Drama School Auditions: How to choose the right song…Your 5-step Guide
When it comes to auditions, there’s no question that your song choices are one of the most important decisions you will make. I have sat on numerous audition panels for drama schools and seen and heard many successes and failures that have come down to song choices. There are so many elements to auditions that you can’t control. But your song choice is one of the few that you can. So, here is a quick guide on what to think about when choosing your audition songs.
1. Show off your range
This doesn’t necessarily mean show them how high you can sing – it might be that you have a top belt that you want to crack out, in which case do it! But this is about finding a song that sits comfortably in your range. Find a song that shows off your rich tone in that mid-range of your voice. Similarly, if you’re a mezzo that boasts a sumptuous, velvety tone in that lower half of your range, find a song that sits around there for a good chunk of the melody. It’s about showing off what you can do, who you are and what you have to offer. Don’t try and sound like someone else because you think that’s what they want.
2. Tell a story
No matter what you might think, your singing audition is not just about your singing. It is a facet of your overall skillset as a performer, so make sure your songs allow you to tell a story. This is one of the most overlooked factors in choosing a song for auditions. Of course the panel want to hear where you are with your vocal technique, but that is within the context of you as a performer. One of the best lines of advice I ever received was: ‘if you are ever trying to use a piece of musical theatre to show off your voice, then you will be doing a disservice to the writers’. The writers have created a story that you as a performer are bringing to life. Keep that at the fore when choosing your song.
3. Be original
It is true that some songs are overdone, just as many speeches are overdone. There are a couple of reasons why this is an important consideration, and they are both to do with pure human psychology. Firstly, it means that you are naturally pitting yourself against someone else who has sung that song that day. Of course you’re competing against everyone else for a place, that’s the nature of auditions! But it gives the impression that it is one or other of you. Secondly, and most importantly, the panel have a long day of watching auditions and they are only human; if someone comes in with another version of On My Own their heads will naturally drop, no matter how brilliant it is. Be an exception. Be a breath of fresh air for their long, tedious day. Finding a song that is not overdone is an easy way to make sure you don’t blend into the crowd.
4. Find a contrast
It is one of the simplest factors to consider and so doesn’t need much fleshing out here. Make sure your choices are contrasting. That means both in terms of 1. Period/Genre and 2. Style. The obvious categorisations are: 1. Pre 1965 vs Contemporary and 2. Ballad vs Uptempo. As with the previous point, the main consideration here is building an interesting and varied performance. Some places will stipulate that you need to do a pre 1965 song, in which case make sure your own choice is contrasting to that. But if you’re not comfortable at this stage with pre 1965 material, then don’t sing it for the sake of it, find a contrast another way. This leads me onto the final and most important point…
5. Love your song!
This is crucial. It almost overrides all the other points (almost). Similar to the point on finding an original song, this is about standing out. You are going into that audition to do a performance, to entertain. I can say from firsthand experience that the applicants that enter a room and show us how much they love their song – how much they enjoy doing what they’re doing – are the ones who stand out. Equally, it’s clear when someone comes in and sings a song that they feel like they should be singing, rather than one they want to sing. And those performances are more easily forgotten.
Let your passion for performing shine through; it is the most attractive asset you have.
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