<p>I don't remember where, but a recent thread referred to auditors looking through a student's book and choosing another song for her to sing.</p>
<p>I assumed that you should only take in the cuts that you have selected that best adhere to what the school requests. Are people taking their book in with them also?</p>
<p>It is good to have extra songs of each type with you at the audition if they want to hear something else. This doesn't mean your entire repertoire book but simply extras of each type of required song.</p>
<p>Your "book" is often purused by auditioners who then can ask to hear something else so make sure those "extra" songs are songs you are completely comfortable with and that you have practiced for "acting" the song. Our vocal coach told my D to not have any thing in the book she did not want to sing, so my D had 5 or 6 songs that she could mix and match (upbeats, ballads, dramatic, comedic, pre1950s...) that she could interchange depending on the audition, her mood, and comfort level. It also makes it much more manageable for the accompanist to not have a cumbersome thick book to weed through to play your piece. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>Great information, thanks!</p>
<p>Anyone have specific schools that have asked to look at more?</p>
<p>MamaBear...I don't know if you can really go by which schools do this. I think it depends more on the individual than the school. </p>
<p>I can recall two experiences my D had (there could have been more but these are the two I recall of this nature). At CMU and PSU, they worked with vocalizing my D. I think they wanted to see how high she could sing. My D's forte is the belt voice. Her ballad was not a belt song (but her uptempo song was) but in retrospect, it likely did not show enough of the legit soprano voice. In college, my D has worked to develop a legit soprano but I think prior to college, while she was working on that, she didn't choose to present a higher soprano sound in her auditions as that was not her strength at the time. She also auditioned right after turning 16 and so was working on this part of her voice at the time and I guess her ballad wasn't high enough. So, I recall PSU vocalizing her with scales and such. Perhaps she did not have a high enough soprano song in her book. I think they also asked her to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow which was not in her book but obviously any pianist would know it (and she actually played Dorothy in her HS production). At CMU, they also worked with her after her two songs and they asked her to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow (again not in her book) and she sang it many times as they asked her to do it in higher and higher keys each time. PSU accepted her. CMU priority wait listed her. I think looking back that her ballad should have showed a higher range of her voice and she likely chose a song that didn't go as high as she could go because she wasn't confident of that at the time as it wasn't her strength (but believe me, in a BFA program, they develop your weaker areas and she sings very high now!). At UMich, where she was not accepted, she later received feedback and was told that she did not present enough of a legit soprano. But PSU and CMU chose to vocalize her to hear it and UMich didn't. So, some schools, if interested in your voice, may wish to hear something else and take it further. Other schools did not do this and she was admitted to several other BFAs in MT.</p>
<p>I think the key word here is be prepared for anything. My son who went through this process in 2006 took a wide range of back ups in his book, I believe he had 11 songs in his book. I think it's important to prepare the book properly as well. Make sure the cuts are clearly marked. He had his music sheets taped together accordian style so that the pianist could lay the whole song out in one sheet. And don't put the music in sleeves, the glare can be bad. A typed table of contents is also good with an extra one in the book as well. That way if the audtioners want to hear something else you can simply hand them the list and they can choose from there.</p>
<p>This is excellent information, I really appreciate you sharing these two specific experiences! Looks like a good thing to work on Over the Rainbow in lessons occasionally!</p>
<p>I think they do have non-glare plastic sheets now that work well, so if you want to put the music into those, it shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>But <em>definitely</em> have more music in your book than the school originally asks for, and, as someone said above, make absolutely sure that those songs show you to best advantage. Last year, during my D's audition season, she was asked at several of her auditions "What else have you got in there to show us?" and fortunately (thanks to this list, largely!) she was ready. </p>
<p>I personally wouldn't recommend a kid bring his or her entire book: just too much to wade through. </p>
<p>And, as Soozievt said, if your D has a good legit voice, choose music (especially for Michigan and CMU MT) that shows it to best advantage.</p>
<p>My D woke up the morning of her NYU audition with an extremely sore throat. She could barely talk, let alone sing. Luckily, she had a late morning appointment, and time to steam and "wake up" her voice. She was forced to go to her book, and choose two alternate songs that she felt she could get through safely with a sore throat. These songs were a far cry from the ones she had originally chosen to perform, but it was prudent of her to have some "simpler" pieces to have ready in the event of illness.</p>
<p>An excellent suggestion, triplethreat. Always have "safety" songs that don't tax your voice in case you're sick and can't re-schedule. If you're auditioning for multiple schools, chances are you'll have at least one or two when you're not in perfect health.</p>
<p>Another good reason to have extras -- and this happened to my daughter: at one audition she was last in line, and SEVERAL girls sang the same uptempo song she had chosen. So at the last minute, she chose to substitute another song.</p>
<p>My students have just started their audition trek for the year, but thus far Steinhardt and OCU have asked for additional songs from several of them (in a "good" way ;) - I know Point Park and CMU also do this regularly. I'll keep adding info as they report back... :)</p>