Tape your sheets!

This week I will be auditioning for a musical, so I will talk about that.

A lot of people make this very common mistake. Although it varies according accompanist, generally piano accompanists would prefer sheet music to be taped back to back. This makes it easy for the pianist to open up the sheet music and look at it from page, taped at the edges.

A lot of people just bring in songs with sheet music by the folder, which is not rejected, but is not preferred due to the pianist having to manually flip pages after every sheet.

Taping Sheet music!

This video above basically states what I mean by taping sheet music together. The pianist may very well be the musical director for your show, so make sure you are on good terms with he/she because he/she could be the making or breaking point of you getting the role you want!

Anthony

Singing while Acting

Whenever you sing a song, make sure you convey the message of it as well! A mistake many singers make (especially applicable in musical theatre) is that they do not act while they sing. They just sing.

No matter what kind of song you're singing, it should always have a message. Sure, you do not have to go as far as pantomiming the actions, but hand and body gestures aiding to tell the story of your song is always a bonus. It shows that you are really in control of the song and your mastery and readiness to perform.

Whenever an artist finds a song to perform, after learning the music (lyrics, notes, timing, etc.), they learn how to stage the song. This means their physical position, tech-related details, and of course, what they do while they sing (the actions, aka acting, of it).

Open Your Mouth!

This week will have a short post, but I would like to dive into singing since I have covered acting and dance in the previous week's blogs.

This seems like a very small thing, but it is seen in many singers. We all have heard of inertia before, right? We as humans constantly try to find ways to relax into things (pretty much being lazy). This is no different singing.

Before you read on, sing any song. It would be a few bars or the entire length and record it. After doing so, you may continue.

Singing Tip 1

This nice lady is right. Watch both professional singers and inexperienced ones alike and you'd be surprised how many of them have almost closed mouths when singing. We're singers, not ventriloquists!

Now, record another song and sing the song you did, but this time do it with wide-mouthed vowels and consonants. You can even exaggerate it if you need to. Now listen to both recordings and compare. There might not be too much of a difference (especially if your mouth is already naturally opened in the first video), but it really makes a difference in one's overall technique and especially when performing publicly.

So any time you plan to perform on stage, keep it in the back of your mind to open your mouth! People want to hear what you have to say in your song. :) And they want to hear those clear whole resonant notes.

The Five Ballet Positions

I've taken quite a few dance classes, some in Ballet & Jazz while others in Classical Ballet, so I would like to start with the basics.

There are five ballet positions, which is determined by your arms and feet. It would be hard to explain just exactly where the feet go, so here is a video.

5 Positions

I am excited for you to learn this, as I will soon go over other ballet, jazz, or contemporary style techniques that require knowledge and mastery of these basic fundamentals.

Other tips:

-Turn out your feet from the hip socket, not from your foot. The direction of your foot when turned out should be the same direction your knee socket is facing.

-Whenever your feet leaves the floor, make sure it is pointed! (This includes changing positions.)

Here is how to point your foot:

1. Bend your ankles down, toward the floor (basically down).
2. Stretch your towns down toward the floor. *don't crunch your toes, try and make a nice arc under your foot. If you generally have a C shape and your toes can curve all the way down, that means you have an excellent point!

-DON'T SICKLE. It would take a while to explain what it is, so here is a diagram. Basically, turn your feet outwards, not inwards (from the ankle).