Posted on
Pointers on how to impress music industry judges at singing auditions
Here are some pointers on how to impress the judges the next time you have any singing auditions. These tips are designed to help singers to develop and further their development in the music career.
Judge’s tips for singing auditions
Be prepared
You’ve landed yourself singing auditions, so you have to be prepared for anything that may happen. Know your song inside out; no judge wants to see you reading the lyrics off a piece of paper. Make sure your backing track is the right song and works well. If you’re playing an instrument, have it tuned already and have spare parts with you.
Look the part
You have to impress both visually and vocally, so having the right outfit can affect your audition. Your outfit needs to reflect how you are as a person and what you’re singing; we want to see your personality.
Be original
The idea of singing auditions is to find something new we don’t already have, so make sure your performance is original and memorable. If you’ve got an original song, then play it, it shows courage!
Lose the attitude
We’re here to help you and give you an opportunity to be successful. So instead of being a know it all, respect the fact you’ve got an audition. Poor attitude will reflect badly on you.
Try to relax
We understand it’s a nerve racking experience, but you got yourself to an audition so you’ve obviously got something we want to hear more of. Take a few breaths and remember don’t rush the song so it’s over quicker.
Perform!
It’s not just about singing, you’ve got to be able to take that song and make it a performance. You have to own the stage, make us believe it’s yours. The most successful artists can make the whole crowd believe in their performance.
Communicate
Understand what you’re singing, know what the message is behind the song and let us know through your performance at all your singing auditions. Eye contact is a strong way to communicate with the judges and make sure the expression shows through.
Listen
Singing auditions are a great way to receive feedback. We have years of experience under our belts, so give us a chance to express our opinions, it might be the constructive criticism you need to make that next step. Make sure you look at your feedback, you might not be aware of the one thing holding you back.
Enjoy yourself
Music is a beautiful thing, as singers you all have a common a passion for music. Make sure the judges know how much you’re enjoying the performance and that this is all you want to do.
Good routines before a singing audition
As Stage Agent suggests, the first key element is a good vocal warm-up. Tie small vocal warm-ups into your daily routine during the lead up to your excitingly awaited-for audition.
Whether it’s in the morning before your day kicks off, or in the late afternoon when you’ve completed all tasks, just ensure the warm-ups regular and consistent. This routine will benefit you greatly for all future auditions.
It’s also important to make sure you are having enough sleep. Tiredness can affect singing, for example, if you are super worn out, you can be more vulnerable to sore throats and colds.
It’s suggested that getting to sleep before midnight makes your sleep more restful. Moreover, it’s advised that 7-9 hours is a good length for sleep so make sure you aren’t depriving yourself of your head hitting the pillow . You need to rest.
Eating and drinking habits will need to settle into a healthy routine. Stay away from dairy, choc and spicy foods and keep your throat as hydrated as possible. Get into the routine of not demolishing your dinner just before singing practice.
Your diaphragm is sensitive and with a full belly, it’ll be harder to take those deep breaths down to where they need to go.
What do you do on the day of the audition?
When the big day comes around, if you’ve made sure you’ve followed all the guidance and practised more than ever before, you’ll feel excited, perhaps nervous and ready to go.
On the day, don’t overwhelm yourself with tasks prior to the singing audition. Wake up bright and early, have a healthy breakfast, but try hard to avoid caffeine and citrus fruit.
It might help to have laid out your outfit the night before. All you’ll have to do is enjoy getting ready without the forever-stressful question, “what do I wear?”.
Leave to get to the venue in good time. If the journey is an hour, give yourself an hour on top of that. It’s always better to be early to an audition. This way you’ll have ample time to slip in a warm-up and take a breather to let your nerves settle.
Once you’ve arrived at the venue, you may see other singers like yourself. Try to keep all your focus on solely you. It’s hard to not compare what you’re doing to what they’re up to. But this won’t help.
You are an individual singer with your own unique sound and style. Have pride in knowing that and just work on you. Afterwards, you can relish in all the excitement post singing audition. You can take ten minutes to reflect on what went amazing and what you’d like to continue working on for your next audition.
Now you’ve got the singing audition process off to a flying start, it’s a journey of self-improvement and motivation from here onwards.