Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Building Your Book

Hopefully by now you have a three ring binder with the beginning of your Audition Material. You will continue to add to this binder as you continue to audition and work.
In this binder you should have your monologues, your audition sheet, a record of money you're spending etc (see previous posts).
Now it is time to add songs. Even better? Grab another binder that holds just music. Please remember, this is YOUR resource. This is not the book you will share with your accompanist. We will talk about that book in later posts.

What do you need in this book? Great Question. First let me ask you:

Do you have a voice teacher?
  • If they are involved in Musical Theatre, they will have their own opinions on the subject of what to keep in your book. Ask them what they think. Also, they should be a wealthy resource for finding songs.
Do you know your voice type?
  • Although Sheet Music Direct, Music Notes and other resources for downloading sheet music allow you to change the key, you still need to know what key suits you the best. If you are out there auditioning - you should know your voice type and your range. Know your craft. You also need someone to play through the accompaniment even if you have the ability to learn the song on your own. Learning from a CD is not (usually) the best option. If you don't have a voice teacher, at least hire an accompanist to run through your material before your audition. More on that later. 

 These are the "Tabs" I think you need. This is just a foundation. We will continue to add geners etc as we continue this series.
  • Classic Musical Theatre (Cole Porter, Jerry Herman, Rogers&Hammerstein etc.)
    • Ballad
    • Uptempo
  • Jazz standard
    • Ballad
    • uptempo
  • Showstopper
    • The 11th hour number, the number that stops the show. "Ain't It Good" from Children of Eden. "Defying Gravity" from Wicked (also the 1st act curtain song - so I cheated there). These are examples not suggestions.
  • 80s Pop Song
  • 70s Pop Song
  • 60s Pop Song
  • Rock Song
  • Sondheim Song
    • Ballad
    • Uptempo
  • Webber Song
  • Something in the style of Musicals from the 1995-Now (Like Wicked, Next to Normal, Avenue Q, Spring Awakening)
    • Confusing? Try to find songs by the same composers or songs that "sound" like that composer. I am not suggesting songs becuse - you may be auditioning for these shows! Some of these songs are also - well overdone. Do it at your own risk. So try to make sure this song is from a show - different than .....:
  • A Cabaret Song
These songs are not necessarily from a show - but "Showtune Like". There are a couple websites that have search engines to search new composers and old ones. Unpublished material and standards. I will post those links next week.
  • Catchall
    • This is a song you could use for almost anything. It has a catchy tune, it is versatile. Probably uptempo. All of the above songs should show you off but this song - this could be your signature song! Your showiest of them all!
This is a good solid foundation. We will add more as we go. I have found all of these and more useful for planned and more importantly - unplanned auditions.
We will delve a little deeper into this subject and talk about Cuttings next week.
Next Post: Cuttings - The Art of 16 bars, 32 Bars and Verse to Chorus.
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2 comments:

  1. zvazdaAugust 3, 2012 at 9:53 AM

    Some points:

    1. Voice teachers need not be vocal coaches (in fact many of them are bad vocal coaches). Don't be afraid to have a voice teacher (someone who works on your vocal technique) and someone who is a vocal coach (someone who stays very far away from your technique but works on vocal stylings, finding correct cuts, rep, etc.). I would use them thusly: a voice teacher is someone you see weekly to work on technique and a vocal coach is someone you go to when you specifically need rep or need to work an audition song or get an audition cut.

    I like Detta's book list a lot. It's very similar to the book list I had when I was first learning.

    I have made my own list that is a little different, I prefer to think in terms of composers. I've made my book list publicly viewable here:

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NaodNHz3WtXYkMEBODmq5rDCxo4Ls9Nw7yEln2FwLZw/edit

    I would view the two book lists as supplemental rather than picking one or the other. A book is something you're always working on, always learning. You're always looking for more material and there are always holes. You want to eliminate the situation where you need to learn a song for a new audition. You always want to have something appropriate.

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  2. BradettaAugust 3, 2012 at 11:19 AM

    Yes, a book is something you are always working on. Its "living". As I mention, this is just a Foundation. Check out that link. It is awesome!

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