IT’S TIME FOR SOME CLASSES!

I’ll be announcing Save My Audition’s first set of classes on Friday, December 15th. There are some incredible instructors lined up to teach and I couldn’t be more grateful or excited to start this new adventure as part of the website. If you sign up for the Newsletter you’ll be given early access starting tomorrow morning at 9am to sign up for classes.

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Instructors include:

• Dominick Amendum - Music Director

• Ben Cohn - Music Director

• Michael Hicks - Audition Pianist

• Rachel Hoffman - Casting Director

• Sharon Kenny - Audition Pianist

• Lindsay Levine - Casting Director

• Sheri Sanders - Rock Guru

• Amy Marie Stewart of TheoryWorks

• Jason Styres - Casting Director

• Merri Sugarman - Casting Director

Some other instructors are in the works for January and there are even more lined up for February and March moving forward. Each of these instructors and classes being offered are dedicated to making you better in the audition room. I’m purposefully having people who spend a great deal of time in the audition room teach classes. There are plenty of audition classes taught by people who don’t spend a lot of time “in the room”. While these classes are great and have their place, I’m trying to keep the advice and knowledge in the classroom as current as possible, and to do that you have to spend time in the room on a daily or weekly basis. Trends change quickly in this business. Who better to learn from than the people that do it all day every day?

I may be most excited about the classes being taught by Amy Marie Stewart the co-founder of TheoryWorks. TheoryWorks is taking on music literacy. I’ve gone on several Facebook tangents about how important it is to learn how to read music and become a better musician and professional. If you don’t read music proficiently I highly recommend taking one of the 2 classes being offered by Amy in January and also checking out the TheoryWorks website and signing up for their online courses. You won’t regret it, and you’ll save a lot of money and relieve a lot of stress if you learn how to read music. Trust me. A lot of the money I make comes from people that need me to plunk our their melodies. Learn how to do that yourself! Save your money! Not that I mind taking it from you.

Another class I’m super excited about is a class being offered by Michael Hicks, a long time friend and beast of an audition pianist. He is offering a class we’re calling PLAY MY AUDITION. There is a lot that happens with the audition pianist to make your audition happen. Most of the work that happens behind the piano you have no idea happens. But it does. And its main purpose is to make you sound better in the room. Come learn what happens back there. Learn what your music sounds like when it is played EXACTLY how it appears on the page and how you instruct the audition pianist to play it. Then hear it again as if it were a real audition. The difference may be troubling and eye-opening to you. The goal of the class is to get you more comfortable with the pianist and what it is they do behind the piano, as well as fixing your music and instructions so you can be more comfortable and confident in the room.

As part of each month of classes I hope to offer at least 1 free class, open to subscribers of the Newsletter first, then to the general public. January’s free class is called ASK AN AUDITION PIANIST. Myself as well as Michael Hicks and Sharon Kenny, all three of us audition pianists extraordinaire will sit in a room and answer any questions you have, tell some great stories of our experience in the audition room and help you to demystify the audition pianist.

There is a ton of information to learn from each of the instructors offering classes. On top of working with the instructors, I will be in the room for each audition class as the pianist and offer advice and help in making sure that your music looks amazing and is set up for your success. And if you need help making what we suggest happen, I know a website that can totally make that a possibility.

If classes sell out I will be opening up audit slots for students to pay a reduced rate and come observe class and learn by watching. Auditors will of course be able to ask questions and participate in group discussions, but will not get a chance to work one-on-one in front of the group with the instructors. I’m trying to open up classes to as many people as possible, everyone who wants to should have a chance to come learn!

Make sure to ask for a Save My Audition Gift Card for the holidays. Have someone you love pay for your classes!

Back to our regular blog posts next week. I’m very excited about classes and hope to offer a great offering of classes each month to help you in the audition room.

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Aaron's Thoughts on the Inside of your Book

Alright, we're arrived. It's time to start chatting about what should go inside of your audition book. Remember, there are no "right" answers here. This is just my opinion about what should be in your book. This comes from years and years of being in the room. I do think that I have a little more authority about the audition book than most people. Most people don't spend the amount of time in the audition room that I spend, or any audition pianist spends for that matter. There are stock lists of what should be in your book. Lists from audition coaches. Lists from acting teachers. Lists from everyone and everywhere. But most of those people aren't in the room on a regular basis. We're in the room. I'm actually writing this blog in a dance call for THE BOOK OF MORMON. I'm always in the room. We're in the room. All the time. For good and bad. 'Til death do us part. Heed our advice, we mostly know what we're talking about.

Lists

You'll find a lot of lists online that describe the "perfect" audition book. Be warned! Look judgingly at these lists. There is no such thing as the "perfect" audition book. Just the book that works best for you. Which isn't the same book that works best for someone else. If there were such a thing as the "perfect" audition book you wouldn't be reading this and you would always be working. There aren't a lot of "rules" in the audition world. Contrary to other people I do think there are some rules, but they are mostly common sense. Things like:

• Don't tell the people behind the table to go to hell.
• Don't show up naked.
• Don't pee in the corner. Maybe under the table, but definitely not in the corner.
• Don't try to exit through a closet after your audition.
• Don't make me turn a page if your cut is only 2 pages long. Seriously, don't do that. It's rude.

