Welcome to the fourth and final installment of Winning the Audition, a special series from Contrabass Conversations featuring advice from leaders in the field about preparing and executing auditions successfully.  This series is drawn from interviews conducted with dozens of bassists from orchestras like the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and Houston Symphony, plus some of the most influential pedagogues in the field.

I’d like to thank Discover Double Bass for sponsoring this series.  They’ve got several in-depth courses available, including the Double Bass Scales Play-Along Collection, Double Bass Bowing Technique, Beginner’s Course, and Creating Walking Bass Lines.  Each of these courses includes hours of HD videos, PDFs of exercises, and access to a members-only study group.  There’s a lot of free content on the site to check out as well, including previews of each of these courses.  Check out these courses and much more at discoverdoublebass.com!

Today’s episode dives into common characteristics and mindsets that distinguish audition winners.  We talk about techniques for battling nerves, adopting a more musical approach to the audition process, and processes for developing a good mental state for auditioning.