And......one audition blown.....

Denverdave

Denverdave

Resident Ragamuffin
I finally got my audition for the church band this afternoon. Intimidating group. Three guys who are pros. I didn't play bad, just not exactly what they were looking for. They wanted a note for note, tone for tone copy of the originals. That was not communicated to me and I played the right chords in to the wrong way. Not sure if I have even a small shot of being approved, but it was a learning experience. Maybe they could see that I CAN play, I just need to know what they want. Oh well. I'm good either way.

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I would never want to play with a band that that wanted note for note, tone for tone exact copies of anything anyways.

It's never going to have the same feel- In fact I can guarantee that they will sound stronger if they'd make the songs their own, put their own personality into them. It Always sound weird and stiff to copy too closely.
 
Fumbles said:
I would never want to play with a band that that wanted note for note, tone for tone exact copies of anything anyways.

It's never going to have the same feel- In fact I can guarantee that they will sound stronger if they'd make the songs their own, put their own personality into them. It Always sound weird and stiff to copy too closely.
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Well...they are their songs. They wrote them, so they do have the right to want them played note for note. I just didn't hear what they were after on the demo they had us practice to. Live and learn. I'm used to more rock and blues and this is played differently. Tons of effects and delays.

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Not to fret DD.

If they want a song note for note then let them play their record of it. It will then ALWAYS be note for note.

Once saw Maroon 5 in concert. Lots of hits but the concert sucked. It was an EXACT replica of everything I heard on the radio. Nothing out of the box. No improvising and everything was note for note.

If I see a cover band that plays everything note for note then I am bored. They are like little robots programmed to play everything like we hear on the radio....note for note.

I will say there are some riffs and leads that need to be played note for note. Can't do justice to Comfortably Numb or Hotel California if it wasn't pretty much note for note. Music is art. Art is expression and if I was confined to a band that would allow me to express my feelings at the moment through my guitar then it wouldn't be a band for me.

Rock on.
 
I should get a written evaluation sometime this week, but because there was no audition immediately following me one of the guys pulled me aside to let me know that was what they had been looking for. They were all very nice and very down to earth. One of the guys was an A&R rep for a major label for 20 years. Two of them separately have dozens of songs they wrote played in churches all over the world. I was not looking to play with their band (the parent church) but at the much smaller branch we attend. I'll see. I know what I can do and I can play what they need - it just wasn't right at the rehearsal.
 
Denverdave said:
Well...they are their songs. They wrote them, so they do have the right to want them played note for note. I just didn't hear what they were after on the demo they had us practice to. Live and learn. I'm used to more rock and blues and this is played differently. Tons of effects and delays.

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Wait a second. They wrote their own music to play in church?

Then I will have to go with Hank Hill on that subject.

Also, I agree with most everyone else here if they want it note for note just play a damn recording.

king-of-the-hill-on-christian-rock.jpg
 
reverend1 said:
Wait a second. They wrote their own music to play in church?

Then I will have to go with Hank Hill on that subject.

Also, I agree with most everyone else here if they want it note for note just play a damn recording.

king-of-the-hill-on-christian-rock.jpg
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Lol....

These guys are nationally recognized song writers so the songs are good. I don't particularly care for a lot of the 'stylings' currently in the genre, but it is what it is. When you are writing specifically for a large group to sing a song, you have to simplify things.

And while I won't disagree with Hank Hill entirely, there is some very, very good Christian music being made. It's just never played on the radio.

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Sounds like you have the right attitude; sometimes things just don't work out so you take some lessons from the experience and move on. :thu:
 
Fumbles said:
I would never want to play with a band that that wanted note for note, tone for tone exact copies of anything anyways.

It's never going to have the same feel- In fact I can guarantee that they will sound stronger if they'd make the songs their own, put their own personality into them. It Always sound weird and stiff to copy too closely.
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100% this.
 
Denverdave said:
Lol....

These guys are nationally recognized song writers so the songs are good. I don't particularly care for a lot of the 'stylings' currently in the genre, but it is what it is. When you are writing specifically for a large group to sing a song, you have to simplify things.

And while I won't disagree with Hank Hill entirely, there is some very, very good Christian music being made. It's just never played on the radio.

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Maybe, it's my view of church or maybe it's 12 years of Catholic school, but I never got the church band thing anyway. We always had an organist, or maybe a bell choir during the holidays.

I have nothing against church or people who go and I think it is a good thing in most cases. That being said I'm very adverse to hearing about it or discussing it in public. I immediately distrust anyone who tells you they are a Christian or starts getting Jesusy on me. In my experience, people who go out of their way to tell you they are christian are using it to garner trust from you, and normally they are a dirtbag. Not in all cases, of course.

To me religion is something between myself and god and no-one else's business, conversely I don't want to hear about what other people believe. So anyhow that is a round about explanation of why I don't know anything about christian music. I think it has it's place in church, but my personal feeling are that I don't want to hear it or about it outside of church.

