Singing Passion NC

How to Prepare for an Audition

2011-03-09T07:49:00.001-08:00

How to Prepare for an Audition

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Auditions may seem scary, but they don't have to be. Believe it or not, you can even have fun! In fact, having fun at the audition can help you get a part. Come prepared, and the rest will come to you.

Steps

Find out all you can about the audition. When is it, where is it, what is the audition for, and what you're required to bring. Write it all down if you must. You can never be too prepared!
Don't be shy. Allow friends, relatives, or colleagues to watch your performance prior to your audition so that they may give you constructive criticism you can utilize to make your performance better. If you can, ask other performers for tips to help you improve your performance.
Practice, Practice, Practice! If you are trying out for a play, research the material and familiarize yourself with it. If it is an audition for a singing role, practice scales, do voice exercises, and pinpoint your strengths as well as where you need improvement. Often, you will be asked questions about your vocal range, which singing style you feel most comfortable with, and with which vocal parts you have the most experience.
The night before the audition, gather any materials you may be required to bring with you. These may include head shots, sheet music, history of theater experience, or prepared monologues. Once you have gotten all your materials together and ready to go, get to bed early in order to be well-rested for the day ahead.
The morning of the audition, eat a balanced breakfast. Avoid acidic or greasy foods, chocolate and coffee as best you can, as these damage your vocal chords and make it harder to be at your best. If you are a smoker, do your best to put your morning cigarette off until after your audition, especially if you will be singing. Don't slack off on the hygiene, either; you don't want your performance to be memorable for its smell. Dress appropriately, but comfortably and wear sensible shoes. And always remember to do your vocal warm-ups before you arrive at your audition.
Arrive reasonably early to your audition, as there will inevitably be a moderately large amount of people there before you. Also, if you are unfamiliar with the area where the audition will be held, allow time in your schedule to make sure you won't arrive late.
Don't chicken out. When you arrive, there may be a large crowd of people, but it's perfectly normal to be nervous. Just remember all the hard work you put into preparing for your audition, and walk in smiling with your head held high.

Tips

Stay calm before and during your audition. Try to channel your excitement into your performance to make it vibrant and exciting for those will be watching.
If you become overwhelmed by stage-fright during your audition, it is always better to improvise than to freeze up like a deer in headlights. If you forget a line of the monologue, fake it. If you forget a line in your song, vocalize instead. Most won't even notice, and the ones who do will appreciate your creativity and ability to keep your performance going under duress.
Smile and speak confidently, no mumbling!
Remember, there will always be more auditions. If at first you don't succeed, keep trying until you do.

Warnings

Do not attempt to use bribes to get a part, it does not work and can ruin your reputation as well as undermine your value and talent as a performer.
Do not trash talk other performers who are at the audition. Not only will the directors find out, this will result in others not wanting to work with you, which damages your reputation and prevents you from enjoying future opportunities.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Prepare for an Audition. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Find Your Own Singing Voice

2011-03-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

How to Find Your Own Singing Voice

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Tired of being laughed at because your singing voice sounds like a donkey's? Don't worry! With a few simple steps, you might find improvement. Everyone can sing, but some not as good as others. Keep trying, and you too will soon be able to sing like a bird.

Steps

Learn a song that you really like. Don't sing along to it while you're learning it, though, because you'll try to sound like the person singing the original.
Sing the music scales with your voice. When you find the right key, you will know. It will sound beautiful to your ears and in your heart.
Record yourself. It helps quite a bit. Listen to the recording like you're listening to the radio. Judge yourself like you're listening to someone else. Maybe you're straining too much, or that note you sang was flat. Fix it, and record. Repeat until you get it right (or you don't want to overuse your voice).
Practice singing in front of a mirror. It'll help you enunciate the words better and people will understand what you're saying.
Stand in front of your friends and sing! Once you are comfortable with what key best suits your voice, you'll do great!
Stay away from songs that are too challenging for you. Maybe come back to it once you are more capable.
Always sing from your diaphragm, not your throat. Also, when you breathe, make sure you standing upright, and your body is fully loosened. This will help a ton!
When you are loosened, breathe into the DIAPHRAGM! If your shoulders go up like a normal breath then the air is going into the wrong tubes for singing. To understand this aspect, try laying down flat on your back and taking in a breath. Notice your stomach will move up, and not your shoulders - this is the result you want. Then try that same technique of breathing into the diaphragm and standing.
Talk to a vocal teacher, and register for some lessons. He or she will help you find the voice within you. They will train you until you have a very unique voice that people want to hear!

Warnings

Don't hurt your throat doing this. Nobody sings well at every single moment in time. Just sing as you have been, as singing can make people feel happy.
Screaming, talking loudly, and even whispering can strain your throat. Whispering strains your voice more than loud talking does!
Men: Singing in your upper register for long periods of time can also cause serious damage.

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How To Memorize A Song

2011-03-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

How to Memorize Lyrics of a Song

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Memorizing the lyrics of a song is not an easy task for most people. But with a little time and effort, you will come to know every word of the song. Whether you will be able to sing it is another story. Memorizing song lyrics can be very hard but all you need is practice, practice, practice and soon you will know every word to a song backward and forth.

