than 24 hours to prepare and feel my way through about 6 songs (all originals). Definitely not enough time to learn anything note for note, but I really surprised myself. There was one song with a well defined hook, so I focused on that. We even ran a song I'd never heard before in my life and it wasn't half bad. The gear I brought worked really well sonically with what they were doing too.
Too early to say if it will lead to anything, but it felt great.
Oh, and to keep things on topic I was probably too focused on not messing up to pay full attention but the bass player was really solid which makes everything easier.
I could in that they aren't hard, but I didn't learn them. There is some interesting bass playing going on in the music and their bass player is really solid.
Good luck!
Agree about solid bass players. A good bass player makes it so much easier to play well yourself. A bad bass player has you thinking about what he's going to screw up next instead of what you're playing. It's hard to play musically when you're thinking about what is going to go wrong.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
In the RUSH documentary, "Beyond the Lighted Stage", Neil Peart describes his audition with the band when they needed to replace John Rutsey, 2 weeks before their 1st American tour.
He said he felt that he failed the audition and could have played much better. Geddy and Alex both said they were blown away by his playing and he reminded them of a combination of Keith Moon and John Bonham and immediately asked him to join the band.
He said he felt that he failed the audition and could have played much better. Geddy and Alex both said they were blown away by his playing and he reminded them of a combination of Keith Moon and John Bonham and immediately asked him to join the band.
Thanks!
After they offered me the position I went down the list of tunes I'd played to make notes of what I needed to fix and I realize that it was more about not cleanly executing everything. I did know and catch all the intros, endings, changes and stops; but my playing was sloppy. They did ask if I knew one song and said, "this one?" and played the opening riff; they said I was the only one that played it right. It wasn't that all that tricky, but I practiced it enough to make sure I knew it.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. I'm going to record some rehearsals (which I do in all the bands I play with) so I can get a more objective view of how I'm playing.
Thanks to everyone for their kind words.
The other side of the coin. We're used to saying, 'ah guitarists, they just want a bed they can wank all over'. But even solid, non-wanky guitarists (and other soloists) need us to keep the surprises at a level they can deal with.
+1
A good guitarist will make it easier for everyone else to excel. Actually, in great bands, everyone supports everyone else and tries to make it easy for everyone to play their best. I'm sure there are exceptions, but not a whole lot of them.
When the whole band is just smoking hot, there is enough applause for everyone.
Many times, this is enough to make you stand out from the crowd.
CongratulationsI went on an audition last night for a singer that has a couple of CDs out and has won some pretty prestigious awards. Country/blues/rock and roll, mix of originals and covers. I was auditioning for the guitar spot and although it was a stretch, I'm trying to get to the next level so I thought I'd go for it. I almost didn't audition after listening to the CDs and live shows on Youtube, I thought they were too far out of my league, but as my brother says, "Asking is free."
I had to take my brother to the hospital for some tests in the afternoon (he's fine) and wrestled with rush hour to get home in time to run over some of the trouble spots and try to relax before the audition. As usual life got in the way so I wasn't able to chill, I forgot the directions (which fortunately I had put in my iPhone), forgot my notes and forgot the list of tunes. Way to make a good first impression ... NOT.
I got to the audition still a bit flustered, got set up and when I took a few seconds to warm up it felt like my left hand had glue on it. Sticky fingers, and not the good Rolling Stones kind. I got through 3 or 4 tunes and I kept thinking they'd say, "Thanks for coming by, we'll give you a call" but they kept asking what else I'd learned. I'd give myself a solid D+ for my playing.
So I played everything I knew, I thanked them for their time and the opportunity to play with them, we exchanged a few pleasantries and I was told they'd be in touch. I came home and told my wife that the good news was that I didn't have to figure out how to juggle another band, that I'd stunk the joint up.
I wake up this morning to a very nice email asking me if I'd like to join the band.
All I can say is that if they liked that playing, they'll love me when I'm on. I'm usually pretty good at reading a room, but I missed that one by a mile.
After a pretty long wait and much discussion I was offered a spot in this band yesterday and I accepted.
The band I sing and play guitar in is putting out a new recording on Tuesday and playing a release show on the 23rd. The new band is playing on the 31st and can’t start rehearsing again until Tuesday. It’s gonna be a pretty interesting few weeks.
***UPDATE***
not that I’m all that newsworthy, just in case someone is interested.
I had my first gig a few weeks ago. We had one rehearsal. That went about twice as good as they hoped it would and about 1/2 as good as I’d hoped.
Then on my way to the gig I just hit this zen space and thought, I’m as prepared as I can be. I know all these songs, there’s no reason I can’t play them. It was one of those magic nights where you almost couldn’t hit a bad note if you tried. They were happy, I was happy, the audience was happy, the club owner came up to us about four times and said, “Now you guys are coming back, right?”
Still January and I’ve already got 25 gigs booked for 2020. It’s going to be a good year!
not that I’m all that newsworthy, just in case someone is interested.
I had my first gig a few weeks ago. We had one rehearsal. That went about twice as good as they hoped it would and about 1/2 as good as I’d hoped.
Then on my way to the gig I just hit this zen space and thought, I’m as prepared as I can be. I know all these songs, there’s no reason I can’t play them. It was one of those magic nights where you almost couldn’t hit a bad note if you tried. They were happy, I was happy, the audience was happy, the club owner came up to us about four times and said, “Now you guys are coming back, right?”
Still January and I’ve already got 25 gigs booked for 2020. It’s going to be a good year!
^Awesome. I have my first show with the new band a week from Friday. They are not going to keep me that busy though.
