Musical Theatre Audition Technique: What's In That Backpocket, Anyway?

I can give you two of my five "backpocket" songs - songs that I can sing any where at any time, upside down and inside out - "I Want To Be With You" from Golden Boy and "Go The Distance" from Hercules (movie). Now, if your response is "Everybody sings those!" well, duh, everybody sings everything -- difference is, I just KNOW I sing those songs better than anybody else.  That's why I use 'em!

Both are very positive, self-assured tunes with great finishes - one has a big F#, the other has a big G.  Both hit their emotional high points quickly because, frankly, if I need more than 32 bars to make my point, then we already have a problem...  Here's a mini-breakdown on why I keep these two songs with me always:

"I Want To Be With You"
Use for Legit Musical Theatre (meaning: big, fat round sound)
Moderate tempo
Positive, "I Want" song (check with Stephen Schwartz and son on this one!)
Dramatic
Unidirectional -- speaking to one person, in one direction
Utilizes a "cover" on legit high notes (a cover is where you maintain the same tone while slightly changing the vowel sound and fooling the listener into believing you just sang the actual vowel - which you didn't because you "covered" it)

"Go The Distance"
Use for Pop/Rock Musical Theatre
Moderate tempo
Positive, "I Want" song (more: Stephen Schwartz and his son don't like the obviousness of "I Want" songs and are always looking for ways to mask them)
"House" number -- omnidirectional, you sing to "the house" meaning: Left, Center, Right
Utilize a rock tone (definitely brighter, edgier, more strident, sticks out in front of the noise of a rock track)

Both songs leave the listener feeling upbeat and positive.  Both songs show off the highs and the lows of my voice really well.  Backpocket songs.

Musical Theatre Audition Technique: "Backpocket" Songs

Surefire way to completely blow a vocal audition is to learn that "perfect audition song" two days before the audition....  C'mon, people, seriously....

If the audition is about getting all the right words in the right order or hitting the high note or not falling over, then have at it.  Good luck.  Working performers - most of 'em, anyway - know better.  There's no reason for them to compete with people who "just learned a song."  Working performers are there to audition against other working performers who show up just as well prepared.  So "Let the battle begin!"

At minimum, you should have five songs in your backpocket that you know inside out, upside down and can use for virtually anything (unless it's Gilbert & Sullivan - that's kind of specific).

The five songs should represent the length and breadth of roles you can play in musical theatre; whether character or leading man, character or leading lady.  If you're a kid, have five songs that were sung by kids in shows.  Be honest about your age and type, then start hunting down uptempo songs that are positive, exciting, and full of energy.  Don't pick uptempo songs that are angry or negative or explain what a loser you are.  We're trying to put together a hit show.  We really don't want to hire angry, negative losers.

In other words, sing material that says "I can!" not "I can't!"

Quick Fix: Clap The Beats To Get "In The Pocket"

Clapping to the beat might seem pretty "back to basics," we learn how to do it in kindergarten, but whether you're a pro or a beginner, it can be a huge help when trying to focus a vocal performance.  Had a minor tempo issue today with one of my favorite clients. He was "out of the pocket" (lagging or speeding up just slightly ahead of the track) singing Elton's uptempo "Fortune Favors The Brave" from Aida.  The strong downbeats appeared to be missing in his vocal.  So I asked him not to sing, just to clap to the track. Thankfully, he didn't take it personally and we clapped straight fours while the track played.  We continued clapping fours as I called out the accents (louder claps).  We accented the "1."  Then we accented the "1 & 3" (Country).  Then we accented the "2 & 4" (Pop/R&B). "Fortune Favors The Brave" can contain all three of these feels - it really depends on how you sing it.  When we added the vocal back to the song (sans clapping), the vocal performance ended up much stronger, more present and much more "in the pocket."    

Plant Your Technique

Technical performers bug the hell out of me; mostly because I used to be one.  Perfect technique, pitch, intonation, every note spot on...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Nothin' wrong with all of the above, but  imagine if every tree looked the same.
Like this:

Instead of this:

Great vocal technique is like the roots of a tree; deep and hidden underground.  The tree grows in its own unique way; finding energy; chasing sunlight with its limbs, branches and leaves.  Great technique is fundamental to artistic growth.

