Audition Stories

[ski219]

I had an interesting audition earlier this week. I'm in 2 bands now, but this one works 8-10 gigs a month and does corporate functions and wedding as well as bar gigs so I thought I would try out and if they liked me I would seriously think about making a major commitment of time in order to pull in, I'm guessing 15-20K a year with my guitar. (I have a kid starting college soon so I can use all the dough I can make. Plus, as mentioned in a thread a few weeks back, one of my goals is to make as much money as I can playing guitar)

 

So they sent out 5 songs to learn - none of which I'd ever played before - two that I never heard before.

 

So I get to the rehearsal studio 10 minutes early and there's another guitarist waiting. The band scheduled players 15 minutes apart so they were, of course, running late. While I was waiting my turn 2 more guys showed up. I get called in, plug in as fast as possible, we burn through the 5 tunes, cutting all but one of them short, (they were doing this to all the players so it wasn't just my suckage.) They played most of them fast as well.

 

So it was an interesting experience. I haven't auditioned a lot, but when I have it's been at least an hour. Maybe trying songs a couple of times. Talking and getting to know each other. I have been in bands auditioning players as well and we schedule 1 or 2 guys a night.

 

How did I do? I nailed a couple of tunes and I has some flubs on a couple. I doubt I got the gig. If it was offered I would have to think very hard about it and the pay would have to be pretty darn good. The band was good - very good, but the music was not my style and most of the stuff they actually play is disco/dance.

 

 

What I wonder is - is this type of audition normal or was it as strange, awkward and rushed as it felt to me.

 

Anyone else have any audition stories to share? Could be a good learning opportunity for a lot of us.

[kmart]

My experience and info I've heard from others is there is no 'normal', and what you experienced certainly would not be out of the ordinary regardless.

 

The band you tried out for clearly has people lining up to play with them, and I'd guess their methods work for them...

 

They also clearly have poor time management skills if they wanted you to have 5 songs ready, but scheduled people every 15 minutes...

But again, if it's working for them, what are you gonna do?

 

Anyway, it was within the realm of 'normal' (which also includes your other experience of scheduling fewer people less frequently), and was also likely as strange, awkward and rushed as it felt to you, all at the same time, unfortunately.

[flanc]

I've never auditioned but have conducted quite a few. We schedule an hour or more for each audition...15 minutes...you can tell if a guy can play..but that's it. Maybe they have so many qualified applicants that they can do a quick 15min assessment to get to a more-qualified second round with an hour or more interview, audition and jam session.

[jeff42]

when we auditioned guitar players a few years back we would have one come in per night. We also didn't have more than a few looking to fill the slot but we wanted to spend a couple hours with them to see if they were cool musically and personally. We couldn't get a grasp on any one of them in 15 minutes.

 

here's some of the guys that tried out

 

1 guy only knew the basics of the songs we asked him to learn. Found out later that night he was looking for a backing band for his blues act, he was auditioning us... we passed! hehehe.

 

1 guy told me he knew 90% of our set, showed up not really knowing anything we asked him to learn. Played too loud and was not a good player at all, and a worse singer. But he did like our stuff.

 

1 guy was technically good learned a few songs we asked him to learn but said something like: "it doesn't matter what you play as long as it sounds good. My side band is playing some b-side B.O.C. stuff and its going over well"

 

1 guy came in with a small amp with a basic distortion pedal, he used to play in an oldies band but wanted something new. He learned all 4 songs we asked him to and offered to sing too. He was very polite and seemed at least semi-normal, for a musician.

 

He's been our guitar player ever since.

 

as for your situation: you did what was asked, you played the songs and hopfully you were polite. now the ball is in their court. If you want the job that is. If I was in this situation I'd jam with them again if asked and go from there... and audition them too!

[kmart]

I'll add that I have completely by coincidence played in bands with (2) guitarists who flew out to LA in the early 90's to audition with the Red Hot Chili Peppers when John Frusciante ended his first stint with the band, and the auditions were as follows:

 

1) Stand in line in a hallway with anywhere from 5-15 OTHER guys (or more) looking to audition.

 

2) Door opens, guy with guitar comes out, next guy in line goes in.

 

3) Guys in hall listen to current 'auditionee' play along with Chad Smith on drums and the guy from Mary's Danish on bass for anywhere from 2-15minutes.

