Hi everyone,

I have been lurking on this board for years and found it very useful for playing and teaching alike. This is my first ever post though, so hello everyone!

Here's a bit of background. I am a pretty good amateur classical pianist; I passed my DipABRSM performance diploma with distinction four years ago and have been building on that since with recitals, competitions and more advanced repertoire. I have also been teaching beginners for several years.

I have recently decided that I'd like to get into jazz so I have been working through a jazz book which deals with chords, comping, improv, etc. I still have a long way to go but already feel like I've learnt a lot. An opportunity has come up to audition for an excellent jazz band near me. I asked for more information and they told me that good sight-reading was the most important thing. They sent through some sample pieces, which I've found quite easy. Most of the music is written out in full and there isn't too much improvisation or chord names alone (which are obviously my weaker areas since I'm classically trained).

For the audition this weekend I have to choose one of the sample pieces to play and do some sight-reading. Does anybody have any tips? I really want to join this band. I think I'm a good enough pianist but I'm worried that I may lose out to somebody with more of a background in jazz. Thanks for any help in advance.

Dormouse

Play to your strengths. As you read well choose the most difficult piece and really nail it, in fact do several or all of the sample pieces. That way you will not only show that you read well but also that you are keen.

+1

+10 ...and be yourself - play easy - relax. Pretend that you are auditioning them

Oh and welcome!

Other than sight-reading, work on the chords in the audition piece.

Become become comfortable with playing them with each hand in all or most of the inversions, also in the order in which they occur in the piece.

Also listen a few times to recordings of that piece, and play along with a recording of a good band playing that piece.



Yes, because you are...auditions should always be a 2 way exchange. And besides musically, you are also auditioning each other's ability to mesh together and work together as a unit.

And, because good piano players are much scarcer than, say, guitarists, you should regard youself as a valuable catch rather than just another in a long list of possibilities to them, or a newbie trying to get started, even if you are that.

You should do fine, BTW.

Hi. A good place to start with jazz piano, especially for a player who can read and has some technique is the Jamey Aebersold play-a-long book, Vol # 47 "I Got Rhythm Changes" In all 12 keys. There is a plethora of useful jazz scales, harmony, voicings, and a CD with the backing tracks to play along with, plus Jamey explains the program very well. Another great book to get at Amazon.com is "Berklee Jazz Piano" written by Ray Santisi who has been teaching there for over 30 years. It also has a CD with many of the examples and exercises. These two books will really help you get a good foundation for learning more about jazz piano theory. The Mark Levine books are a great source as well. Good luck.

katt

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to update this thread to let you know how it turned out and to thank you all for such helpful advice - I really appreciated it!

The audition went ok; I played my prepared piece perfectly but the sight-reading was quite hard because it was so fast. A guy turned up with 90% in LRSM (!!!) PLUS experience playing in jazz bands so of course he got the piano spot in the band but I got the reserve place. I was actually pretty happy to get it as I'm very busy with other things at the moment and anyway, this is my first foray into jazz.

However, tonight the main pianist couldn't make it so I played with the band and it was awesome! I can't believe how much fun it was. It was difficult so I'm going to have to do quite a lot of work in my own time, but I'm playing a gig with them next week and I can't wait. I'm a total jazz convert. :-)

Thanks once again everyone!

Congratulations on getting the alternate spot. I'm sure you will learn alot.

Nice going!

That is awesome, congrats, that must be really fun.

Congrats! I hope you have a ton of fun!