Haller Music Studio - Ramped Up And Rarin' To Go!

Broadway, Pop and Rock singers of all ages; whether you seek a professional career or a great hobby, we're here for you.  We are so excited at the number of talented, hard-working people coming through our doors! Everybody gets the same attention and care at Haller Music and while many of Bill's vocal students are professionals in the arts and many of Nathalie's voice students are younger, everybody still receives the same professional training to rely on for the future.  We're in Lake Balboa, the San Fernando Valley, just off the 405 at Victory.  We have new rates in the column next to this item to help you budget for your professional development, including recording needs like demos or voiceovers.  Join us!

Navigating The Waters

Each one of us is the captain of our own ship.  We set sail at birth.  And if we have good parents, teachers, mentors and friends in our crew, we are more than likely to navigate a course through life utilizing the wisdom of their experience combined with our own best instincts, education and desire.  If we only experience rough waters in our youth, then dangerous seas can become difficult to determine in our adulthood; after all, the eye of the storm is placid, but an inexperienced sailor might still try getting out through hurricane gusts and 30-foot waves.  Fooled again.  Now that I'm 55, "navigating the waters" has become my mantra.  If, for fear of sinking, I leave my ship moored in the bay; I go nowhere.  My sails are never filled with the wind energy of life and the potential of my very being remains untested.  If, in lieu of all outward signs of danger, I set sail during a storm, my chances for success become extremely limited.  Not that I won't be able to successfully get through the storm, that's always a possibility, but upon that one success, the odds are that I'll continue to launch in storms only to learn too late that patience can be a virtue.

Launching a show or a career is like sailing from port to port.  The ideal situation is to leave your berth with clear maps, clear weather and the right course.  Then, as is usually the case, after a few days, the sea begins to have its own ideas -- which don't include you.  This is why we shouldn't take storms personally.  They're storms, get over it.  If you can navigate those waters, stay upright, keep the crew from mutiny, maintain the integrity of the vessel, keep your eye on the horizon and still get to your destination port; whatever treasure you claim at the end will still not be nearly as rewarding as the minute-to-minute experience of living life as a creative being "navigating the waters."

Peter Husmann Starring As "Daddy Warbucks" In GCT "Annie"

All right, so we're on a roll! Cory's in Fellowship in Hollywood, Peter's in Annie at Glendale Center Theater and Monica Howe (LaMuff) is gigging in support of her new album on iTunes.  Mary Powers is debuting her Black Sabbitch all-girl tribute to Black Sabbath in June.

Wait til you hear who else is coming up!

Our voice training and vocal studio is firing on all pistons!

Cory Rouse Starring In "FELLOWSHIP!" Other People In It Too!

First, let me say that you should see this show.  It's a ton of fun, particularly if you are super-familiar with Peter Jackson's film trilogy.  I've worked with Cory (Frodo Baggins, nephew of Bilbo, friend of Gimli son of Gloim...I think you get the picture)  for years and, in turn, I've had the opportunity to work with many of the other super talented singers in the cast.  So, yeah, why are you still reading this sentence?  Go get your tickets for Friday night at http://www.fellowshipthemusical.com/!