 

4) Repeat steps 1-3 ad nauseum.*

 

*SOME who auditioned (one of the guys I know) were then asked to go to another room in the place to play for a handful of minutes with an unspecified drummer and Flea.

 

After that, nobody I know is aware if there were further steps, but from both people, I understand it was a total factory process: check one, move on to the next, check two, move on to the next, etc.

 

Obviously, their process was built around having hundreds of players to choose from. I'm sure once they narrowed things down to 15-20 prime candidtates, they spent more time with each.

But maybe not.

[mstreck]

Our drummer auditions were 7 songs and we set aside an hour and a half for each man.

 

We helped each one load in and set up (also tear down and load out). That gave us a chance to talk to each of them beforehand. It was just small talk but it gave us a chance to get a feel for their personalities.

 

All of them were good drummers, but we expected them to be. That made it all boil down to who would be a good "fit".

 

At your level, maybe that's not quite as important. But maybe they really were looking for someone that they could "click" with? Hell, maybe they could even tell that from how everyone played - or how they reacted to stopping short, etc, - even if it was only for a quick 15 minutes?

[newmaxnew]

When we had a drummer quit on short notice last year we had two days of auditions. One hour for each person, we gave them a copy of our set list and asked them to be ready to play any 5 songs off of the list. We had to find the right guy quickly and we did.

 

Max

[Kramerguy]

One Audition I went to a few years back was like the OP's, only they gave me 14 songs to learn on a friday afternoon for a sunday afternoon audition. I knew most of the songs from the radio, but never learned any on guitar.

 

The had the same process - 1/2 hour auditions, 1-2 guys deep waiting b/c the time management was weak. I was next to last, the guys were spent from doing auditions all day, just wasn't a good experience.. I did fairly well on most of the songs, but because of the lack of prep time, I flubbed a few of the solos, bridges; naturally. Didn't get the gig, of course.

 

Went to a different audition where they had me learn 6 songs, got there, and the six songs were on their "want to learn soon" list and none of them knew the songs.

[mstreck]

 

lack of prep time

 

 

We actually took this into consideration when scheduling auditions. Each drummer received the audition song list exactly 7 days before their scheduled audition.

[callous]

Went to a different audition where they had me learn 6 songs, got there, and the six songs were on their "want to learn soon" list and none of them knew the songs.

 

Ha! I can see it now:

 

"Hey, you learned those 6 songs? Awesome. If you can teach 'em to us, you got the gig."

[Kramerguy]

good examples on when the band fails the audition.

 

Auditions are very much a two-way street.

[GCDEF]

I've got a million of them. Standouts are

 

Looking for a bass player. Scheduled an audition. Guy shows up with a Les Paul and Marshall half stack. Got pissed at me when I threw him out.

 

Looking for bass players. Had a cattle call set up, 30 minutes each. One guy showed up about an hour early and asked if he could come in and watch. A bit weird. When it was his turn he was awful. He stuck around for a while just taking pictures. He must have taken over 100 pictures during the audition. He didn't get the job, but he showed up and the next few gigs taking hundreds of pictures. It was pretty creepy.

 

I auditioned for a guitar player/keyboard player slot. Other guitar player in the band was a shredder type. He shredded full volume through everything. I couldn't hear my Marshall JVM over him and nobody has any idea if I could play or not because he wouldn't shut up long enough for me to get a note in. Usually I politely say no, but I had to let them know what a douchebag he was and what a waste of time auditioning anybody with that guy in the band was going to be. As far as I know, they've given up.

[fanuvbrak]

I've auditioned a few times. Most are 1 - 2 hours and 5 - 10 songs.

 

Here were the exceptions:

 

1. They sent me a list of 20 songs and said pick 10. I picked 4 I knew and learned 6 (about a week). I showed up for the audition and this band didn't know any of the songs. They were songs they were "thinking they'd like to do". They then wanted me to teach them how to play them, including the bass line.

 

2. An established, gigging band sent me their entire setlist. I knew maybe 10 of the songs and since I had almost two weeks, learned 15 more. I showed up, we talked and we played for nearly three hours. They even learned a new song while I was there and let me interpret my parts. Afterwards, we had a beer and bull{censored}ted for another hour. I thought for sure I had the gig, but they never got back to me.

