Have you ever wondered why very talented singers fail during singing auditions? Perhaps you’ve had the experience; a situation where people you can sing far better than scale through an audition while you can’t even make it through the first stage. What is the problem, what could be wrong? Could it be that the judges are biased or they just didn’t like you? More often than not, these are not the reasons you were asked to use the door. There are basic understandings you must have when preparing for an audition. These skills are grouped into the three secrets I’m about to share with you below. If you adhere to these pieces of advice, I can assure, you will never be turned down from any singing auditions.
Choose the Song that Fits
This is probably the greatest reason most singers fail at auditions. The fact that a song sounds good does not mean it will be good enough for you. Every song is like a pair of dress. Dresses come in different sizes, different colours, and different fabrics to meet different tastes of different people. As a singer, you need to study your voice and discover your most comfortable style. You must consider your vocal range, your singing strengths and weaknesses before choosing an auditioning song. You should choose a song that appeals to your emotions, a song you feel very comfortable and excited singing, as song that will not expose your weaknesses. In essence, I am saying choose a song that best suits your personality.
Use the K.I.S.S Formula
K.I.S.S in the world of performance stands for Keep It Short & Simple. Every song is a story; the audition version of it is the story summarized. A good summary must be believable, concise and intriguing. An auditioning song must be brief, straight to the hook, simple and beautiful. No need for choosing a technical song with ambiguous arrangements. Don’t plan doing the three verses in a song. Rather, choose the verse that best connects to the chorus and don’t border stretching to the bridge. Avoid ornaments like modulation and excessive adlibs. Don’t choose a song that will sound incomplete without back-up singers. Solo works are usually better. Remember to always keep your performance short and simple!
Sing to the Judges, Appeal to their Emotion
Have you really thought of it that the man who sits on that panel to judge at the audition is a human being like you; he feels, he smiles, he cries, blood flows through his veins?! Your target should be to appeal to him to the extent that he forgets he is sitting as a judge, but completely carried away by the message your song is passing across to him. To achieve this, I will advice you choose a song that talks directly to him or her. Choose a song that has more of “YOU” (third person pronoun- e.g I love you, You are great, You’re my world, I will always love you, You’re my sunshine, You’re gonna love me, etc) as the subject. Communicate to the judges directly and one after the other. Smile at them, if need be, go close to them and look right into their eyes while pouring out your heart sincerely. Imagine them being your audience in a concert, think less of yourself as going through an audition but as a performer.
Article by Akapo Emmanuel © 2011
Akapo Emmanuel is a leading Nigerian vocal coach
Also the MD/CEO Tenstrings Music Institute.
Contact him for all your singing/music training & questions
Tel: +2348027818442, +2348067024255
thanks sir
ReplyDeletethank you for this write up
ReplyDelete