You walk into an audition. You’re nervous. It’s a new venue with unknown acoustics—or it’s a known venue with wretched acoustics. The job matters a lot to you, and your own pianist was unavailable, or you’re simply out of funds and have decided to use the pianist provided.
You walk up to the pianist, say hello, and hand over your music.
As a pianist on the receiving end in this situation time and time again, I must emphasize that there’s only one reason the physical condition of your binder matters: We want to do our best for you—a singer we’ve probably never met, and whose music we may have never seen before. It’s not our audition, it’s yours, and you want to make it easy for us to do our job as best we can—for you.
Here are a few suggestions I’ve put together with some of my colleagues (thanks go to John Keene, Dottie Randall, Carol Rausch and Allison Voth). Remember, they’re suggestions, not rules. But if you take some care with the condition of the music you hand us, we’ll be more able (and willing!) to give that care right back to you.
Top on the list: no staples! Think for a moment what happens when flesh is pulled rapidly across sharp metal bits. (Actually, this is a rule! All of us have had the awful experience of hastily grabbing a page turn—and then finding blood on the keys.) And please, no more plastic protectors! We can’t turn them, the light reflects off them like crazy—and it’s just a copy, not a first edition, right?
If you copy your music, put it back-to-back (as if it were a book). Lay the music out as in the original. Easy and quick page turns mean a lot to us (and to you!), and very often, the publisher thought of this too—or at the very least, we’re used to seeing it the way it is laid out in the score or anthology. If it’s not a two-sided copy, no need to tape the entire page. Tape the bottom right-hand corner, so that it acts like one page when it’s turned. If you’ve got holes punched in your music, make sure they’re still holding the music in place in the binder. Reinforcements are a good thing!
On the other hand, if it’s only a two-page aria, please do not make it double-sided! Anything to avoid a page turn, especially an unnecessary one (viz. Va, laisse couler mes larmes from Werther’s Massenet). If it’s an aria with a da capo, copy the A section again, and place it after the B section. That way we can just read the music through, rather than having to scramble back to the beginning and find that dal segno mark.
Similarly, a three-page aria can be laid out with no page-turns. For some pianists, four pages is also OK, but it’s a bit dicey—if the light isn’t good, if the copy is light, if the pianist’s eyes are tired—it’s safer to limit the spread to three pages.
Make sure the bottom and top line of music, and the entire measure at the left-hand and right-hand side of the page—all music: the vocal line, the words, the left hand of the piano part, that last measure—are present and legible at a quick glance. Remember, we only have one opportunity to play perfectly for your audition.
Make cuts clean and clear at a glance. In fact, a nice clean copy of the music, with current breath marks, articulations, dynamics, cadenzas, etc. is very helpful. We really don’t need to know everything all your teachers and coaches have told you (and it may be better if we don’t!). Please write out ornamentation and cadenzas, so we can follow you. And make sure what you write lines up with the piano part!
This one seems obvious, but—the music we play from should be in the same language as the one you’re singing.
Lots of music comes in various editions—Mozart, for example. The Bärenreiter editions are considered more complete and more correct. They’re also more difficult to play, however, since the instrumental parts have not necessarily been reduced for ease of playing.
The Bärenreiters have become quite commonplace—but it’s still more usual for pianists to be accustomed to the Schirmer scores or anthologies. Either have copies of both editions in your binder, or choose the Schirmer. Again, whatever makes it easiest for us to play well for you. Careful though—if you’re using a copy from an anthology, and you know there are orchestral or vocal parts missing (as in Musetta’s Waltz), please make sure they’re in the music you give us!
For less standard repertoire, put a metronome mark at the beginning of the music. This gives us a general idea of how the unknown piece should go, and is more precise than “andante.” You should still always quickly and accurately give your tempo to the pianist, however. (By the way, it’s not a bad idea to practice giving a tempo!)
Dividers with the selections marked, or an index coded to the tabs, are two good ways to help us be more efficient in locating the next selection requested in an audition. Making the pianist go hunting makes things look ill-prepared, and takes up your valuable audition time.
Use hardcover binders; the more flexible ones don’t always stay open or stand up on the piano. Please also be sure that the rings still stay tightly closed. After much use, these tend to open slightly, and when we turn a page, out comes the music! In addition, the binder shouldn’t be so full that turning the pages is impossible!
These may seem like really picky suggestions—but if you check through your binder periodically to make sure all the music is still in good condition, you’ll be handing us a binder that shows self-respect, and respect for your pianist. We are, in fact, your collaborators and supporters in these stressful situations.
Thanks for your help. Now we can do our best for you!
