The Next Level Bassist - Practicing

Getting
There
An NLB
Exclusive
Interview
Feature!
Auditions can make or break your career.
From practice routine to mindset and everywhere in between, some of the industry’s
brightest rising stars give their most valuable advice and discuss the strategies
they used before stepping in front of the screen.
NLB: How do you decide which auditions to take? Do you
have a preference of named-chair vs. section auditions?
Dan Carson: I had never taken an audition before, and my
teachers kept telling me that I should “get one out of the way”
before my junior year. I didn’t end up doing one last year,
but I knew that auditioning for IU orchestra seating and
summer festivals weren’t the same experience as a professional
audition. I needed to go out and get exposure to the
real world. It wasn’t necessarily that Alabama was holding
a Principal audition, but it was an orchestra at a level I was
comfortable with approaching so I decided to take it on.
Alex Jacobsen: Since I was in school, distance was a big priority.
I didn’t want to drop a lot of money on something
I wasn’t very confident in while I was still developing the
“package,” my way of presenting myself at auditions. Another
big consideration was the size of the list, and how that
fit into what I was doing at the time. I don’t want to destroy
myself for nothing! As a student, I was into any audition I
could get my hands on. I didn’t say things like, “I can’t see
myself in this orchestra.” I just wanted to throw myself into
something. Eventually, I would like to perhaps play principal
in an orchestra because I enjoy sitting in the front and
making decisions. Ultimately, a principal still needs to play
with the section, so the skill sets have a lot of crossover, and
I’m excited to play in any position.
NLB: What sort of prep work did you do for this audition?
Was it different from other auditions you’ve taken? How was
it different from your routine when not preparing for auditions?
Jonathan Borden: I got the list about five weeks before
hand, and used a system of A, B, and C-lists based on how
well I knew the excerpts. I focused on the least familiar excerpts:
my “C”-list first, and tried to build all the repertoire
towards an “A”-list level. I wanted to get all of my decisions
about fingerings and bowings – as well as musical decisions
– to a good level as early as possible. About two weeks before
the audition process, I started trying to really practice the
performance element; I played for a lot of people, gave mock
auditions at school, pulling people into my practice room all
the time to get feedback. I had only taken the Boston Symphony
audition previously and the approach was a little different.
I felt more comfortable with the whole process and
was able to refine the approach – I specifically knew I needed
to develop the performance aspect of the audition and was
able to focus on how I would play when I got on stage. I
spent some time on keeping cool in the moment.
AJ: In my previous auditions, there was a lot of variety of
approach. I would divide my list into three sections and basically
do a lot of non-musical planning of my preparation.
In this audition, I decided to do everything I could to make
each excerpt sound as good as possible right away. In the
past, I’ve allowed intonation or tone issues to go by for a day
or a week, but I wanted to eliminate that tendency. A month
out, I wanted to make sure I captured the essence of each
excerpt so I would be used to that at the actual audition.
DC: I find that my practice techniques are perhaps a bit lacking
in variety, but about 85 percent of my time is spent working
things up with the metronome. You have to really take
a passage down to the fastest tempo you can play perfectly,
which for me is usually quite slow. I start speeding up and as
soon as it doesn’t feel perfect anymore, back down from that
tempo and work out the issues. It’s very methodical, and I
try to be a very logical thinker. Most of the practicing I do
seems very black-and-white. Recording myself was another