Whether you’re headed for the bright lights of Broadway, your church choir or a concert stage, the first step in starting your singing career (after vocal training, of course) is choosing appropriate and winning audition material. Finding the right match to show off your range, personality and unique sound can be a challenge. Here are a few tips to help you know what to look for in audition music, prepare your material and audition successfully.
Instructions
Choose Your Material
1. Know your vocal range and type. Are you a legitimate soprano? A mezzo? Alto, tenor, baritone, bass? How many octaves can you sing? Where is your vocal “break”—the place where you have to switch between your “chest” voice and your “head” voice?
2. Once you know where you are comfortable vocally, listen to a variety of songs in the style you are preparing to audition for. If auditioning for a musical theater production, listen to show tunes. For a choral audition, listen to classical or religious materials. If you’re planning to lead a country band, listen to a country station on the radio, and sing along with songs that move you. Whatever your musical genre, find a tune you can relate to vocally and emotionally.
3. Narrow down your selection to two or three songs that will show off your vocal range, style and interpretation abilities.
4. Purchase the sheet music at your local music store, or download it from an online site. You may have to pay a small fee for this service, but if you’re planning to download other music in the future, the expense will be well worth it.
Prepare Your Performance
5. Study your sheet music carefully. Pay attention to the song’s structure and the lyric. What does the song attempt to communicate? What is its narrative arc? Where is the story, the conflict, the resolution? What is the general feeling the song communicates, and how can you best convey it? Think of the lyric as a three-part play, and act it accordingly.
6. Have a rehearsal pianist or vocal coach make a recording of the accompaniment for you. If you can afford it, work with the coach on your phrasing, styling and interpretation. Otherwise, work with your tape several times a day until your audition date. Know the song inside and out.
7. When your audition day arrives, vocalize on scales in the morning, several hours before your audition. Work every area of your voice, but do not overwork the area you will be using for your song.
The Audition
8. Take a few deep breaths before you go inside the audition room. Make sure that you have marked any necessary notation for the accompanist if you are planning to make any changes to the song’s structure. If you are auditioning for a musical theater show, highlight or mark off 16 bars of the showiest part of the song for your initial audition, as many auditors do not have time to listen to an entire number before making the first round of cuts at an open call.
9. Hand your picture and resume, if applicable, to the auditors, and hand your clearly marked sheet music to the pianist. If you are auditioning for a band and you play an instrument, make sure your instrument is tuned along with the band’s instruments, and speak through the song’s structure, or pass out song charts to the other band members before you start to play.
10. No matter how nervous you feel, don’t show it! Smile confidently, invest yourself in your music and communicate your talent to those watching. Remember, they want to find the right person just as much as you want to get the gig. They are on your side, so relax and have fun!
