“Preparation”
“Preparation”
Hi everyone, Brian Mullen here from Chops Up and this is first of these kind of one on one sessions called “Talking Chops”. And today we are going to talk about being prepared. Whether it's for an audition or a gig you have coming up, as shows and concerts will hopefully be back everywhere across the country shortly. Maybe you don’t have an audition or a gig lined up yet but let me tell you, because of Covid a lot of people and musicians for that matter have had to pivot in order to make a living which means that when bar gigs and especially wedding gigs are back and the season is flourishing, their will be a few spots open and what’s going to separate you from the competition is how prepared you are, which makes you look more Professional, which is going to increase your chances of landing that gig.
Let's first address getting prepared for an audition, now depending on what you're auditioning for, your prep might change a little bit. I’ll tell you instance when I was living in Nashville I had an audition with a signed Artist who was looking for a full time touring Drummer. They gave me 3 songs to learn I had a 15 minute spot to get settled in play the tunes and be out. It was my first audition in Nashville and I was excited, I learned the tunes as if I was the drummer who played on the session. I learned every fill as they were played on record and at the end of the last song I did one tricky fill I had in my playbook to showcase my talent. When I played it the singer, the bass player and guitarist all turned around with smiles and nodding. I was like “yeah nailed it, I got it this.” Took off my cymbals packed up my sticks and ear monitors as fast as I could so I wasn’t lingering around. Now, I was under the impression it was like a high school or College Band audition where they had your name and credentials right in front of them. I was wrong. These guys didn’t know who I was, I had no resume no business cards nothing. It was my first year in Nashville and I was naive. The singer asked “So that’s it?” I said “Yup”. I’m walking out of the room this was at Sound Stage, the next guy auditioning walks in a gives the manager a piece of paper with a business card paper clipped to it and I knew I was in trouble right then and there. I called management the next day, I didn’t hear back for about a week and they told me they gave the gig to someone else. I KILLED that audition, I know it in my gut. But I learned a valuable lesson, give them something physical to remember you by. Being a great musician isn’t enough, it’s also about networking and meeting people. If you have the right attitude and a good positive personality, mixed with great talent and skill you can go far.
In the instance of a wedding band or bar gig band, they may give you a list of songs to learn. In a separate video I’ll do an in depth, step by step process, of how you can learn 20 songs in one day. But they may give you 5 or 6 songs to play for the audition, learn those songs. Get really specific about learning the arrangement, understanding the dynamics and any stand out guitar licks or drum fills. For example, the intro lick for “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses or the Epic Drum Fill from “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. Every musician and not musician knows how they sound and if you play something different from the original, they will think you messed up. Another thing that you can prepare for to make you stand out is not just by learning those 5 songs they gave you but learning 5 more songs in the same style. I remember hearing an interview with Ray Luzier, who is now the drummer for Korn, said Terry Bozzio was one of his biggest influences so he learned all of Korn’s hit songs plus all the songs from the album featuring Terry which was like 40 total songs. Just for an audition. Wedding bands a lot of times will list all the songs they play on their website because the couples getting married have songs picked out for their first dance, the groom and mother dance, the bride and the father and so they showcase mostly what they call Top 40 hits from the 60s, 70s and up to todays hit. For bar bands, same thing applies, if it’s a rock band you’re auditioning for, have 10 or 20 songs prepared perfectly. If it’s a Country band , same thing prepared. If you don’t know say Country music all too well, just google what the 20 most popular country songs of the last 10 years have been, pick half to learn. To get even more specific, like I said I’ll go over this in more detail in my “How to learn 20 songs in one day video” but for drummers find out the tempos of each song and write it down. Same goes for Guitar and Bass, write down the key of the song, write down the chord changes. Sometimes the vocalist will change the key to make it more comfortable in their range so be prepared if you have to move those changes up or down a half step or two.
If you are a student auditioning to be in your district Jazz, Concert or Marching Band your prep is going to be different. In this instance, a lot of times you will get a chart or a piece of music to learn. Huge advantage here is that you have the tools right in front of you to win. What I do first is make sure you have a pencil. Not a pen because you can’t erase ink and sometimes the conductor or director is going to make changes to the chart and it will get confusing if you have lines and scratches and arrows all over the place. And a blank sheet of paper. Use the pencil to take notes on the chart, first thing I look for are repeat signs, dynamic markings, CODAs, and anything that is going to require extra attention. You can play the notes perfectly but if you miss a repeat sign or your playing forte while everyone else is playing metso-piano YOU’RE DONE. Audition pieces are meant for you to screw up so they can test your limits and abilities. If you fumble a note or two in one phrase, don’t dwell on it just keep moving as if it never happened. THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IN AUDITION IS STOP AND TRY TO PLAY THE PIECE AGAIN. If that’s the only foul you committed, that’s great. Acknowledge it to your peers and apologies for it at the end and tell em “Sorry, I messed up that phrase in part C. I can play it again for you if you like.” It lets the people critiquing you know that 1. You know and understand that music 2. You are capable of performing at the highest level and 3. You don’t settle for OK, you want to strive for perfection, you want to live up the standards that this group your audition for should have. That’s going to go a long way.
