Audition Strategies

Furious_Phil

So I had been prepping for an audition for the last 2 weeks after being asked to replace an established band's lead guitarist.
Here's a great preparation helper! (https://youtu.be/XHvKm0FYakg)... it translates very well to singing also

Like Ken, I am a pretty heavy-hitter guitarist, which is a great fallback.
So what did I do to prepare?
I spent no small amount of time getting very close guitar tones to the originals... and allot of time put in to learn all the solos and rhythm parts to perfection...
Here's the clincher... I also spent a fair time learning the backup vocals to perfection!
They totally weren't expecting that, and later admitted that it opened up a whole lot of possibilities for song options! Also, there'll be more than a few pieces where I'll be singing lead.
Needless to say it was a very unanimous "YES" from all band members.

What it boils down is captured in an old military axiom: "Prior Preparation Prevents P155-Poor Performance"
Also try to be very chill and easy going, it goes a long way!

I'd like to hear your audition strategies!

Cheers from the furious one

cwcw

Congrats @Furious_Phil ! Pete Thorn is one of my heroes. Anything he has to say regarding music is golden.
Super chill, no ego, team player attitude - remember that the audience is the customer...band is there for them, not the other way around. What you did sounds perfect!

doc_ramadani

Hi @Furious_Phil, thanks for these insights. I can add nothing more than what you already mentioned in your post. I haven't been to an audition for more than 20 years. Hopefully I will be able to join one soon again. Doc

bentk

@Furious_Phil What is your strategy to learn all the music (guitar parts)? Or do you just have a very good ear for it? You are much more experienced than me, so it might be simple experience, but really interested in your method.

Furious_Phil

@bentk, good to hear from you man!
I stick very close to the Pete Thon method in the link.
I start by listening to the songs allot to get the arrangements in my head
I then mess around a bit to get the main chords
I then use a Slow-down app (The Amazing Slow-Downer) so I can hear exactly what the guitarist is doing.
After I do all that, I may9or may not) go to YouTube to get another person's interpretation of the song.
I then play through each to the point where I know them so well I am bored :-p
Sometimes I will go one step beyond and visualize playing the song as I listen to it... if I lose focus or get lost, it is a sign that I may not know the song as well as I though I did.

I rinse and repeat. Usually am getting 2-4 songs down every 2 weeks... more if I am under the gun

bentk

@Furious_Phil Thanks for the informative reply! It's cool for me to see how you tackle this. Slowing down a song is a really good tip for me i think. Something i struggle with are the more complex chords. I am paying more attention to arrangement and theory these days, so i think i am improving.

I try to figure out most of the parts on my own these days, as i used to quickly refer to guitar tabs in the past. Of course, not all music has been tabbed at all, so you can't always go there anyway. However, i still sometimes look at them to see how somebody else figured out the song and compare it to my findings. I would actually really advise any new guitarists to NOT use tabs a lot...

However, for some things it is simply easier to start with a guitar tab. Just like getting sheet music. For example, some fingerpicking heavy songs can be very daunting to figure out (at least for me). Like songs from Tommy Emmanuel for example. The only downside is, there is no guarantee the tab is flawless, so you must always listen to the original as well to get it 100%.

Listen to the songs, A LOT. Internalise the melodies etc. Sing along with them. Maybe even figure out other parts like the bass for example if you have the time. Always a great tip.

Thanks Phil

Furious_Phil

@bentk , I learned guitar long before the internet, so most of my training is by ear.
I am able to pick things out allot easier when they are slowed down... even layered guitar stuff.
Another pro-tip to keep from shredding your right fingernails when doing Emmanuel or Knopfler type stuff is to use a nail strengthener like Sally Hansen - Triple Strong Strengthener, (Has titanium in it) and apparently this is what the pros use to maintain strong nails that hold up to crazy fingerstyle/hybrid picking

bentk

@Furious_Phil Good tip! I do more and more by ear as well, and using knowledge of music theory makes things even easier. I guess my previous post got a little out of hand, i'm quite into learning/making the actual music these days. I should definitely give the slowing down a try, because i usually repeat very short segments of fast sequences/melodies/riffs whatever to slowly get it. Slowing down might speed up the process!