Breaking Down A Vocal Breakdown: Adele

For a young singer like Adele, there are few things worse than chronic vocal problems.  For the second time in the last year, she has had to cancel or reschedule tour dates due to vocal issues.  It almost becomes a pyramid of problems; from the artistic one of not being able to consistently re-create the vocal sound in concert that she created in the studio to the business/livelihood side of jobs and money (possibly millions of dollars) lost due to cancellations and a resultant mistrust of promoters and fan base alike who can never be sure if she's going to show up or not.
Add in the fact that, somewhere along the line, there have to be some well-respected Ear Nose Throat (ENT) doctors who would recommend surgery or "cutting the cords" (Elton John and Julie Andrews immediately come to mind); which becomes another awful decision to make, particularly when recovery takes more than a year -- or never.
I'm hardly anti-doctor, I'm probably more anti-cough drops, honey, lozenges, etc. used as "get-bys" for thrashed cords.
The human voice is a living instrument.  If the reed on your sax breaks, you don't just glue it together and keep playing.  That reed will never be the same.  Just like if a string breaks on your guitar, you don't stick a knot the middle, re-string it and keep plucking away.  Twist an ankle or sprain a ligament, stop running.
In rehabbing a voice (and, yeah, I've rehabbed quite a few of them over the years), it's best that the cords are put on complete rest so the body can recover.  If your career is at stake, you probably shouldn't even whisper.  You shouldn't vibrate the cords at all or try to "work around" your voice by speaking in a shallow manner.  Truly, silence is golden in vocal rehab for singers with damage.
After a few days, maybe even a few weeks, that's when rehab begins.
But it's not the voice that requires rehab, it's the body that requires vocal technique to support the voice.
Watch the interview and listen to Adele's speaking voice.  She's charming, speaks quickly, in long sentences, and has a tendency to breathe either shallowly or not at all before she starts speaking again.
Adele mentions that she recently gave up smoking --  which is something she loved to do.  Anybody who's familiar with the sound of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella, Billie, Etta, knows that smoking gives you a thicker, "gravelly" sound, which is cool for nightclubs, lounges and studio recording, but is hell to pay when the "industrial" job of singing comes up; sustaining a national tour.
So the first job is rest.
The next job for a belter like Adele is learning to breathe deeply, to the bottom of your lungs, not to the top of the collarbone.
After that, take the pressure off of your cords when you sing by putting more pressure in your back (press the ribs out when you breathe in) and expanding your breastplate out (the area right under where the ribs meet in front).  That's a deep breath.  Hang on to that air.
Now that the "roots of the tree" are taken care of, give the voice a pressurized exit out of the mouth by using a strong bite so there is a tightness, a flexed strength in the muscles of the jaw so the vocal cords can do their job and achieve different degrees of tension/tightness to hit a variety of pitches.
The body leads the voice.
And if the body commands enough energy, the voice will follow obediently.
It's the key to eight shows a week on Broadway, four to five hours a day in the studio or even six shows a day at a theme park.

Pirates in the Studio, Robot at the Roxy, Powers in the Dawghouse

Here are some quick mid-week updates on a few of our voice studio clients:

Royal Pirates fans, I had the opportunity to sit in with Moon, James and Sooyoon last night at their rehearsal studio.  Got to hear their newest stuff and, while I am sworn to secrecy, I can tell you that not only will you not be disappointed, you will be OVERWHELMED when you hear it.

Katherine Pawlak and Sad Robot will be at the Roxy next Friday night 5/20.  Tracks are up on iTunes.  Bunim/Murray just picked up Sad Robot's music license for Bad Girls Club.  Congrats, KP!

B.K. Cannon will be guesting in a non-singing role on the season finale of Law & Order: LA.  Looking forward to her scene with Alfred Molina.

Peter Husmann is back in the studio prepping for the lead role of John Adams in 1776 at Glendale Centre Theatre.  Nice to have you back, Peter!

And Mary Powers (who now goes by "Bloody Mary" Powers) will also be gigging with The Modern End on 5/20 at Dawg House.  You might remember Mary from last season's American Idol:



Oh yeah, and our young friends Inversion will be making their debut this Sunday at AmplyFi.  Keep a watchful ear and eye out for Molly Kirschenbaum on vocals and keys and Keaton Applebaum on guitar.  P.S., they ain't even in high school yet...

Vocal Performance: The Eyes Have It, Pt. 1 -- Points of Focus

The eyes do have it.  While your voice can fill a room with energy, it is the eyes that bring it all into focus.

Points of Focus (Left/Center/Right) are crucial in vocal performance; in sharing your eyes or line of sight with the audience.

Some people read lips.  Everybody reads eyes.

