<p>It's in 4/4, marked "allegro" and in "cut time" (the C with the vertical line through it), so it's over very quickly. It's the right era, the right gender, the right age, and shows off a lot of personality and range. But those 16 bars go by fast. Is there an understanding that one can sing more bars if it's a cut time quickie like that?<br>
There is also a section in 2/4. I don't think D would use it but the same question - 16 bars of allegro 2/4 doesn't last very long! :) </p>
<p>I am so glad to have you all to ask these questions!!</p>
<p>generally speaking 16 bars is 16 bars, regardless of tempo or meter. If a school does not specific “32-bars of uptempo and 16-bars of ballad”, rather “two contrasting 16-bars” they most likely want 16-bars of each… even if the uptempo goes by faster than the ballad. :)</p>
<p>Hi classicalbk - I am an AEA actor and I went to one of the programs listed on here. If the song is in cut time, your D should sing 32 bars of the song if they ask for 16. No one sits there and counts the number of bars. Also, keep in mind that if singing a song in 4/4 if you sing 20 bars, you won’t get in trouble. Otherwise, you might have to end up stopping in the middle of a phrase. The 16 bars request is just to keep people from singing for too long. Tell your D not to stress about making it exactly 16 bars and that if it is cut time or 2/4, she can sing twice as many bars Break a leg!</p>
<p>bdm3470 – I am also an AEA actor who went to one of the programs listed on here, and now teach at one :). Welcome to CC! There are many professional who “donate” their time here on CC. Feedback and advice from currently working professionals is terrific! </p>
<p>While I do agree with you that it is probably fine, and CERTAINLY is for professional auditions and MANY MT program auditions, it might be best for her to check specifically with schools. While adding 2 - 4 bars to get a cut to start or end in a logical place is generally allowed, or doubling cut-time measures make total sense… sometimes doubling the number of measures may not be alright with a particular school. You never know.</p>
<p>Where I teach we specify 32-bars of an up-tempo and 16-bars of a ballad because 16-bars of uptempo go by REALLY fast, and we would have no problem with someone singing more measures if their uptempo is in cut time, or to make the song begin and end in a logical place… we post all of this on the website to avoid confusion… but there are some schools that I believe are more stringent than others. </p>
<p>At many of the colleges where my D is auditioning, they said 16-32 bars keeping it at about 1 minute for each song. And the monologue also 1 minute (or 1 minute each if she is doing two). Point being it’s not so much the exact # of bars but keeping it in the time limit. There was one school that just said no more than 32 bars-no time limit mentioned. I think each school can be a bit different so contacting them is the safest thing to do.</p>
<p>OK, I went to the source and at the University of Michigan anyway, 16 bars is indeed 16 bars, even in cut time. Just in case anyone else is wondering the same thing for that particular school, for the summer MT program video auditions.</p>
<p>Hi bdm – and welcome! Like you, I’m AEA and a graduate of one of the programs listed here. In most cases I would agree that 16 bars of a song translates to 32 bars of cut time – I’ve done that myself many times at professional auditions. But a few of these schools are very very specific about their instructions; in fact, when my daughter was auditioning, one school actually used a stopwatch to time the songs and monologues and would cut the kids off if they went even a few seconds over. So it’s wise to check their websites or even call the department to check their policies.</p>
Break a leg!</p>