Those are the rules that are pretty self-explanatory. But even those may not be rules in the right audition circumstance. Who knows?! It's a crazy business. But if anyone starts telling you the "rules" about an audition or your audition book – leave them and ask for your money back. Immediately. Then go find a better coach/teacher.

Aaron's basic list

• Operetta
• Jazz Age Standard
• Golden Age Standard
• Post-Golden Age Standard
• Sondheim
• Contemporary Music Theatre
• Disney
• 1950s Rock
• 1970s Rock
• 1980s Rock
• 1990s Pop/Rock
• Contemporary Pop
• Contemporary Rock
• Contemporary Country/Cross-over Country
• Hip/Hop - Rap

You should generally try to have a ballad and an uptempo for each of these categories, the pop/rock categories can mostly get away with either a ballad or an uptempo.

There is a lot of wiggle room with that list, a lot of songs can cover a couple categories. I'm going to spend a bunch of blog posts breaking down all these categories and talk about appropriate song choices for each of them. Again, this is will be my opinion! And if you've ever talked to my wife, you know that my opinion doesn't count for much.

Songs I Don't Think You Need

• Anything written by Andrew Lloyd, Boublil & Schönberg or Frank Wildhorn
• Novelty Song - though it isn't a bad idea
• Songs that don't show you off. This is a big problem. Just because you like a song and think it's great doesn't necessarily mean it is great for you. Or that it is a great audition song. It may just suck as an audition song. That happens. Move on. What's next?

Final thoughts

This is going to be a lot of stuff to cover. I know I've talked about keeping your books thin and controlled. There is a way to cover as much material as you possibly can while maintaining a proper size book. That'll be covered as we dig into these categories.

Inside of the list above there are a million variations. Some people absolutely wouldn't have a Hip/Hop tune in their books. Other people may have 3. Take this list and tailor it to your needs. Need help? Send an email! I'll gladly help you talk through your book or send you to some super smart people that I trust to help you with your book.

Next week we'll start to break down each category and get into the nitty gritty of each genre.

 

Beer Culture
328 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036

If you are of legal drinking age... Go have a beer. This place has a billion (estimate) of them.

Until then, every audition counts.

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“I’ve discreetly written a sharp in front of that D in I Chose Right countless times.

You’re welcome actors of NYC.”

— Aaron Jodoin, Facebook post, May 3, 2017, 5:17PM

This is a favorite one of mine. There are certain songs that make their way through the audition circuit that have errors in the published sheet music. I'm going to highlight 4 of them. But they are by no means a complete list. There are LOTS of errors in lots of published sheet music.

The best way to avoid such errors is by taking your music to a pianist and asking them to play through it EXACTLY as it appears on the page. Now, most audition pianists do what I refer to as "audition magic" to your sheet music and play more than is printed on the page. We also get rid of that melody line that's in the right hand for most Pop/Rock tunes. We ignore the incorrect chord symbols. There is a lot we do behind the piano that you have NO clue about. Here are 4 quick examples.

I CHOSE RIGHT from BABY:

In measure 50 of I CHOSE RIGHT from the musical BABY there is a D natural. In fact there are 3 Ds that should be D#s. Though thankfully in measure 51 they've given us a courtesy accidental to cancel out what should have been the D#. Whenever anyone sings this in an audition room I take out my trusty pencil and correct the wrong notes. I'm not blaming anyone for this error, it's a mistake on the copyists part. But you should have taken your music to a pianist and had them play through it and then you can easily fix it with a pencil. Lesson of the story, guys and gals, if this song is in your book, turn to it right now and fix measure 50. If you've had me play an audition for you, it's probably already been fixed. You're welcome.

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Click to enlarge my rage.

NOTICE ME HORTON from SEUSSICAL:

This one is amazing. Like Mayzie. In the 3rd and 5th measure above there is a rogue Dnatural. It should be a Db. Now the fact that it happens twice is the best part of this. COME ON! This is from the MusicNotes/SheetMusicDirect version of NOTICE ME HORTON. If you've purchased this copy of the song, write to whomever you purchased it from and ask for a refund. If you got your copy of the song from the Piano/Vocal score you are fine. I've also turned those 2 natural signs into flat signs quite a bit. Though it adds a nice little jazz element to play a Dnatural. That's a lie. It sounds terrible and Stephen Flaherty would not be amused.

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Click to enlarge my rage.

MISTER SNOW from CAROUSEL:

This is just a random forward repeat sign that shouldn't exist. The thing about this repeat sign that makes me happy is that it's been around FOREVER! There's really not much of a rant here. Just a phantom repeat sign. If you look through the rest of the song there is no backward repeat sign to bring you back here. So it's literally just a waste of ink. Seeing as VE Day was on May 8, 1945 and Carousel opened on April 19, 1945 this ink could have been used toward the war effort. Though the type set version of this score probably happened later on, so now I'm just ranting for no good reason.