 

3. There was a guy that posted an ad on Craigslist. He had a classic rock band he needed a second guitarist for. I learned 5 songs. I showed up about 10 minutes early. The house way the {censored} out in the sticks. It was rundown and creepy looking and there was an old school bus in the backyard. When I got out of my car, I was greeted by an enormous pig. This pig was then joined by another pig. I thought that if I just walked to the door, they'd leave me alone. They followed me the whole way, sniffing at my pants and getting them covered with mud, {censored}, and pigsnot. I knocked on the door and the guy answers. He looks normal enough. He invites me in and this stench overwhelms me. I nearly puked. I realized that this smell's coming from the 9 huge cages that are holding 20 or so parrots. All at once they start squawking, and screaming, and talking. The guy points to a lower level and says we'll set up there. I said okay and walked to my car, got in, and left as fast as I could.

[Steve Nixon]

 

I had an interesting audition earlier this week. I'm in 2 bands now, but this one works 8-10 gigs a month and does corporate functions and wedding as well as bar gigs so I thought I would try out and if they liked me I would seriously think about making a major commitment of time in order to pull in, I'm guessing 15-20K a year with my guitar. (I have a kid starting college soon so I can use all the dough I can make. Plus, as mentioned in a thread a few weeks back, one of my goals is to make as much money as I can playing guitar) So they sent out 5 songs to learn - none of which I'd ever played before - two that I never heard before. So I get to the rehearsal studio 10 minutes early and there's another guitarist waiting. The band scheduled players 15 minutes apart so they were, of course, running late. While I was waiting my turn 2 more guys showed up. I get called in, plug in as fast as possible, we burn through the 5 tunes, cutting all but one of them short, (they were doing this to all the players so it wasn't just my suckage.) They played most of them fast as well. So it was an interesting experience. I haven't auditioned a lot, but when I have it's been at least an hour. Maybe trying songs a couple of times. Talking and getting to know each other. I have been in bands auditioning players as well and we schedule 1 or 2 guys a night. How did I do? I nailed a couple of tunes and I has some flubs on a couple. I doubt I got the gig. If it was offered I would have to think very hard about it and the pay would have to be pretty darn good. The band was good - very good, but the music was not my style and most of the stuff they actually play is disco/dance. What I wonder is - is this type of audition normal or was it as strange, awkward and rushed as it felt to me. Anyone else have any audition stories to share? Could be a good learning opportunity for a lot of us.

 

 

You just went through what's called a "cattle call" audition. It happens occasionally on the local/corporate band level but it's much more common on the national touring level.

When I know the audition is going to be like this I approach my preparation in a completely different way. It truly is a whole other way of making music.

[Roadappledrumme]

Your experience does sound a little weird to me. I auditioned for a top cover band a couple of months ago and had a completely different experience. These guys were/are total pros and play over a hundred shows a year in good venues. They had 50 or so responses for their internet ads and narrowed their search to 20 or so over the phone. They then had auditions to find their guy. They gave everybody the same six songs and split the auditions over the course of a couple weekends. Everbody had at least a week to learn the songs and they had a kit already to go for the audition. They spent 55 minutes with everybody and 5 minutes saying goodbye and then onto the next guy. Offered me the gig and said have the other 85 songs down in two weeks and see you at the gig. So far so good and having an absolute blast!

[SeniorBlues]

What would you do if they asked you to play "At Last" (Etta James) and on their online video, the changes were pretty far off?

 

I worked up changes I liked, brought in a lead sheet, and everybody liked it . . . except the guitar player who was busy watching a football game. I didn't get the gig, but neither did the guy who played just before me, or anyone else. The chair is still empty.

 

Keyboard auditions are strange. A couple days ago, I responded to an R&B band ad. Their set list had songs with piano, organ, strings, and horns. Apparently, the second of two guitar players was going to cover E. piano parts and I would have been doing horns, and especially strings all night. No thanks.

[MartinC]

Some auditions I have done:

1. A high end cover band with a contract to go to Hawaii-they asked for two songs a hendrix tune and a miles davis tune. I nailed both and next they asked if I could sing lead. No , i can't. Are you SURE? yes, i can't. Goodbye Hawaii

 

2. A guy who I played with in another band. He had written some hits and needed a lead player for his band. A bandmember of his takes me to the audition but we discover we are an hour early, so we go to a bar and proceed to get hammered. I had the music down, but didn't get the gig. Big surprise.......

