<p>My D has her first vocal audition next week and I was wondering what is the best way to give an accompanist the piano music. I think I remember someone saying to NOT put them in clear three-ring sheet protectors, because of the glare. I do understand that, although you can get the ones that have a matte finish and so they don't glare as much. When I accompany, that is what I use. I also sometimes just tape the music together if it's only 4-5 pages. Those of you with experience, what do you recommend? I want to do whatever most accompanists prefer, if possible.</p>
<p>Also, on an unrelated question, my D has had a cough for about a month - it's getting slowly better - but I remember someone saying to NOT use cough drops that contain menthol. It is really difficult to find any that don't contain menthol. Anyone have a brand they recommend?</p>
<p>The most common way that schools will ask you to prepare music is to put them double sided in a three ring binder. Most schools that have given me directions specifically say not to use the sheets – the sheets also make page turning difficult, and the matte finished sheets might blur markings, depending on lighting, I suppose. I find double sided printing frustrating, so I just printed the sheets individually, taped them together so that the sheets were double sided, and then hole punched the music. I then folded the edges of the pages to make turning easier. That worked fine, and that’s what I’m going to do for all of my auditions – the tape just can’t be messy. If you can easily print double sided, I think that’s the better option. For recitals I normally tape accordion style, but all of the advice I’ve received for auditions points to a three ring binder. </p>
<p>I am curious as to this response also. Has your daughter seen a doctor? A month is a very long time to have a cough! Halls Breezers are nice, and I used them when I had a cold at camp. Normally if I need to take cough drops, I just won’t sing around the time I’ve taken them. I don’t think the menthol is damaging in the long term, but it may be dangerous if you take a menthol lozenge and then try to sing. There are multiple reasons, but I don’t want to give misinformation. I know one of the reasons is that the numbing effect of menthol may make you more likely to push your limits and harm your voice. I’d suggest taking a strong drop and not singing for a few hours (My favorites are fisherman’s friends) or drinking an herbal tea with honey and apple cider vinegar. I normally get sick multiple times a winter, but have been lucky enough to be cold free this year. I hope your daughter feels better soon!</p>
<p>Thank you, ImThinking, for your response. Someone else sent me a link from Lawrence Conservatory - it too mentioned taping the pages together. In fact, it said to NOT make double sided copies, but to tape them together - I wonder if that’s so the accompanist can then have the option to untape them?</p>
<p>What I don’t like about punching the holes in the music for a three-ring binder is how difficult it is to make sure you don’t punch a hole in a spot where there is music, but I guess it’s doable, because the only other way around that is to put them in the sheet protectors…which apparently nobody wants!</p>
<p>As for the coughing, it’s wide spread up here in the arctic north (as I like to call it). Everyone is coughing, and apparently whatever is going around lingers forever. It’s a virus, so there are no antibiotics that will help…although her doctor did put her on one just in case, since her situation is a little different. But yes, she’s been to the doctor numerous times (and seen a different one each time), and they’ve all said the same thing - one doctor even called it the “crud” - which made me laugh! She tried to rest her voice over the holidays, but obviously with her audition looming, that has become impossible. But she is doing much better. And Halls Breezers is what I bought her, so I’m hopeful that by next week, the cough will be totally gone. She’s been doing the tea and honey, but we haven’t tried apple cider vinegar - thanks for the tip!</p>
<p>I really appreciate all your comments. Thanks again!</p>
<p>^my son is not principally a singer, so YMMV, but his voice instructor told him to avoid menthol, including mint toothpaste, because it has a “drying” effect on one’s throat. I suspect that might be why you’ve heard to avoid menthol cough drops.</p>
<p>I think there are some types of Riccola’s that do not have menthol. Neti pot, hydration, honey tea, etc. are all good suggestions as well. Best wishes!</p>
<p>Along with the Neti pot (which is amazing) you also might want to invest in a personal steamer. Vick’s makes one that is popular, just don’t use the menthol pads that come with it.</p>
<p>S2 is headed to YoungArts on Saturday and has a lingering cough/sore throat. Let’s see what we’ve done: hydration, personal steamer twice a day, Halls Breezers, Neti pot and, finally, this morning, a steroid shot. Fingers crossed that it all helps.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice - we have a steamer and she was on steroids (this all started with her breaking out in a huge rash on her chest, back and face - looked like she had severe sunburn on her face). This was a week before she was to sing with the area’s professional orchestra (a huge moment in her life), so the doctor put her on steroids. It worked, but immediately after the concert is when she started feeling ill and began coughing…and that was several weeks ago. I forgot about a neti pot - thanks for reminding me of that!</p>
<p>And megpmom - good luck to your S on his YoungArts competition!</p>
<p>A good cough drop is Grether’s Pastilles. They’re specifically made for singers and so many voice teachers have recommended them to me. It says on the box that is mostly has glycerine and fruit juice. They work wonders. You can get them at any natural health foods store or online too. Also, throat coat tea is great.</p>
<p>I recommend that YOU the parent read over all of the requirements for each audition on the schools websites at least a week or so before you go to the audition. My D skipped or didn’t really register a lot of details and then when I went back and read through the info (to the protest of Mom, I know what I’m doing, I read it) I found a couple of things that she had not picked up on. One was really important, sending your music ahead of time so the accompanist can see what they’ll be playing!! Good grief, thank goodness for FEDEX. Better safe than sorry. Its a stressful time, but make your life easier by double checking, even if you don’t share that with your student. You’ll be glad you did.</p>