Auditioning tips & advice needed

I’m going to audition next week for a local church and need some advice. I’m not sure how all auditions go, but can you guys give me any tips? Is it fair to assume that the WP will ask me to come prepared to play a few specific songs in advance? As back-up, I’ve got a few well-known P&W songs (Hillsong, Tomlin, etc.) down. Also, do I bring my entire rig to an audition? Or only the 2-3 pedals needed to get me through it (tuner, overdrive, delay)? Any other tips would be appreciated!

Congrats! I know you have been waiting for an opportunity to serve for a while now. You may be provided a couple of songs in advance. I'd say that if you have a few well-known songs ready to go on your own, you'll be set.

As for gear, if you have a small board, personally, I'd go light. Guitar, amp, tuner, 1 dirt pedal (FD2), and 1 delay (Nova). If like me, though, you just have your one main board nailed down and set up is easy no matter if you have 3 or 13 pedals on there, just take the whole thing.

Play with humble confidence, and be open to direction and you'll do just fine.

One other thing...I know a lot of places use Nashville numbers for their band charts. If you are not familiar with that notation system, check it out. It is really simple.

Ask the WL what you need to know & what you should bring... He should be upfront about what he wants you to play & what he wants to hear. If your rig is huge/complicated, ask him if you should bring it, or bring something smaller. If more than one audition is scheduled on the same day, it wastes a lot of everyone's time waiting for a guitarist to set up a complicated rig... if you're the only audition, maybe arrange to be there early to set up if you have a ton of gear. Then, try to relax, listen, don't try to play everything you know in one song, listen, relax, and listen. :wink:

How I do it: I give folks 2 or 3 songs to learn on a CD with charts, and I make sure that the recorded version I give them is the way that we do the song for the audition. If there are particular parts I want them to play EXACTLY like the recorded version, I tell them that up front. On the day of the audition, I have some of the band there, and we play through 1 or 2 of the songs from the CD with the person. If they do well & seem comfortable, we'll try a song that they're not familiar with, just to see how quickly they can get it.

After playing, I'll sit down with the person for a bit and go over their application with them, explain the worship team requirements/commitment, and any questions I (or they) might have. After the audition, I talk & pray with the WT (get their input), and then let the person know my decision shortly thereafter.

I also know a lot of folks in this area who are involved in worship ministries, and other worship leaders, so I can usually ask around about the person if they've been on other WTs in this area (one of the questions on the application :smile:)... If they've caused problems at other places, it would definitely be something we'd need to discuss before bringing them on the team (and most likely, before an audition).

I'm often on the other end, ie part of the auditioning backing band, and sometimes part of the decision-making. Every church team is different, but here's my thoughts. In a nutshell, our three Ts:

Tuning - Being out of tune when the band downbeats is a massive red flag. Its too simple a thing to not have sorted beforehand.

Timing - Don't be late. But more importantly, can you play good time? This is not the job of the drummer, everyone should state a solid time within their part. Even 'simple' single 8th notes typical of todays modern P&W, they will stick out a sore thumb if you aren't grooving. We've declined players with great gear, awesome attitude and preparation BUT when playing, the song suffered because they didn't lock in. (I hope they'll re-audition after a few months practice with a metronome!)

Taste - Know your parts, and execute them with 'humble confidence' as stated. Should you be playing in the intro? Should you not be? Too many times we see players head down in the chart, bashing away oblivious to what the band is doing, playing what's not on the recording. Youtube is amazing with plenty of good tutorials on how a specific part is played. Check em out beforehand if you have problems deciphering your part from a CD.

Be heads up and ears open. Don't try to impress with dazzle and flash. Big criteria is being a team player ie knowing when to lay off, when and how to support, build and add colour.

Making a mistake isn't the end of the world, but being able to recover quickly is important. A slip up that derails a player for bars or sections on end, suggests they prepared the prescribed songs by rote, but may struggle in overall musicality, which is what's needed to learn a rotation of 30, 40 or 100 songs to catch up on. Not just get through a couple audition tunes - that's the easy part!

You are likely to have songs specified. Great to have a couple more that you know well up your sleeve.

Gear - Its more than fair to ask what you need to bring. But if in doubt just pack your rig in the car. Be prepared to plug into the house amp, or even another guitarists pedalboard. To be safe bring one or two of your favourite pedals - with fresh batteries and patch cables - so you can patch that into some else's chain if need be.