The guy I take lessons from plays in his church band as does the owner of the shop I go to. He has offered to have me play with them to get confidence and learn to play with and in front of people, but I have always declined his offer. I feel it wouldn't be right to sit in if I wasn't really committed to what I was playing.
 
Denverdave said:
That is the goal. Nothing wrong with learning to play in a different style if I get the chance.
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It's interesting. Having played with you, I know you're a more than competent guitarist. I would think they would work with you to get everyone on the same page like any band would. Unless they have a huge talent pool at your church.

Is it a paid gig? I recently found out that some of our local "churches" (I put that in quotes since they are the huge mega churches that seem more like big business than a church) pay relatively big money to musicians to play in their bands. With the exception of the full time organist I always assumed it was a volunteer type thing.
 
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reverend1 said:
It's interesting. Having played with you, I know you're a more than competent guitarist. I would think they would work with you to get everyone on the same page like any band would. Unless they have a huge talent pool at your church.

Is it a paid gig? I recently found out that some of our local "churches" (I put that in quotes since they are the huge mega churches that seem more like big business than a church) pay relatively big money to musicians to play in there bands. With the exception of the full time organist I always assumed it was a volunteer type thing.
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Not a paid position, no.

There are paid band members at the main church, but they also teach at a music school the church runs (the parent church is a huge freaking church - too big for me) so that is their living. I don't know if any of the part time musicians get paid, but I doubt it. I've played in churches on and off for probably 18 years and never gotten paid nor expected to. I would assume that in a church that size (10K plus attenders) they will have a deep talent pool. Especially since they run a music school there.

They have not told me no yet - I am just assuming that from the immediate feedback I got after the audition from the guy running the process. And the feedback was very useful - if they do give me the green light to play I will have a much better knowledge of what they are expecting from an electric guitar player in the band.
 
rickenvox said:
Christian control freaks?? Say it isn't so!
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Musician control freaks would be the case. But it's not really that - they wrote the music and they have a reasonable expectation that the music will be performed the way they wrote it to be performed. I wish I had known that prior to the audition - it would have been a better effort on my part then nail the parts cold. Live and learn. It was overall a good experience and I received some feedback that can hopefully make me a better player. I'm disappointed I wasn't as prepared as I wish I could have been. 'Modern Worship' is a genre I actually am not crazy about musically, but that is what they play and write and I enjoy playing at church. So I learn.....
 
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Denverdave said:
Not a paid position, no.

There are paid band members at the main church, but they also teach at a music school the church runs (the parent church is a huge freaking church - too big for me) so that is their living. I don't know if any of the part time musicians get paid, but I doubt it. I've played in churches on and off for probably 18 years and never gotten paid nor expected to. I would assume that in a church that size (10K plus attenders) they will have a deep talent pool. Especially since they run a music school there.

They have not told me no yet - I am just assuming that from the immediate feedback I got after the audition from the guy running the process. And the feedback was very useful - if they do give me the green light to play I will have a much better knowledge of what they are expecting from an electric guitar player in the band.
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Will you be the only electric guitar in the band? Aka the only boy guy in the band I want to hear. :tongue:
 
reverend1 said:
Will you be the only electric guitar in the band? Aka the only boy guy in the band I want to hear. :tongue:
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The church I attend (a downtown branch of the main church and way smaller) , there is usually only one electric player. The one time I went to the parent church they had one electric player, one acoustic player, and two keyboard players.
 
12Pack said:
Not to fret DD.

If they want a song note for note then let them play their record of it. It will then ALWAYS be note for note.

Once saw Maroon 5 in concert. Lots of hits but the concert sucked. It was an EXACT replica of everything I heard on the radio. Nothing out of the box. No improvising and everything was note for note.

If I see a cover band that plays everything note for note then I am bored. They are like little robots programmed to play everything like we hear on the radio....note for note.

I will say there are some riffs and leads that need to be played note for note. Can't do justice to Comfortably Numb or Hotel California if it wasn't pretty much note for note. Music is art. Art is expression and if I was confined to a band that would allow me to express my feelings at the moment through my guitar then it wouldn't be a band for me.

Rock on.
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Your reaction to Maroon 5 was the reaction I had to seeing Marillion open for Rush in 1985. To this day Marillion has MY record of the best, most lush-sounding live band I've seen in concert. But they played everything EXACTLY the way it was played on the album, and just stood their staring at their shoes the whole time (probably concentrating on getting everything right) and didn't move, didn't interact with the audience, nothing. Most boring performance I've ever seen too, even if it was the best-sounding.
 
12Pack said:
Once saw Maroon 5 in concert. Lots of hits but the concert sucked. It was an EXACT replica of everything I heard on the radio. Nothing out of the box. No improvising and everything was note for note.
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I saw the Styx Paradise Theater tour in 1979 (I was quite the fan in my teens) and the music was just like that: precisely the same as the recorded versions, down to the smallest nuance.

As a 14 year old, I liked it alright in the moment, but later the more I thought about it the less I dug it. How the hell was I to know they even played their damned instruments as opposed to pantomime playing and singing along with a recording?
 
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