I wondered about the 3 ring binder for auditions. Does your child put all their various music cuts in there, separated by dividers or do you just put in what you need for each audition? What other things should be in there? I didn’t know whether they carry their other general binder that contains all their other college stuff and move things around as needed.
Generally, I think the binder should contain all the songs that are in the student’s repertoire - meaning anything they could nail on the spot if asked to sing it. The songs/cuts that are planned for that day’s audition should be in the front so when you hand it to the accompanist it is set to go. The rest of the “book” can vary somewhat - and the book (if it’s extensive) could even be separate from what is handed to the accompanist. I think many kids group all their 16-bar cuts together and all the 32-bars together, etc. If you have a large number of songs, they could also be grouped by era, style, tempo. . . Whole songs can also be placed at the back of the book, but only if you know every song in its entirety. This never happened to my S, but many kids have been asked to show the auditors their book and then something totally unplanned was chosen for them to sing. It’s totally OK if you don’t have that many songs in your book (that will change as they go through college and beyond), but if a song is in the book, be confident that you could sing it if asked. If there are a large number of songs/cuts, divider pages and even a table of contents might be a good idea. If the book has only a few choices, extensive organization is not necessary.
Thank you! I forgot about the other songs! Good Point!
@Dankadon - VoiceTeacher just added a terrific video to his college auditioning site. It features Jonathan Flom, head to Shenandoah’s MT department talking about what to do in the audition room. There is some pretty good footage of a girl’s binder as she reviews it with the accompanist. You might want to take a look.
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@mom4bwayboy - thanks, I’ll check it out!
“Nail on the spot” are the most important words in @mom4bwayboy’s post. Never put anything in your book that you can’t do beautifully.
Don’t put anything other than music in your rep book. Keep the other stuff in another notebook or folder, even headshots and resumes. Other stuff will make the notebook harder to manage on the piano music rack.
Great advice. Be very strategic about what you put in. Not too little, not too much. You only need enough to show range and contrast across the basic MT repertoire: Golden Age uptempo/ballad, Contemporary uptempo/ballad, pop/rock, and maybe a recent Broadway song, a comedic song and an art song (or an art-ish song from Weill, etc.). If you use two legit songs, then have a belt song in your book (if you can belt); if you use a “comfortable belt” song, then have a “high belt” in your book (if you can belt high); if you use two soaring bari-tenor songs, then have something solidly baritone (as long its within your range), etc.
Including a large amount of material may mean that the song that you really want to sing next may not get picked. Only put in the music that really showcases what you can do best.
Having just finished reviewing several dozen rep books at a regional college audition, here are some things I observed:
- Make sure the rep binder is in good condition. I saw many binders on their last legs that made them hard to manage on the piano rack. If in doubt, spend $5 and go buy a new binder.
- Clearly mark the start and end of your cuts (yellow highlighter really helps), clearly cross out elided measures, etc. I saw lots of cuts that were difficult to follow or even see where to begin.
- If you use sheet protectors, make sure that they are non-glare and that they are in pristine condition (there is much debate about whether or not these are acceptable). I saw some really mangy sheet protectors.
- Replace music with really worn edges - I saw some pages so worn that I worried they might tear in half when the accompanist turned the page.
D only included a handful of songs in her binder, clearly marked, all she had well prepared. Before each audition, she also put 2 resumes and headshots in the front pocket and, in the back pocket, her one page “worksheet” of details of that particular school.