Let’s talk a little bit about the chart. What I do, is I read through the entire piece of music from beginning to end, with my pencil, no instrument, taking little notes along the way, circling those tricky spots to look out for. Next is PUTTING IN THE WORK. Pick up you instrument, play though as much as you can until you hit one of those tricky spots. Then STOP. Work it out note by note, slowwww it down until you understand it and can grasp it. Repeat just that lick or phrase over and over and over again. Slowly and start to build it up to speed. Once you think you have it. Repeat that phrase 10 more times. Then go back a few bars, play it as if it were the real thing and see how far you get again. If you keep fumbling over a certain part, take that blank piece of paper and make yourself a little cliff note on how you can remember that lick (writing 1e+a and spelling out the rhythm or melody). For me personally, I need to write things down to remember them better. I’M USING A CHEAT SHEET RIGHT NOW TO REMBER ALL THE CONTENT I’M TALKING ABOUT. Do what you have to do to make it easy for you to understand and execute. And then repeat. Get through that one difficult part, knock it out and keep moving. If you come to another tricky part, same thing, STOP. Slow it down. Work it out, go back a few bars and repeat. Do this over and over again until you have an understanding of the part you are playing. Don't try and tackle the whole entire piece at one time. Take it as little groups, that why music has sections and movements. Break it up and focus on the task at hand. Don’t be worrying if you’re going to get the solo section right if you're still playing the melody. Or if you are in the solo section, don’t worry about if what you already played sounded good. Be present. Anticipate what’s coming, be ready, but be focused on what you're doing at that exact moment. Like I said, break the music up into little sections, stopping to make sure those parts you're fumbling over are squared away. Once you get thought the entire piece after taking all your notes. NOW try playing through the piece in its entirety. If you get by with no hiccups or issues, excellent, do it again. If you’re still having difficulty on one or 2 particular parts, also excellent, now you know what you need to practice more of.
In closing on the audition aspect of this conversation, keep this in mind, you are not the only one auditioning for this band. If you run through these pieces one or two times telling yourself you got it, which you might, someone else auditioning could have spent hours perfecting their craft, talking the notes, making sure each part was as written. They may have run it so many times they have eternalized it and who do you think is going to get that gig? Which one is going to be oozing with confidence because they have played it so many times, they have literally visualized themselves on that stage or on that field. That is the secret sauce that going to get you ready to step up and be on that next level. If you do this, your chances of landing that gig will greatly increase, but nothing is guaranteed. You may have put in the necessary work, prepared and played your butt off but sometimes you still don’t land the gig or the spot you wanted for whatever reason but look at this as an opportunity to improve. It’s only a failure if you didn’t learn anything. I’ve gained the most confidence in myself from auditions where I didn’t land the gig because I knew I was stepping into a space I was unfamiliar with and I can now grow from my experiences.
Now, once you’ve landed that spot, congratulations, but the prep isn’t over. It’s just beginning. You have the take that same working formula that got you where you are and continue that work ethic and keep improving. I can’t think of a single person in the history of music that has Mastered their instrument to the point where they don’t practice anymore. Look at pro golfers for example. Best in the world at what they do yet, they have swing coaches and are at gym working out everyday at the range everyday because someone even when you win the Tour Championship, someone is going to be right behind you trying to take that spot. Same applies in Bands. Wedding bands in particular have 4 or 5 replacement players lined up because if someone can’t make the gig because of an emergency, the ceremony isn’t going to stop the music goes on. You have to be ready to bring your A game anytime anywhere. Of course, players have off nights where you’re just not feeling it but when the body goes, the brain picks it up and muscle memory kicks in. There have been many occasions after a show I thought I played my best and fans and audience members didn’t acknowledge me, and there were other nights I felt sub par and people would come up after and tell me how great I played that night, so you never know. Great shows and great performances don’t happen in one night, they happen in the days leading up to it. Great performances are made when the audience isn’t looking, it’s when the band puts the hours of preparation and practice into the performance. Half time Shows are made weeks in advance and worked out long before any outside eyes see it. Perfection is Impossible, Practice makes Preparation.
After you’ve put in the time to get your parts down and you feel undeniably confident in playing ability. One last preparation is needed, and that is gear preparation. I love to play hockey, I played as kid and my father always told me to check my bag before I left to make sure I had everything. One day, I guess he lent his hockey gloves to a friend and didn’t check his bag when we went to go play. We get to the rink he gets fully dressed and “Damn” no gloves. So I replied, “well dad, did you check you bag before you left?” We still laugh and joke about it to this day. Point is to check your gear the day before. Not the same day, the day before. For guitarists plug up and make sure all your cables and pedals work. Drummers makes sure you bring an extra snare and any other little items you need. Lay it out on the floor before you pack stuff away, make sure all items are accounted for. Make sure the set list and sheet music are in the correct order. Stuff happens and like I said before, the music doesn’t stop. And neither should you. Keep moving, keep improving, keep investing your time and energy into something you really want to accomplish. I hope you gained a thing or 2 from this. If you did share it with someone you know. You can also reach out to me if you have any specific questions about an audition you have coming up, I’d be glad to do a coaching call with you or your band. Thank You for listening and don’t forget to get your Chops Up!
