Tips for Singing Auditions
May 19, 2009
Tips for Singing Auditions
Hello all! Lately I’ve had a ton of people preparing for singing auditions for various summer shows. This inspired me to share a handful of ideas that will hopefully help you and the rest of my readers have a more successful auditions. So without further adieu, lets do it!
Always Show Up For Your Singing Audition Prepared
This seems really obvious to most everyone. If you’re going to an audition, you always want to prepare for it. But, how does one do that? Most importantly, you want to make sure that you know what’s expected of you. You should know whether to bring sheet music for their accompanist, or a track. Did they request you sing something from the show, or can you show off your voice with whatever song you choose (keep it genre specific)? Are you supposed to prepare 1 song, 2 songs, 16 bars, 2 mins, etc? How about a resume and headshot? These are all things you should take the time to find out before your vocal audition and most of it should be available on the flyer or website announcing the audition.
The reason I get so specific is theatres or individuals holding the auditions can see hundreds of people in a weekend and if you don’t show them enough respect to follow their guidelines, they likely will see you as unprepared and lets face it, NO ONE wants unprepared people in their cast. Other things you should do include showing up 10 minutes early and you want to be sure that you know your piece well enough that you can sing it at any tempo the accompanist chooses to play it.
Let Your Personality Shine Through
I can tell you from personal experience that the best singers don’t always get hired or cast. Most people think it’s because theatres play favorites, but I think more often than not it’s because some people are more reliable and enjoyable to work with.
That being said, when auditioning, you always want to be gracious, upbeat, and have a good attitude. Having a can do, enthusiastic attitude always beats out those who are likely to complain (or even worse, are complaining). So be gracious. Thank people for their time after they’ve heard you. Smile before and after your performance. Be excited to be there! These are all great qualities that the “judges” cannot help but notice, even if they act like they don’t (and they probably won’t).
Have Something About Your Dress that Sticks Out
Just like a pleasing personality, this little trick helps people (and judges) recognize and more easily identify you. If you wear a unique hat, a bright colored ribbon in your hair, a scarf… really anything that sticks out, people can’t help but notice and remember you.
If at First You Don’t Succeed…
Give up and go home. Ok, I’m totally kidding. Of course, try, try again. Let me share something with you that I tell all my vioce students.
You should never go into your first audition at a new place expecting a lead role.
I say this strictly because the director doesn’t know you. Being in a show is a huge responsibility, and honestly, it’s not something that everyone can handle. Because of this, many directors absolutely will not cast someone they do not know in a lead position because it’s unclear as to whether or not they can depend on them. So, if you aren’t cast, don’t get down. But more importantly, if you get in the ensemble, do it and take it seriously. Show the director how reliable you are and how fun you can be to work with. This will help the director become more confident in your ability to sing the lead the next go around.
Well, that’s it for today! I hope that these tips help your audition go smoothly. Break a leg (unless you’re a dancer, of course!) and as always, happy singing!
Singing Should be as Relaxed as Speaking
January 17, 2009
If you were to go out and ask 100 singers if singing should feel as relaxed as speaking, I believe 98 to 100 of them will say yes. Ironically, out of that same 100 people, 86 of them will probably sing with unnecessary tension the next time they open their mouth to sing.
Now, I’m not a vocal Nazi, nor do I believe that you must sing one particular way in order to be considered a “singer,” but I do know that most people, even professional singers, sing with more tension than needed.
So the logical question for you to ask me now is,
“Why would anybody knowingly make singing harder than it needs to be?“
My response is simply one word: Habit.
Most singers don’t pay attention to their singing, they just keep doing what they’ve always done assuming everything is okay. This is alright if you’re planning on singing a song or two and calling it quits, but what about when you have to start singing multiple sets? Then you start recognizing that little bit of tension, because the more you sing the more that once little, almost unrecognizable amount of tension grows into something much greater.
But don’t get down… we are all guilty of this occasionally (myself included). But the only way we will get past this habit is through awareness. So, your exercise for today is to sing the chorus of your favorite song. Then, speak it and see if it feels the same.
Now sing something a little bit more challenging… then speak it. Did speaking it feel better, worse, or the same? If speaking it felt better, speak that section of the song again this time being sure to observe just how relaxed it feels. Then, speak the song on pitch slowly bringing it back to full out singing. You’ll be surprised how much this simple exercise can help you identify and correct tensions that you might not have even been aware of previously.
As a side note, if you still have problems getting your song back to a relaxed speech level, drop the words all together and repeat simple sounds like Bye, or No, or Guh, or Mum in place of the words. By repeating the same sound, you simplify the vocal process even more allowing you to get rid of stubborn tensions. Once you can get the feel of it simplified, you’re better able to balance the sound on the actual words.
I hope this little online singing tip helps. Thanks for reading and as always, Happy Singing!
Rid Yourself of the 2 Most Common Forms of Vocal Tension
October 1, 2008
Learn to Sing Freely – Singing Tips Blog presents:
Rid Yourself of the 2 Most Common Forms of Vocal Tension
If most singers were honest, they’d readily admit that they try to mimic the sound of the artists who did the song before them. While this can be an effective method of exploring your voice, it usually ends in us trying to manipulate things around to create a sound that isn’t our own. Being a good singer isn’t about creating a cool sound by whatever means necessary, it’s about relaxing enough that you can produce a great sound as effortlessly as possible. Put simply, if you feel tension in the voice when you’re singing, be it in the throat, neck, tongue, or anywhere else, you’re getting in the way of producing your best possible sound. Put even more simply, singing be as relaxed as speaking.
There are two main causes of tension in the voice. One of the causes of tension in the singing voice stems from allowing the larynx to move upward or downward while singing. This throws off the whole vocal mechanism and results in the closing off of your sound passage, resulting in a thin, pushed tone. The second major cause of tension in the voice is the tongue. Many people don’t realize it, but the higher they sing the more they press their tongue, be it downward or backward. This only gets in the way of good vocal production as it closes off air passages and creates tension that ends up spreading throughout the whole vocal system. Let’s look at these a little bit more closely.
Learn to Sing Freely with a Stable Larynx
What can we do to prevent unneeded movement in the larynx? Basically, I find that most larynx tension stems from pressure in the voice pushing the voice higher or pressing it lower. Most often than not, these unwanted movements are performed by what I like to call swallowing muscles. These of course are muscles utilized for swallowing and should not be used at all for singing. Singing should be as easy as speech. So, if you’re having problems with the larynx moving, try speaking the words first normally, then on pitch. They should feel identical. You can also make yourself aware of any unwanted movements by lightly placing your hand on your larynx while singing. If you feel a switch in the larynx placement, tell yourself to relax and speak the sound. You’d be surprised how effective this can be.
Learn to Sing Freely with a Relaxed Tongue
As I’ve mentioned before, I believe the tongue accounts for between 65% and 85% of all vocal tensions. Whether your tongue is pulling back while singing or it’s pressing downward, the result is an uncomfortable singing voice with a drastically limited range that tires easily. The easy solution to most tongue problems is relaxing the tongue to the front of the mouth. And don’t just allow the front of the tongue to go there, but feel the back of the tongue moving forward as well as this will give you more space in the back of the mouth and throat for relaxation and resonance. I usually try and keep my tongue resting on the bottom of my front lip (especially when singing really high).
As always, if you have any questions or are interested in voice lessons and are living in or visiting the Memphis area, feel free to click here for information on Singing Lessons Memphis.
Thanks for reading and Happy Singing!