 

3. I auditioned for a semi name singer who was known for being part of a well known group.

again, i nailed the audition and the bass and drummer had me stay on to jam more. thought I was in. Stoked. No, she hired two younger blond dudes who couldn't play for {censored} but I suppose had the look she wanted. Had to admit some satisfaction when she went nowhere.

 

4. A fusion band -they hauled out an original with crazy changes and said solo over them. I played a great solo, but it was all luck. they complimented me, then asked me to do it again. Flubbed it the second time-no gig on that one.

 

5. Two very talented twin brother gay singers-didn't get that one, maybe just as well.

 

6. Top 40 band-they asked me to play hit me with your best shot, nailed it , got the gig, only to find out that the girl singer wanted more than my guitar. Once she saw my live in girl, she didn't like me as much, but the bass and drummer did, so I was in.

 

7. An original band fronted by three lousy chick singers. they had gigs in the best rooms, so i auditioned. got the gig, but found out later, i almost didn't because they thought I looked too square. But then they saw my earing, so they figured ok. How bizzare. they fired me after a few months. I had taken out the earing.

 

8. College jazz big band. Fifty guitarists in the hallway waiting to audition for three spots. 45 of whom were better than me. I was brought into a small practice room and pulled out a white strat. the guy sneered at me, asked who's guitar it was, and if i ever played any jazz. i said I was studying -he let me play for thirty seconds and threw me out. I went back next semester, same scene, but this time I brought a 60.00 steel string. they come out in the hallway and say, we know you guitar players are all {censored}ty readers, so we are going to give you a tune to shed and have you come back tomorrow. It was Joy Spring, which I already knew. I stayed up most of the night anyway practicing the tune. Went in the next day and played the best jazz solo I've ever played, before or since. got the gig, and spent a semester sweating over big band charts. I was out of my league.

 

9. SFSU had one classical guitar teacher, a woman, who you had to audition for to get lessons. I had no classical training but had learned a few pieces from the sheet music-all my fingerings were wrong of course. After I played she said my teacher should be taken out and quietly shot. Since i was self taught, she was basically telling me to go F*?& myself. No lessons for me.

 

10. an Italian dude with a record deal was looking to put together a band. I went to his apartment, which had two chairs and a 1/4" reel to reel. that was it. Got the gig, we made a record and toured in Italy.

 

I was ambitious when I was younger and always looking for a gig. I can't really imagine a situation where I would do an audition today. I don't need that kind of stress anymore. And I'm not on my game.

[lp_junkie]

The weirdest audition I ever had was for Halford back in early 99, I was freaked out when I flew out to Phoenix to meet with and actually play some tunes with Rob and a couple of session guys, the audition was cool but I eventually lost to Pat Lachman.

 

I knew the songs inside and out, mostly Priest tunes but I stumbled a couple of times on some of the lead work just due to sheer nerves.

 

I always feel weird doing auditions, even if I know the material.

[Funkwire]

It's weird. I went without auditioning for over 20 years, then I had two in the last few months. I've always been able to find a gig. Either people reach out to me to join a group, or I put something together. By no means am I a first-call guy, but enough people know me and what I can do to keep me busy.

 

The first audition was back in January. I saw an ad for a 60s Top 40 band, and it sounded intriguing to me. I responded, the leader called me and we talked for almost an hour. I agreed to audition the following Saturday. On Friday, he sent out an e-mail with the songs to go over and directions to their rehearsal space. I saw that he had sent the e-mail to me and 2 other people. When I realized that there were only 3 people auditioning, I immediately thought, "I got this." I went into the audition completely relaxed and nailed it. They asked me to join right away.

 

A month or so later, a drummer I used to work with called me up and told me about the project he was putting together. He wants to focus on outdoor shows, festivals, etc. and was putting together a band playing a lot of southern rock, blues, and new country. I always got along with him, liked his playing and singing, and he's pretty sharp on the production and business end as well. So I told him I was interested. None of the other guys knew me, so they wanted to check me out first.

 

We got together at the drummer's house and...the power was out. Called the power company...they said it would be back up in the next four hours. Since we couldn't play, we lit candles and went over lists of songs, talking about potential material. By the time power came back on, a couple of the guys had to head out, since they live a good distance away. The drummer asked them if they wanted to audition me the following week. Everybody thought it over, then the bass player said, "Nah...it's not necessary. I can tell he's done this kind of thing before."