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Click to enlarge my rage.

HOLDING TO THE GROUND from FALSETTOS/FALSETTOLAND:

This missing measure is a crapshoot in the audition room. Some people do it as written in the songbook version of this song, some people do it like the original cast recording. There was a time I would ask which version you were doing, but that question baffled most people. So now I just play the song on a wing and a prayer and you can usually tell which version is going to be sung. But there is a missing measure! Although, in the 2016 revival this measure isn't missing from the cast recording, so perhaps this one will fade into the distance. But it's annoying to not really know what people are going to be singing. Again, just have a pianist play through your stuff! It's so easy to be prepared.

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Click to enlarge my rage.

Others:

There are a million more examples of this. I won't get into what's currently being written for music theater. A majority of the new musical theater writers apparently have no idea what a properly notated piece of sheet music should look like. It's embarrassing. If you purchase a piece of sheet music from a new composer, make sure it is notated correctly, especially on NewMusicalTheatre.com. There are a lot of new composers that clearly care about the notation of their music, but there are also a lot of new composers that couldn't care less, but if you are paying $8-10 for a piece of sheet music (too much money), then you damn well better be getting an edited and correct version. If it isn't notated correctly, or you aren't sure if it is notated correctly, pay a pianist to look through it. Or email it to SaveMyAudition, I'll gladly look over it and let you know if you should be getting your money back.

And that is that. It's time for Thanksgiving. Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'll post a new blog on Monday!

Until then, every audition counts!

Also here's a treat, not a music theater song, but just a great song. Loudon Wainwright III is a hell of a writer.

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Delaying the inevitable

I want to get into the nitty gritty of the songs that should be in your book, but that needs more time and organization on my part. It will definitely be a multipart blog. As of right now I have it divided into about 10 blog posts, that seems excessive. I'm trying to narrow that down. As you can imagine I have a lot to say on the subject of what's inside your book. I want to present it in the best possible way. So I'm still working on it.

So this week we’re going to talk about the inside of your book. How to organize it, how to present it, how it should be laid out. Keep in mind, these are just my opinions, as I always say… I have pianist friends that will disagree with what I’m about to say and pianist friends that will agree with I’m about to say.

Organization:

Let’s start with organization. Last week I said that I personally like books organized by category. For purposes of this blog I’ll break down the categories of songs that should be in your book this way…

• Traditional Music Theatre
• Contemporary Music Theatre
• Pop/Rock

This is by no means a comprehensive listing of the genres that should be in your book. I’ll get into that at a later date.

Avery Big Tab Write & Erase Durable Plastic Dividers, 8 Multicolor Tabs, 1 Set (16171)

$3.58

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The way I would organize each section of your book is by era/song style. So a section for your Traditional Music Theatre songs, a section for your Contemporary Music Theatre Songs and a section for your Pop/Rock songs. Use a divider between each… What’s a divider? It’s one of these things >>>

I like these dividers because they have erasable tabs you can write on and they are sturdy.

Inside each section you can organize how you want. I recommend putting all your ballads together in the front of the section and all your up-tempos together in the back of the section. Each in alphabetical order.

I would organize the sections in your book chronologically. Start with the earliest written songs and work your way to the more contemporary stuff.

Boom, organized. That’s how we roll.  What was that casting director person? You want to hear a lyric traditional music theater song? No worries, it’s right here in my book. And here are my options.

Table of Contents:

Also, at the very front of your book should be a table of contents. You’ll replace this and update it every time you add new stuff or throw away old stuff. This is great to have when you are asked what else you have in your book. Don’t go flipping through at a million miles an hour arbitrarily throwing out song titles as you see them. Look at your table of contents that is broken down by category. It couldn’t be easier. Plus a lot of times the pianist in the room will have a really good suggestion as to what you should sing if they ask for something else. We’ve been there all day, we know what the room wants to hear. Trust our suggestion, but don’t let it change your mind if you have a killer second song that you knew you wanted to sing.

Have one. End of discussion.

Here is an example Table of Contents:

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Click for a larger view.

Sheet Protectors?

Samsill Heavyweight Non-Glare Sheet Protectors, Box of 200 Plastic Page Protectors, Acid Free / Archival Safe, Top Load 8.5 x 11 Inches

$16.98

Buy on Amazon

I say yes. If and only if they are on the thicker side and non-glare. Don’t buy the flimsy Rite-Aid sheet protectors that reflect light better than my mirror. The awkward angles we have to twist our head to balance out the reflection is a musical unto itself. Spend a little money on some solid sheet protectors. Like the ones to the left of this paragraph.

You’ll use these over and over, and for years. It’s a one-time investment.

Also worth the money are foldout sheet protectors. Ones that allow you to open up an extra page. You can have a 4 page audition cut laid out on the piano and never have to take anything out of your book! And I don’t have to turn pages. Do it! I know they exist, I can't find them online right now. But they can be your best friend.