You're signal chain listed is plenty. You want to be thinking less about your rig, and more about the band around you.

Being open to direction is a good pointer too, onstage and after - noone likes to be in a band with a hardhead. Case in point: two acoustic guitarists in our team didn't get through their first audition years ago, but were given suggestions on where to improve. Years later after passing their subsequent auditions they are both bandleaders in their specific teams, and highly valued and capable players. On the flip side we often get people who receive feedback with folded arms and a stand-off attitude, and we rarely see them back for a second audition.

Of course, its normal to be a bit nervous - that's fine. We've given the green light to plenty who 'feel' nervous, but play well with a band. Sadly, very often we're knocking back players who are actually not as capable as they think they are, despite their confidence.

If you're not already familiar with Nashville numbering, I'd keep that as a 'to-do' for the future. Unless you know that approach critical for that worship team. But its a great way to look at and hear music, regardless. (Its central to my approach, at church as well as the gigs I play)

Above all, good on you for stepping forward with your gifting. We are not meant to hide our gifts under a bushel :smile: Do your best and this will be an excellent learning experience which ever way the outcome. Good luck!

Well, the way we do it is he takes the auditioners, and splits them into 5 piece bands. He hands them the music to 2 popular worship songs and tells them to play (this quarter it was Mighty to Save and Our God). Bring whatever you need to sound any good, i.e. Bring the Fulldrive and DD-7, but not the flanger and whammy. Bring the Blues Junior, but not the Line 6 stack with full floorboard.

Good luck!

Met with the WP this week. He suggested that instead of a formal audition, he and I just get together and jam one evening (he plays acoustic). My thought was to be prepared with some songs and bring my 3 key pedals (Boss tuner, Fulldrive 2, Boss DD-5 with tap tempo). I'm very familiar with the Nashville number system.

Do NOT play the melody over singing. Play fills! And do not step on other players parts. In tune, in time and in taste. When in doubt, lay out.

"Know your parts, and execute them with 'humble confidence' as stated. Should you be playing in the intro? Should you not be? Too many times we see players head down in the chart, bashing away oblivious to what the band is doing, playing what's not on the recording. Youtube is amazing with plenty of good tutorials on how a specific part is played. Check em out beforehand if you have problems deciphering your part from a CD."


GREAT advice for guitar players in church. So many show up and just play the chords on the chart on every song, with no awareness of what the song really needs from their instrument.

Go light with the gear. Take as little as possible. Big rigs are actually turn-offs to non-guitar players.

Go for a great simple tone.

Do not try to impress everyone. The way to "show off" is to play tastefully, which can often mean "simply".

Listen to what else is going on. If the other guy is playing a big 1st position G chord, then you play something else. A double stop. A triad half way up the neck. An arpeggio.

In this setting, you are a RHYTHM player. Pulling out your best VanHalen riffs will only work against you. Go for groove.

And, oh yeah, HAVE FUN! If you come across as a stressed-out mess, it will tell everyone you're not ready for this. Lay back and enjoy it.

Go light with the gear. Take as little as possible. Big rigs are actually turn-offs to non-guitar players.

Go for a great simple tone.

Do not try to impress everyone. The way to "show off" is to play tastefully, which can often mean "simply".

Listen to what else is going on. If the other guy is playing a big 1st position G chord, then you play something else. A double stop. A triad half way up the neck. An arpeggio.

In this setting, you are a RHYTHM player. Pulling out your best VanHalen riffs will only work against you. Go for groove.

And, oh yeah, HAVE FUN! If you come across as a stressed-out mess, it will tell everyone you're not ready for this. Lay back and enjoy it.

+1. Recently auditioned successfully. Aside from my guitar, I used my pedalboard (instead of the house), but used their backline amp. Know your part and where it fits in. Confidence will show through if you are prepped.

I have done poorly at other auditions in the past and used them as learning experiences. No matter what their decision, ask what you did well, and more importantly, what you can improve.

Good luck!

Go light with the gear. Take as little as possible. Big rigs are actually turn-offs to non-guitar players.

Thanks for the advice. I've been thinking about getting a small Pedaltrain Mini to carry just my tuner, volume (for swells), Fulldrive 2, and Nova delay. I'm thinking this would be good both for auditioning and rehearsals, and heck, probably even Sunday morning.

Alternatively, I do solo stuff every now and then, to which I usually bring a tuner, compressor, tremolo, and reverb.

So what happened with the audition/jam? How'd it go???