Auditions 101

Ahhhh the Audition!  The bane of every performers career!

We all know that auditioning is just as much a part of the job as the actual performance is.  But not everyone acknowledges that rocking your audition and having a stellar performance are actually two DIFFERENT skills.

Think about it: one includes an audience full of people who’s faces you usually can’t see due to lights who have chosen to come see all the hard work and preparation you have put in for weeks.  The other, a small room with 2-3 fully lit faces only feet away doing their best to stay blank-faced while you give it your all and they judge you for it.

DIFFERENT!!

When we go off to school for performance, we frequently get classes in acting, dancing, singing, repertoire building, and a whole host of other things having to do with PERFORMANCE.  But only a few times throughout that are we really in a situation that is truly representative of a professional audition.

9 times out of 10 we are in a room “practicing” with friendly faces who already know something about our strengths and weaknesses. So how can you REALLY prepare for your auditions?  How can you make sure that skill is up to snuff?

Up your audition game by:

Preparing
I mean this one seems “duh” but you’d be AMAZED at the students who have come in to me needing a new song for an audition that is happening THE NEXT DAY!  Ideally, we as performers have somewhere between 5-10 songs and 2-4 monologues that we have DOWN. Like, we can be on Death's door sick and we still know we can sing the crap out of our audition. That takes TIME.  That means you’re not choosing songs based on the audition you have coming up, but instead based on what your voice does best in a few different genres. And these are songs that you work on for MONTHS. Not days. No last minute memorizing here!

Practicing
Not in a practice room or studio.  No. I mean go to auditions and “practice” auditioning.  Go to all of them. Go to ones you’re not appropriate for.  Go to ones you can’t be in due to scheduling conflicts. Go to ones off the cuff because they just happen to be held next door.  Go. Do the thing!

Dump the Jitter Juice
Ok a health thing here.  Coffee ain’t gonna help you out super close to your audition time. Have your cup in the morning and leave it at that.  No need to add to the anxiety.

Get into your body
This means having a physical warm up AS WELL as a vocal one.  Doesn’t have to be long, but something that grounds you a bit. Personally, I like to stretch, do some sun salutations, and a quick breathing exercise to bring my energy back into my center.  Otherwise you’ll just end up giving yourself a voice/acting lesson while you’re supposed to be rocking it.

Feed your body
For god’s sake EAT!  Doesn’t have to be right before, but don’t show up on an empty stomach.  A small meal up to 2 hours before is great. Or if you’re like me, you might like having a meal not long before (I can’t stand being distracted by hunger).  Aim to get in some protein, veggies, and maybe some whole grains. Filling food grounds you and keeps your anxiety and stress at bay.

Need more help prepping for your audition?  Or know your vocal game could be more on point?  Hit the button below to shoot me an e-mail and set up a discount first time lesson!

Audition Help Please!!!