Sheet Protectors Not to Use:

Thin - the cheap thin sheet protectors are why lots of pianists hate sheet protectors. They are useless and make reading your music next to impossible in the glorious fluorescent lighting of most rehearsal studios.

These are the worst.

Quick-Loading Sheet Protectors - These are absolute garbage. They fall open as you turn pages and mess everything up and block the page from being turned properly. These should all be rounded up and thrown over a cliff. Pure garbage.

So this is an uneventful and unexciting blog post. I apologize. But it’s worth noting that all of this stuff is important. We’ll get into the songs of your audition book shortly. That’s where we’ll have some fun.

Our first series of classes will be announced in less than a month! So make sure you sign up for the Newsletter to be the first to know and have early access to attend. We have some exciting people lined up!

Everyone have an amazing Thanksgiving week. Until then.

Every Audition Counts.

 

Red Lobster
5 Times Square
New York, NY 10036

Go for the Cheddar Biscuits. Leave for everything else. What can I say, I have a soft spot in my stomach for those Cheddar Biscuits. Everything else is horrifying. So get the free stuff and leave.

Until then, every audition counts.

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The Music Theater Audition Book

Your audition book. Where it all begins and ends. The music theater audition book is something to behold. It should contain all the things that you need. This blog is about what the actual audition book should be. Soon I’ll get to what should be inside of it. Bare in mind, all the things I’m about to say are my opinion only. I have audition pianist friends that would argue most of what I’m about to say. And I have audition pianist friends that would agree with most of what I’m about to say. Gather all the information you can and make your own decisions.

Type of binder:

Your binder should be a standard 3-ring binder that is conducive to the amount of music you need it to hold. 1-inch. 1.5 inches. 2 inches? It’s up to the amount of music you have in it. I always say the smaller the better.  There is no need to have 300 songs in your binder. Boil it down. Find the songs that work best for you and consolidate. I strongly think that you should have a binder that has a clear pocket on the cover for you to put a headshot in. It makes it very clear that it is your binder and can help you find it if you misplace it. Where is my binder? Oh, here it is, it’s the one with my face on it. Also, please don’t bedazzle your binder. I’m going to cut my hand if you have fake plastic jewels on it. Stickers and stuff, that’s fine. Things with sharp edges, no thanks. Save those for your niece or nephew when they come to visit you in New York City.

Front Pocket:

In the very front pocket of your audition book should be at least one extra headshot/resume. You can store extra in the front cover sleeve if you need to. Putting one here makes it easy to grab one should the casting director ask you for one. You should ALWAYS offer your headshot/resume. The copy they have may be dated and need renewing. Plus it gives you a chance to have an actual interaction with the people in the room. These are hard to come by. Take them when you can get them.

This girl is looking at me awkwardly as I'm trying to play the piano.

Now as for that headshot/resume in the front pocket. You should have the resume facing out. In other words, picture facing away from the pianist. I know that you spent a million dollars getting your headshots done and reproduced. But it’s really awkward to have your face starring at me while I’m playing your audition. So just turn it around. No big deal. Easy, done. If you have callback material that you have prepared and for some reason they want you to sing your own piece first, have that material in the front pocket when you walk in. You can either grab it and put it on top of the piano, or have it in the front pocket ready to grab when the time is right.

Table of Contents:

Please have a table of contents for your book. This should be something that is updated as you take songs out, or add songs to your book. Let me tell you why this is a good thing to have. Sometimes in an audition the casting director/director/music director/some other random person in the room says “What else do you have?” Then you come back over to the piano and start flipping through your book randomly saying titles that you see. If you have a table of contents you can simply flip to the front of your book and rattle off the titles of what you can do. Also, as an audition pianist that knows this is coming, I can look at it and tell you which song I think would be best for you to sing, based on the information that I have learned from the room on that particular day. We’re your friend behind the piano, we know what they are looking for.

Organization:

There are several approaches to how you can organize your book.

• Alphabetical
• By category
• Dealer's choice

I’m always a fan of organizing your book by category. Put your Golden Age songs all together. Your Pop/Rock tunes together. Your contemporary theater songs together. This makes more sense to me than organizing your book alphabetically. You get called in for Waitress, you know which part of your book they want to hear songs from, you can turn right to it and know what songs you have. But, that’s just my opinion.

I would also recommend having tabs for each song in your book. Maybe you number them. Maybe you have some other organization technique that works for you. But tabs make life much easier. You always know where the first page of a song is. So when you are “flipping” through your book you don’t waste time on pages that you don’t need to look at.

Now the age old question that audition pianists have fought about for years.

Sheet protectors?

Personally, I love me a good sheet protector. Granted they are relatively thick stock and NON-GLARE. The non-glare is super important. Fluorescent lights are not forgiving. If you ever get to sit in a room for auditions, watch the audition pianist, if you see them in all sorts of weird positions… They are trying to find an angle where the light isn’t reflecting off your shitty dollar store sheet protecters. Also - double sided on good stock paper works. Not your standard 20lb paper. Get some paper with some weight to it. We love it! It makes turning pages a dream. Plus your music will stay in playable shape longer.

