Auditioning Conditioning
We've all been there, haven't we? And maybe multiple times? You're in fourth grade trying to get the part you want in the play. You're fourteen, and trying out for that sports team (okay - maybe not if you're a musician!) You're forty, and you've got that big job interview...
What do all of these have in common? They're all auditions (ladies and gentleman, we have a title!) but more importantly than that...
...they're either exciting challenges that you look forward to, or anxiety-inducing ordeals that wreak havoc with your self-esteem.
Depends how you look at it. And that, my axe-wielding friends, is the point of this post. Let's look at auditions from an angle slightly askew.
To begin, ponder a question for a moment: Are we really as “in control” of things as we’d like to think? Well, with some things we are. For example, if you’re trying out for a band, chances are that you’re either auditioning by:
- Playing songs - either covers, or the band’s original material that you’ve learned or
- Jamming, improvising, and reading music / charts
So, yes - you’re in total control over how prepared you are. If you’ve got those songs down pat, or if you’ve spent enough time in the woodshed practicing your reading, theory, and improv skills, then you’re probably very much in control of your own performance at the audition. You’ve got it in the bag right?
Well, maybe. There are two big components to the audition process that you will not have control over - and they are often "make-or-break":
- Your level of performance anxiety (“stage fright").
- The preconceptions, expectations, and behind the scenes politics of the band you’re auditioning for.
These two factors can be entirely related, as you’ll soon see. Let’s tackle the latter one first.
If you show up for an audition, play great, get along with everybody - but your hair’s too long or your clothes aren’t the right style - that shouldn’t matter, right? I mean this is America! Equal rights and all that stuff?
Well, just ask two pretty awesome players (namely Slash, and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine / Audioslave). That’s exactly what happened to them in the 80’s rock scene. Played great, lost the gigs because of hair and/or clothes. It’s a good thing though - we wouldn’t have had Guns n’ Roses or Rage if they’d gotten in!
Here's another example, from a less well-known, but no less rockin’ player - namely myself. I was in 9th grade at the time, and trying out for the school jazz band. There was an older kid there too, also trying out for Guitar. He was better at reading the chord charts that day, but I held my own and did pretty darn good. I didn’t make it, and for a few days thought that it must have been my playing. But guess what? Turns out that the band teacher had already decided that he wanted this other guy in, and had given him the audition music to practice in advance.
That’s what I mean by “politics”. In this regard, bands are often no different from the corporate world - they put on a show of auditioning people (often for publicity), but behind the scenes, already have someone in mind.
So how does this relate to non-control number one (your anxiety level)? Well, what is anxiety except a feeling of not being in control? What would happen if, every time you went into an audition, you had the mindset that your playing or performance didn’t matter in the least? That it’s more about your hair, your personality, or that they’ve already got someone picked out?
Chances are, you’d be less anxious and self-conscious about your performance. After all, it’s about your hair, right? If they don’t want you, at least you’ll make ‘em feel pretty stupid for turning down such a monster player!
Is this “gaming” yourself? Sure. But anxiety is “gaming” yourself too. Both scenarios are just mental smoke and mirrors, so why not pick the illusion that works to your advantage and makes you feel good? And the reality is your performance may, in fact, not have any bearing whatsoever on whether you pass the audition.
So, learn to Condition for the Audition! Prepare, be confident, be stoked when you go in - but also be realistic about the situation and how the world often works. You’re not in control of anything else, but you are in control of the meaning that you attach to things...
...and, I guess, to a certain extent, your hair.