What To Expect in a Voice Audition
By Liz Turner
Voice teacher and audition veteran Liz Turner shares some of her preparation strategies to help ensure that you ace your next audition! Check out her video laying out what you can expect in a voice audition, and how to be prepared - whether for a reality show contest, music school audition, Broadway audition, or your local community theater.
Your Time to Shine
So it's your big audition day. It's your day and it's your time to shine; give it your all at the audition. I want to make sure that you're as best prepared as you can be.
The first thing about going to an audition is that you should know is that there are probably going to be a thousand people there - really talented people, who can sing just like you. Don't get nervous. You might be waiting around for several hours before it is your turn.
One thing I like to do while I'm waiting for an audition to get focused and my head clear is to do a simple warm up. Just a lip trill, starting at a comfortable range in your voice from low to high. Usually it's so noisy that others don't usually even hear you warming up in the back of the room. It's also a great exercise to get rid of that tension we may carry when we're nervous and about to audition, especially in our jaws and our cheeks. It also warms up the voice.
It's also important that you have water with you and that you and that you're drinking plenty of water before your audition so your throat is not dry at all.
There are two items you need to prepare ahead of time:
A headshot and a resume. It should be one page: a nice, clear beautiful photo of yourself with the resume on the back that highlights your past performing, singing, education credits, and also your contact information as well. This is very important that the judges or casting directors may have this so they know your experience and how to contact you. A lot of times, if you don't have this, they won't let you into the audition room. Make sure to print a bunch of these out and bring multiple copies with you.
Your audition notebook. Your audition notebook is very important. These should be a binder of your best go-to songs, the sheet music for the piano accompanist at your audition. You want to have a variety: some standards, some oldies, some classics and have them neatly organized in a binder.
The most important thing to know is when you go into the audition you're only going to have about 30 seconds. Typically at an audition, they'll ask you to sing a 16-bar cut of a piece. It is possible, if they're really busy, that they will ask you for just 8 bars, or they may go for 32. So it's good to be prepared for any of those scenarios. It's very quick, around 30 seconds.
You can start anywhere in the song whether it's the beginning of the song, middle, or end. So you want to prepare a part that really showcases your talents and brings out the best in your voice. And, make sure that you mark it clearly, beforehand, for the pianist. Highlight it in pencil, or a yellow marker, or put a star that says "start here" and "end here." That's going to be so helpful to the accompanist and they are going to love you for doing that.
A Quick Mock Audition
Here is my mock audition: Say hello and hand the judges your headshot and resume. If there's a pianist, go straight away to the accompanist. Say, "today I'm going to be singing an original [or whoever it's by]. These are the 16 bars I'd like to sing." Maybe give them the tempo. Once you've done that, you are ready to start your audition. Give it your best!
As a side note, in the video, I'm singing an original piece, but you'll more likely want to choose a standard or pop song in your actual audition. I can help you pick a good option or set of options and help you prepare them in a live lesson over Lessonface if you are ready to take the next step in getting prepared.