Performing Songs vs. Growing Songs

In a recent article of the Journal of Singing, author, singer, and master teacher Robert Edwin makes some important points about knowing which songs in our repertoire are performance ready and which are still in the learning or growing stage.

“A singer needs to function on two basic levels—a performing/audition level and a growing level. The performing/auditioning level needs to be comfortable, repeatable, accurate, and trustworthy enough to function under as intense pressure as can be experienced or imagined. On the other hand, the growing level is where we try out new and different things which, in turn, make us uncomfortable, erratic, inaccurate, and certainly unable to withstand intense pressure and scrutiny.”

As he says, performance-ready songs should be comfortable enough and predictable enough that you can reliably anticipate how your audition will go before walking in the room.

Ideally, for auditions you can choose songs that you have performed—from memory, of course—in studio class or singing class, in masterclasses, in dem lab, in a jury, or in other performance situations so you know how they play before an audience. It is never ideal to perform a song for the first time in an audition—even if you like the song, even if you sing it well.

Edwin goes on to give a more specific example:

“Your C5 belt note is solid and meets all the requirements of the performing/auditioning level. The D5 in the song you’ve chosen is still a work in progress, under construction, growing. Are you going to tell them that you can sing the D5 about 25% of the time, but you can’t predict when that 25% will occur? Would you cast you with those odds? If they need a singer with a D5 belt, you’re not that singer…right now. Sing the song with the C5!”

As I say in class, there are enough intangibles in play when you go to audition (nerves, an unfamiliar pianist, singing in a new space, etc.). That’s all the more reason to choose music that is tested, comfortable, and in which you can be confident that the panel will see who you really are. Don’t let anything get in the way of that.

Since we are just getting back from fall break, I would anticipate that some of you may not have been practicing regularly this week. Perhaps instead of writing about your practicing you could evaluate how the first half of the semester has gone. Look back at the goals you made in the first blog of the semester. Are you making progress toward those goals or do you need to change your routine to better facilitate improvement?

Now go practice.