Steps

Find the song and the lyrics. By having the song on a CD, iPod, or on your computer, you will quickly be able to pick up on the rhythm, which will aid you a lot when you memorize the actual lyrics. However, a sheet with the lyrics of the song is also important; this way, you know exactly what the words are, as lyrics can be hard to hear sometimes. Remember that practice does not make perfect. It's perfect practice that makes perfect. If you practice it again and again with the wrong words, it's hard to break yourself from that habit you've formed.
Starting from the beginning, memorize the first line. Cover it up and say it out loud. When you are done, check to see if you got it right. If you did, add the next line. If not, try again. Over time, you will be able to keep adding lines until you know the whole song.
Play the song with the music while you sing along. See if you have the words memorized correctly. Try recording it and listening - watch for breaks or pauses where you might need to spend more time.
Write down the lyrics on a notebook. Do this after listening to it a couple of times,and you should be able to memorize it better
Alternatively, just listen to the song repeatedly. Go over the lyrics in your head as you listen.
Finally, try it without the music. If you can do this by now, congratulations! If not then just keep on trying. You'll get there in the end!
Do a search for the lyrics online. Make sure that where you get the lyrics from are the same. Sometimes different websites give you different information. Try to look them up on the artists website or the play or shows website. They will be correct there. After listening to the song one time, you could always find the lyrics on a lyrics-site such as www.songmeanings.net and print them out.
Go to YouTube and see if the song is there in karaoke style.
Listen to the song while you are sleeping. Even though you aren't conscious, your brain will take in the information. Before bed, read over the lyrics a few times before reading a book or watching TV.
Whenever you have free time, look over the lyrics.
Try to find emotions in the song. It might make you feel bewildered and lost, but then someone finds you. If you find some sort of emotional link to the song, that song defines you, and the lyrics become important to you.
Practice the lyrics in front of other people (different people each time if you can.) That way you will get used to singing them in front of a crowd. When you are alone it is easier to remember the words, when you're in front of people it may be harder to remember lyrics due to nervousness or shyness.
When you are sure of yourself, have a sort of dress rehearsal or a small performance. This helps if you are going to perform for a show, concert, etc.
After you have the chorus down, start focusing on the song's intro-verse. Whenever the song appears on the radio, and your friends just jump right in, don't feel pressured. If you get the intro-verse down, then when it comes on you'll be able to sing the first lines with everyone else. Plus if you can do that, they automatically assume you know the entire song (thus they stop listening so critically).
- Note: This process should only take about 2 to 3 days, but this depends on the memory of the person attempting to learn the lyrics and the length of the song.
- Actually LIKE this song you want to memorize. Get familiar with the rhythm and lyrics by humming along to it when you hear it, print out the lyrics, then graduate to singing along. Voila! By a week, at most, you should be a seasoned expert.
And remember, have fun. If you forget your words on the day, don't worry just 'Hum' them and it'll all be fine!

Tips

It helps a lot to listen to the song whenever possible. Buy the CD that has it, or find it online.
Try singing along with the song while it is playing in the background with your written lyrics. It will help ingrain it in your head.
Try writing out the lyrics yourself by ear before you look them up online or in a lyric booklet. This will make them stick in your head a little better.
It helps if you actually understand what the song is about. Most songs are derived from poems or stories.
If you know the music to the song it is usually easier to learn the lyrics.
After you think you know the lyrics look them up because sometimes lyrics can be misheard.
Don't be ashamed to ask a close friend who loves the song for help. They can correct you if you mis-interpreted the lyrics at all. Also, turn to your friend in the school band if you can't tell the difference between a verse and a bridge.
Online lyrics sites are there for a reason. If you think it will personally speed up the memorizing process for you, read the lyrics as you listen to the song. Many people get songs down easier if they do this.
A song cannot be memorized in a single sitting, and you must accept and embrace that fact. As long as you stay motivated and positive, the lyrics will come to you easier.
Practice makes perfect. Try and challenge yourself to sing the song perfectly and have that nutty friend we talked about earlier call you out.
Remember, it might not be the fact that you don't know the song, it might be that the song is too fast and hard to sing in the first place!
Fast songs with constant lyrics, such as rap or hip-hop, can be harder to get down.
If there's a music video to the song, watch it. Seeing the singer mouth the words to the song can help tremendously.

Warnings

If the song has words inappropriate for young children, be sure not to sing it around them and do not teach it to them.
There are a lot of lyrics that are quite obscure.
Most conjunctions and prepositions are sung very lightly rather than clearly in a beat. If your are playing "Singing Bee", be sure you sing it clearly to avoid controversy. You're trying to sing the lyrics correctly, not trying to sing in tune or in time, even when it helps.
This could cause daydreams or unexpected humming through out the day of the selected song.
If you are going to sing the song make sure the notes are comfortable to sing. If they're not try singing the song higher or lower because singing uncomfortable notes could damage your voice.
Don't proclaim that you know a song by heart the first time you make it through without error. You'll be able to fool many people, yes, but not everyone!
Sometimes lyrics sites will have viruses.

Things You'll Need

Song
Lyrics of the song written down

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Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Memorize Lyrics of a Song. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.