Sing the right song for your voice at an audition.
Picking audition material is a daunting task the first few times around. However, once you get the hang of it, you'll realize that doing so boils down to a simple formula. Whether you are auditioning for a school musical, a professional theater, or a local music group, simple steps will help you choose a song that will blow the competition out of the water.
Instructions
Picking Your Song
1. Plunk out notes on a keyboard starting from left to right; match the pitches by voice in order to find out what your vocal range is. Write down the first note you were able to match and the last note you were able to match. Another option is to hire a local vocal coach to help you pinpoint your vocal range and keep you from picking songs that are too high or too low for you to sing.
2. Go online and research the company or show you are auditioning for. You want to choose a song that is similar to the show or image of the company. For example: If you are auditioning for "Rock of Ages" the musical, you want to pick a spicy '80s rock ballad to sing at the audition. However, if you are auditioning for Disney World, you want to sing an upbeat song with a pop feel.
3. Search for a song for which you can get sheet music for easily. Plenty of online resources offer sheet music, such as sheetmusicplus.com.
4. Pick a song in the middle of your voice range. Play it safe in an audition. Nothing is worse than a casting director knowing you are trying too hard to reach the top or bottom notes in a song.
5. Pick a song that you will enjoy and learn easily. This will prevent you from being nervous and unsure of your selection.
Preparing Your Song
6. Print out the sheet music to your final selection; focus on preparing the best 16 bars of the song. But learn the song in its entirety in case the casting director wants to hear more. Clearly mark the start and finish points of the 16 bars for the accompanist. Those 16 bars should be the climax of the song, which will usually show off your voice best.
7. Practice, practice, practice. You'll never know if the song truly fits you and is the best song for you unless you sing it a few times to get a feel for how the song fits your voice and your body movement.
8. Perform the song for a vocal coach or music teacher. You need a second opinion before a vocal audition.