[rhat]

What would you do if they asked you to play "At Last" (Etta James) and on their online video, the changes were pretty far off? I worked up changes I liked, brought in a lead sheet, and everybody liked it . . . except the guitar player who was busy watching a football game. I didn't get the gig, but neither did the guy who played just before me, or anyone else. The chair is still empty. Keyboard auditions are strange. A couple days ago, I responded to an R&B band ad. Their set list had songs with piano, organ, strings, and horns. Apparently, the second of two guitar players was going to cover E. piano parts and I would have been doing horns, and especially strings all night. No thanks.

 

 

I did a key audition where they said they would provide the board, since they had a guitar player that also played keys. I get there and they have what I call a toy keyboard and forgot the power supply. They also didnt like the fact that I use a bench to play keys... and didnt think that represented the rock and roll image. These people were in their 50s and one the woman with the objection looked like someones grandmother. I didnt get the gig ,,, they lasted one gig and imploded. It was too bad since they did have solid vocals.

[wades_keys]

So far I'm batting 1000 on all the auditions I've gone to. I'm not sure if that means I've gotten "good" or if the other guys really aren't.

 

If nothing else, it's validation of one of my musical goals: to apply my music theory knowledge to learning and retaining songs quickly, effectively and accurately.

 

See, I've always put music first and "rockstar" goals just ain't in my book. I figure if you focus on being the best, most versatile musician possible, that the band thing will just work itself out.

 

I think too many people don't focus on being musicians: they focus on being players and entertainers. I guess maybe all the years I spent playing music for noboby but me, with no accolades to sustain me, has given me a lot of self motivation. I'm motivated to improve musically regardless of gigs or what others think: I'm my own worst critic.

 

I'd sure like to see more local players with this ethic: I know they're out there but they're outnumbered by the "look at me" wannabe rockstars.

 

Yeah, that's a harsh opinion but it's the way I see it.

 

It's kind of cool too: I had people coming up to me after the show last night - people I've known for years that didn't really know I could play, tell me: "man, I didn't know you could play the bass like that."

 

That feels good, but it's not what motivates me to get better musically.

[ski219]

Here's Steve Vai with his audition story.

 

 

[badhabit]

I've been to a few that were "unique".

 

1) a buddy who was supposed to play this union gig with a show band decided he didn't want to and sent me in his place at the first rehearsal. But he never told the band leader/s. I show up and they say, "Who are you and where is so and so." I explained I was his replacement and he was unavailable. They had no choice but to let me play with them, at least for rehearsal. They pulled out all these charts, written in typical Bb ( for horns ). Some were easy; some pretty hard. I think I did ok on those. But when I whipped out my slide for some Hawiian tunes, that bowled them over. They said, "Who taught you how to play Hawiian music'? I said, "No one. It just seemed appropriate for the music." I played that show until it closed, for union scale.

 

2) Another buddy was auditioning for the drummer spot in this band that had a record deal. He said they needed a guitar player as well and would I like to come along? I say sure. I get there and they have this "attitude" like, we didn't ask you to come here, but since you're here, might as well plug in. I have no idea what they want, as they couldn't care if I was there or not. They gave me no direction, so I played more of a rock style guitar. In the end, it wasn't what they wanted but never bothered to tell me. Had I known they wanted a cleaner, R&B style, I couldv'e done that. It was hard to tell what was appropriate as the music was all original and the singer was a rock type singer.

 

But most of the auditions I have been to, I have been asked to play/work with them. It's not that I am some virtuoso. Quite the contrary. But I am versatile, and have played pretty much all forms of popular music, except classical. I am a good accompanist for singers, and know theory fairly well. I can solo decently. And behave in a professional manner. That seems to be the skills most needed usually.

[WynnD]

It's long been my contention that 4+ mediocre musicians who don't play loud, sing good 3 part harmony, get along and don't get drunk are usually a pretty good local band. Note that I didn't even require that any of them sing great lead. Good lead vocal is all that's required. I know that's not an A act, but a good B act beats a lot of what's out there. (That might be one reason why musician pay is so poor.)

[rhat]

 

It's long been my contention that 4+ mediocre musicians who don't play loud, sing good 3 part harmony, get along and don't get drunk are usually a pretty good local band. Note that I didn't even require that any of them sing great lead. Good lead vocal is all that's required. I know that's not an A act, but a good B act beats a lot of what's out there. (That might be one reason why musician pay is so poor.)

 

 

 

For sure good harmony is the nut that most bands cant crack. You have that and you are well above the pack.