What about the actual songs in your book?

There is an entire blog post and webinar that I am working on that gets into the songs that should be in your book. But for the purpose of this post, I will deal with the actual sheet music. If you have a 16 bar cut and a 32 bar cut of the same song, you should have 2 copies of that song in your book. You throw a lot of information at us in the audition room, and we have played a lot of auditions. Sometimes that “STOP” that you have listed in the middle of your tune is for the 16 bar cut and we need to keep playing for the 32 bar cut. It can get confusing. So why leave it to chance? Have 2 or 3 copies of your song based on the number of cuts you have of it. There is no problem having a 16 bar cut, a 32 bar cut and a full version of the same song in your book.

If you are currently working on stuff in your voice lessons or vocal coachings you can absolutely have that in your book. If you are not ready to perform that stuff in an audition, keep it in the back of your book. Have a section that is marked off as “IN THE WORKS”, that is 100% acceptable. But if we see a song amongst all the other songs in your book, we are going to assume that it’s good to go. The audition pianist will recommend what “next” song to sing a lot. Make sure it’s a song that you know how to sing super well. Keep the stuff you are working on in a separate section. There isn’t a need to have 2 binders. Some people say keep it in a separate binder until it’s ready. Bah to that I say. Keep it all together. Just quarantine it.

Back pocket

The back pocket of your binder is a great place to keep all the extra nonsense stuff that you keep in your book.

• Casting calls.
• Letters from your mom
• Receipts from voice lessons
• Rental agreements
• Divorce papers
• Airline tickets
• Parking tickets
• Suggestive photos of someone you love/someone you met last night
• Bible passages
• School trip itineraries
• Passports
• Internet passwords

Keep all that stuff in the back pocket, I won’t look at it if it’s back there. Side note, everything on the list above I have seen in audition books. But if it’s in the back pocket I won’t look at it. There is something about the back pocket to me that is private. I don’t know what, but it is.

In conclusion

The biggest thing I can say about your audition book is to keep it clean. If it’s starting to fall apart, go buy a new one from Staples. Binders are not expensive. Care for it. It is your job interview.

Next week I’ll delve into songs for your book. I think. I may change my mind. But that’s what I’m thinking. It'll probably be 2 or 3 weeks worth of blogs.

Until then.

Every Audition Counts.

 

ChikaLicious
203 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003

This place is not in midtown. But you are a fool if you don't go. ChikaLicious is a dessert bar where you get 3 courses of dessert and it's mind-blowing. Go. Now. Go. Please. It's amazing. And the owner is an amazing guy and Chika (head chef) is the most adorable person on the face of the planet. And you can literally sit at a bar and watch her make your dessert! Go!!! And get the iced coffee, nothing is better than coffee ice cubes.

Until then, every audition counts.

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YOU DID IT!

So you've sung your audition... Maybe it went well, maybe it didn't, maybe it went neither... But here we are at the end of it. Time to grab your book from the pianist, say "Thank you" and head out the door.

SAY THANK YOU TO THE PIANIST

Always, always say "Thank you" to the pianist. Even if they played a completely different song and played that different song poorly. Always say "Thank you". The pianist and the people behind the table know what's up, they know who was the person that made the mistakes. But saying thank you makes you look gracious and understanding that sometimes people just mess up. Hard.

When I mess up an audition I'm the first to say "I'm so sorry!" sometimes I'll just stop playing and we'll start over again. I have no shame when I mess up. I already have the job, and it's my job to make sure that you are able to do the best you can so that you can get the job. If that means that I need to stop and collect myself and restart, that's what I'll do. You also have the power to stop if you know the audition is going to go off the rails right from the top. There is no rule that says you can't go back over to the pianist and clarify things and give it a second chance. Just don't be rude. That's a pretty basic rule. Don't be rude. You'd be surprised how many rude people walk through the room everyday. We all have our shit that we're working through, your's isn't special, leave it outside. Be your best self in the room.

Time to get off my soap box. Sorry.

KNOW WHERE THE DOOR IS

Know where the door is when you leave the room. I've seen people try to walk into closets on their way out. Not sure how that happens, but be aware of your surroundings.

“They won’t let me smoke inside, but you can pee in Leo’s closet?”

— President Bartlet - The West Wing

I'm not kidding on this one. Know where you are in the room and where you need to go next. It's amazing how easily you can get flustered. Be aware.

A special note: The doors to the studios at Telsey + Co are particularly heavy. Be strong.