Simplest approach (for now) is to:
1) Stretch out your arms in a "V" in front of you.  It should look like you're about to hug someone. Eyes are already at Center.  Pick a point about 15 feet in front of you and "see" it.  Really see it.
2) Turn Eyes and Face (just your eyes and your face, not the whole body) left along the left arm.  Don't go beyond the left arm.  Let the eyes lead the face, don't go all robot on us...Pick a point about 15 feet in front of you on the left and "see" it.
3) Back to center.  Eyes first, face follows.  Center Point of Focus.
4) Eyes lead face to right along right arm.  Pick Right Point of Focus (15 ft., etc.)
5) Back to center.  Eyes lead the face.

That's the start of it.  More tomorrow...

Sneak Peak: Royal Pirates at Wokcano Thursday Night

Royal Pirates will be playing a short set at 8:45p at an open charity fundraiser Thursday night, May 5 at Wokcano -- no age limit, no admission charge, what's not to like?  Yeah, I know it's right in the middle of your Cinco de Mayo celebration, but if you're in the area, take a break from the salsa and cerveza in favor of sake and sushi and the Royal Pirates!  See you there!

Find more ROYAL PIRATES songs at Myspace Music

Musical Theatre Equity Auditions For May 2011

The Wedding Singer May 9 at Musical Theatre West Rehearsal Hall

Palm Canyon Theatre/Palm Springs May 9 at Screenland

Great American Trailer Park Musical May 13 at San Diego Rep

Removing The Emotional Distance....

Music has some very magical properties. Magic happens in my studio quite a bit, mostly because I push my singers to "remove the emotional distance" between themselves and the song.

We don't ever want to fake ourselves or our audience out of the real energy that is present in our being. That would not only be inauthentic, but, ultimately, pretty boring.

Of course, we don't need to be a serial killer barber in real life to pull off the lead in Sweeney Todd on stage, either.

Our job within the context of a song or a musical theatre role is to find the through-line of humanity and spirit, which makes all things "relate-able." Let the sets, lights and costumes do their part. Let the orchestra do theirs. Let us choose to be the vessel of informed energy, armed with words, pitch and emotion, and, having burned said information into our DNA, let us become full energy in performance; concentrated and free, focused and present.

The Five Octave Range Myth

Uhm, did I miss something in my college music theory class? If I read one more time that pop star #1 or voice teacher #2 has a five-octave range, I'm gonna start holding protest rallies in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

If you're a singer, don't buy into it. It's a publicist's claim for more ink in the Calendar section, not a claim rooted in music reality.

First, claiming five octaves doesn't mean one is a "better" singer.

"Circus freak" comes to mind, but not better.

There have been hundreds of female belters in pop, jazz and Broadway recordings who did groundbreaking work within an 11 or 12-note range. Think (old school) Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee... I never heard anything about those gals having a 40-note/five octave range! My female belters work from a low F (in the traditional alto range) up to a high Ab (about a 16 or 17-note range or two-plus octaves) which is more than plenty for a true pop/Broadway belt song. Elphaba in "Wicked" belts about a two-octave range. Perhaps Stephen Schwartz didn't know what to do with the other three octaves? For us guys, even Luciano Pavarotti in his prime probably had a 20-note range (about two and a half octaves). Sure, I didn't count his falsetto which could have given him maybe another octave -- maybe -- but I guess that, like Stephen Schwartz, Verdi and Puccini didn't know what to do with those two extra octaves either.

Really, composers simply don't write five octave songs.

Burt Bacharach wrote some range-y tunes ("Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" comes to mind), but a five-octave song would have been professional suicide (and think of poor Dionne Warwick!).

No one person could sing the material -- and if one person could, probably only dogs and whales would want to hear it anyway.....

Imagine your favorite karaoke bar then...

The most popular melodies of all time have well under a two-octave range. That's because the public, the untrained singers out there, likes to sing along, too.

The best dancers don't have the biggest feet, nor do the greatest singers have the highest or lowest voices.

In singing performance, it definitely helps to have a solid, flexible range with some excitement or "heat" in the voice complemented, more importantly, by knowing what to do with a lyric -- how to interpret a song.

But great singers don't need to "brag" about their range because, frankly, that's not what made them great singers in the first place.

By the way, from the very bottom to the very top, a four-part choir sings in about a five-octave range.