FINALLY OUT OF THE ROOM

Okay, so you're finally out of the room. What do you do next? If I were an auditioning actor I would immediately whip out my audition journal and make sure I make a note of everything that just happened. SaveMyAudition.com will shortly have a free PDF journal page that you can use to journal your auditions. I think it's smart to journal all of your auditions, it's important to be able to recall who was in the room, what you sang, what you wore, what feedback you got. You might start seeing a trend with certain songs sung in front of certain actors. Or the way a certain pianist plays a song that you can't stand. It can help inform what you do next. After you fill out your journal, go about your day. Don't linger on any audition you gave, know it's up to the fates now. Go, be at peace and live your life.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ROOM WHEN YOU LEAVE

Not much. Usually the casting director will make a few notes on your headshot and move it to one of several piles, usually two. One pile means you move on to the next stage, the other means you don't. The reasons you are put into one pile or the other are mostly out of your control. Maybe you don't look right for the roles being cast. Maybe you don't have the right voice type. Maybe you don't fit in the costume. The reasons are endless as to which pile you end up in. We then move on to the next person walking into the room and start the process all over again. All day long.

If you are in a callback then the people behind the table have a little discussion about you and move you to one of the piles before moving on. It all tends to happen fast, but as the rounds go on the discussions become longer. 

Maybe next week I'll write something funny. I don't know. Until then Every Audition Counts!

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So you've finally made it to the audition and you're standing on the precipice of walking through that door into an unknown future. Maybe this is the big one! Maybe this is the audition that finally gets you your big break and makes you a star. Maybe the outcome isn't quite as exciting. But regardless you take a deep breath open the door and off you go!!!

ENTRY!

For the sake of length... I'm going to assume you can make it over to the piano without falling. But then again, you would be surprised the stuff we've seen in the room. Anyway –– time to talk to the pianist...

THINGS YOU NEED TO COMMUNICATE TO THE PIANIST:

1. What song are you singing?

2. Where does your cut start and where does it end?

3. How fast does your song go? More importantly, what is the feel/groove of the song. How do you want the pianist to play it. This is, surprisingly, the step that most actors fail miserably at.

4. How do you want to begin your audition? When should the pianist start playing?

LET'S BREAK THESE STEPS DOWN:

1. WHAT SONG ARE YOU SINGING?

When you walk in the room have the song you are singing ready to go. Don't plop your book onto the piano and need to look through it to locate the song you want to do. Know where it is.

Chances are we've played your song about a thousand times in auditions before. Not much walks through that door that we haven't played.

Oh, you've got a song that you did in a reading that's about the life of David Koch and his love of dance? I've seen it. True story. While it is always nice when new material comes through the door and we truly get to sight-read some music, it doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, moral of the story, know where your song is in the book. Also know what show it's from and who wrote it. You'd be surprised how many times someone in the room will ask what your song is from and who wrote it... Have an answer. It's embarrassing if you don't.

2. WHERE DOES YOUR CUT START AND WHERE DOES IT END?

This should be pretty straight forward. Your song should start at the beginning and end at the ending. Seems easy enough, right? HOLY SHIT! The roadmaps that people have tried to explain to me about their cut would confuse the smartest of logic puzzle solvers.

“Okay, so this is a little tricky, you start playing here, then we are going to take the 1st ending, but instead of going back to the 2nd verse we are going to cut to the bridge, but just half the bridge, then turn back a page and we’ll do the second verse, but just half the second verse and then directly to the chorus 2 pages later, then when you get to the end of the chorus follow the sign back to the 1st page and we’ll do the 3rd verse, then back to the chorus again 2 pages later, take the coda 4 bars early, it’s a key change so just make something up into the new key and then we’ll repeat the last phrase 3 times, on the last time we’ll double it up for a big ending. Oh, and I know this last chord is wrong, just play whatever to make it sound like an ending.”

— Actors that drive me insane

The above quote is a little hyperbolic... but not much. I've heard every all the bits and pieces above in the audition room, not necessarily together, but I've heard it all. The crazy paths through peoples music that I've had to take are uncalled for. Have someone fix your music for you. Have it all laid out so that I start at the beginning and end at the end. If there is music you don't want me to play because it isn't part of your cut... GET RID OF IT! I can't play it if it isn't there.

Basically, please for the love of all things holy, pay attention to the music you put in front of the pianist. We are on your side until we aren't. Have respect for your work and your craft. There will be a future blog post about reading music. If you are in music theater, you should know how to read music. End of story. It's not hard to do and shows basic respect for your craft. SaveMyAudition has a great Audition Services section to help you with your music, don't be shy.

3. HOW FAST DOES YOUR SONG GO?

The more appropriate question is:

“How do you want me to approach this song stylistically? What’s the groove and how do the drums sound?”

— Me, if I were to ask the question properly...

Simply telling me how fast the song goes isn't enough. Now, chances are I know your song and I've played it a million times. But I still ask, I always ask (98% of the time, always) because I don't know how you do your "version" of the song. So take a second, find the part of the song that grooves the best, usually the hook/chorus of the song, and let it get in your body as you sing a little and show me the groove of the song.

“Oh, it’s 87 beats per minute”

— Actual thing someone has said to me

Yes, that is technically exactly how fast your song goes. But that number is meaningless to me. Not that I don't know what roughly 87 beats per minute is... But you're better off if you sing me your song to give me that number....

4. HOW DO YOU WANT TO BEGIN YOUR AUDITION? WHEN SHOULD THE PIANIST START PLAYING?

This one is easy. Just tell us when you want to begin your audition. Whether it's a bell tone or an actual introduction. When should we start playing? When you get to center? When you nod at us? When you look at us? Right as you are leaving the piano? When?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Not me playing.

We are behind the piano to support you. Most of us have been doing this for a long, long time. You'll encounter some new faces as the next generation of audition pianists comes through the door, but for the most part, we've been through the ropes. We are getting paid well to be back there behind the piano.

Anyway, that's your interaction with the pianist. We are there to support you and we are genuinely hoping you book the job. That's the best part of our line of work, when we know someone booked the gig.

IMPORT AFTERTHOUGHT:

I don't care if you want to use your iPad for your audition. I prefer it if you have the bigger model as opposed to the tiny model. And please, I'm begging you, pretty please, turn it on airport mode when you are auditioning. I've seen more than one sext. That is unfortunately not a joke.

That's it for this one. I'm sure there is much more that can be said about the interaction you have with the pianist, maybe I'll write a book about it.

Until next time: Every Audition Counts!

 

El Ranchero Burritos
359 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036

Some damn fine and quick Mexican food. Great for lunch. A literal hole in the wall.

Alright - I'm going to start a mini-blog series that explains some of my audition rant Facebook posts. I know that these posts have given you all some laughs and some anxiety. So let's start with one that is just a basic "how-to":

“Ya’ll:

When you’re giving me the tempo of your audition cut... The space between the phrases, when you aren’t singing lyrics, is actually more important to me then what comes before or after. Don’t just ease through the silence in a phrase, it’s part of the song.

A beat of silence = a beat of sound.”

— Aaron Jodoin, Facebook post, June 5, 2017, 5:28PM

This one is pretty straight forward. A lot of you that walk into the audition room are very good and efficient at explaining your audition to me. This mostly stems from your music being set up properly, with proper markings. But there are some of you, and I won't mention names, who SUCK at this portion of your audition. If you want to make sure your music has all the information needed please visit the Audition Prep portion of this website.

There aren't many things in the casting process that you can have complete control over. But one of them is your interaction with the person behind the piano. Namely, for this circumstance and blog post convenience, me.

"How fast are you going?"

While this is a favorite question of mine to ask is really an imprecise question, the real question should be:

"How should I, musically, feel this song while playing it for you, what is the groove, how do I support you best musically?"

That is a more precise question, but for expediency I ask the former. That being said, when giving me the tempo in which you want to sing the song, don't sing me the portion of the song where you do the most back-phrasing (also known as - not singing in time). Sing me the hook of the song, sing me the part of the song that locks into a solid groove and you can show me with your body. If the song has several different tempos (this will be covered at a later date) then be precise in showing me the feel for each of these sections.

To circle this back to the Facebook rant, when singing me that portion of the song, or any portion of the song... DO NOT SKIP OVER THE RESTS. These, for me, are the most important part of me knowing that I've locked in with your tempo. This is how my head works when you are establishing your tempo...

• Oh God I love/hate this song
• Let's hear some of this great/awful song
• The phrase is ending, here come some rests in the music, sweet
• Counting silently "1-2-3...."
• Great they started singing again right when I was done with the rest, this is perfect/What the hell! Why did they start singing 3 beats before I was done counting the rests?! This is going to be a shit-show, oh well, be better at giving me your tempo.
• Here we go.

If you skip over that silence in your music because you are rushed and think you're taking up too much time, I don't get the information I need and it'll take me a good phrase to really lock in with you.

As a wise man once told me:

“A beat of silence is equal to a beat of sound.”

— Dr. Thomas Albert, Shenandoah University, sometime in the early aughts

I was picking my brain trying to figure out where to start with this SaveMyAudition blog. So I figured the first stretch of blog posts (hopefully 1 a week) would cover the room, the audition room. What to expect and what it's like to be in the room for 8 hours a day.

Let's start with the basics (in the music theater world):

What is an audition?

An audition is a crazy, entirely unique, situation. You walk into a room, spend a minute or two trying to convince someone you may or may not have ever seen before, that you are worth investing their money in. Well, first you have to get past a casting director. We'll get into that later. But it's made up, this experience is made up and unique to the performing arts.

Types of Auditions:

This is not an actual audition. This is bullshit.

• ECCs - Equity Chorus Call - Also known as a Cattle Call. Webster's dictionary defines an ECC as... well nothing, it's not in there, I didn't actually look that up but I've yet to find a phrase in the dictionary, just single words. 
     This is where most shows begin. There are two types of ECCs, singer and dancer. The casting call will tell you what the show is and what to prepare. Then a bunch of people show up at a rehearsal studio and line up for their chance to sing 32/16 and sometimes 8 bars for usually a casting director and a representative from the show's music department, usually an associate. A week prior to the audition you can sign up for an ECC at the Actor's Equity Association building. There will be a list for men, women and dancers. The list is taken down when Equity closes the day before the call.
     On the day of the call you should arrive early. The monitor will call the names on the list, since there are usually a lot of repeats and no-shows your actual audition time slot may be much earlier than you anticipate, so show up on time (early)!
     Singers - You will then be lined up at the door of the audition room. Bravely enter the portal and sing your heart out.
    Dancers - You'll enter the room in groups and learn a short combination or two. Sometimes you'll be asked to stay and sing a short piece. Always have your audition book on you. ALWAYS. Let me repeat that. ALWAYS HAVE YOUR AUDITION BOOK ON YOU. It amazes me that people travel to auditions without their book. There is no excuse for that. Even if you've been given specific callback material for an audition and told that there will be absolutely no chance that you'll be asked to sing something of your own... ALWAYS HAVE YOUR AUDITION BOOK ON YOU! And while I'm on it, have a picture and resume on you, or a couple. Always be prepared.
    These calls can be closed at any time once they begin. So don't plan on showing up a 5:50 and being seen. Chances are if the call didn't attract too many people that the people in the room left a long time ago after closing the call.
   
• EPAs - Equity Principal Audition - Generally the same as an ECC but you sign up for a specific time slot. You show up prior to your time slot, get lined up, walk in the room and do your thing. The rules for material here are slightly different. You are given an allotment of time not a number of measures.
   
• Open Call - The most chaotic and dreaded of the calls. This is a call that is literally open to anyone. Your hairdresser who has never sang a note in his life can swing on by and be seen. Equity, non-Equity and EMC are all given the same priority. You show up and you are seen in the order you arrive. AuditionUpdate.com is glorious on these days!
   
• Submission Call - This is exactly what it sounds like. Your agent, or manager, or even the director, choreographer or music director of the show holding auditions will submit you to the casting office and you'll be given an appointment for your audition. Show up early!
   
• Callback Audition - Once you make it through the first round of auditions listed above the next step, should you be so lucky, is callbacks. You'll most likely receive material from the show to prepare, or be asked to sing what you sang at your initial call for some of the creative team from the show. This round of auditions can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. It's not unusually to have seven or eight callbacks for a show. Not as common as it once was, but it still happens. Eventually you'll have your final callback, for the full team of the show (creative/producers/other fancy people that seem to hang out in the room and I can't quite figure out what their role is), but you can sometimes be greeted by 10-20 faces behind the table. It can be daunting. But you've made it this far because someone likes you, have faith in that.

More bullshit.

So that covers most of the different types of auditions you'll encounter. Feel free to comment and correct me below.

It's not an easy life, and you'll go to far more auditions than first day's on the job... But live your life, be you. Every Audition Counts

***EDIT - CORRECTION ***
Apparently you can sign up online now for calls. Technology, man, it's crazy. Do they post anything on those boards anymore? But the rest of that description should be acurate.

-Aaron Jodoin

 

Today's great midtown place...

City Kitchen
700 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10036

Still a relatively hidden place for a solid, but mildly pricey lunch. Located on the second floor with floor to ceiling windows that look out over 8th Avenue. They have lots of delicious food and DOUGH doughnuts... Get like 4 of them and eat them all, don't share.

Blogs... Are those still a thing? Not that I ever had one, actually I think I may have had one. I can't even remember. Oh well, I'm getting sidetracked. What was I saying...

Oh yes, this is the official Save My Audition.com blog. Hopefully it will become a nice place to come find some humorous musings about the audition world from an audition pianist and learn some things through my sarcastic sense of observation. After all, there are only so many times you can make me turn a page in a 2 page cut - let me repeat that - TURN A PAGE -- IN A TWO PAGE CUT! - without me getting a little annoyed at you.

But that's why we are here! Save My Audition.com is being built to help you with all of those audition needs. It's focused heavily on music right now. I'm an audition pianist. That's what I know best. I've been an audition pianist for a lot of years. I played my first set of auditions at 16, I'm now much older than that. I tried to do the math on how many auditions I've played and I realized I couldn't even try to figure out how many times I've played an audition cut. But I would guesstimate that a rough estimate would be tens of thousands of auditions. That's probably conservative. What I'm say is - I've played a lot of auditions.

I've been in the room a lot. I've been handed a cocktail napkin with some lyrics and chords scribbled out as "sheet music". I've been handed a lyric sheet with NO chords as "sheet music". I've been handed a vocal book with just the melody and no piano music or chords. I've been handed shattered iPads as "sheet music." I've also seen sexts on those iPads while playing your audition. I've had pages missing in your cut and just played the rest of the song without you missing a beat. I've also messed up your audition. I apologize for that, after a full day of 16 bar cuts, you're bound to completely mess one up. I once played "Natural Woman" in four. That's hard to do, I couldn't shift to the proper feel, I was stuck.

I'm wandering now. So - this blog will be a place for some humorous helpful hints and more appropriately thought out tips and advise. Maybe we'll have some guests come by and write a blog and give us some insight on the whole audition thing.

-Aaron Jodoin

Today's great place that gets me through the day in midtown..

 

 Margon Cuban Restaurant
136 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036

Hands down the best Cuban Sandwich you can find in the city.

Do it.

With everything.

You will not be disappointed.

Until then, every audition counts.