How often have you sat in the vestibule outside of an audition room and found yourself held captive by an overly chatty singer? Perhaps you’re not the direct recipient of this one-sided conversation, but you can’t escape the resonant din of this person holding court. Or maybe you don’t mind that this talky-Tamino has broken the silence, along with the air of collective nervousness. Either way, the right kind of listening isn’t going on. Entrepreneurship is all about transforming ideas into opportunities. And just as our singing can fall flat when we don’t listen efficiently to ourselves and the musicians around us, the same is true for conversations among colleagues.
The point here isn’t to single out the singer in the hall who won’t clam up because, let’s face it, many of us have been that person one time or another. However, as musical entrepreneurs we need to be as deft and skillful in executing our hallway performances as we are when performing numbers one through five of our audition aria package.
Here are some key suggestions for entrepreneurial ear training:
- Become a master at sharing the conversation—If you have a tendency to dominate a conversation, remind yourself to pace yourself—make sure that others have a chance to contribute. When you don’t allow others to share, you limit the opportunities, ideas and potential collaborations that might have otherwise been suggested. Conversely, if you’re more likely to keep your lips zipped pre & post audition, be advised that you’re not taking full advantage of the networking event that is ultimately an audition.
- Ask open-ended questions—One of the easiest ways to make sure that you’re both listening and looking to identify opportunities is to ask open-ended questions. A simple yes or no question can quickly limit the scope of a conversation, and can make us feel as though we need to ‘rescue’ or quickly move the conversation along. Open-ended questions usually begin with words like how & what, and ultimately encourage your conversation partner(s) to elaborate on something, or possibly share an idea that you might wish to explore together.
- Practice and train—Many of us have taken ear training courses (and review courses!) throughout our studies and degree work. And for the majority of us, personal success—be it in rhythmic dictation or interval recognition—comes when we practice and train our ears to listen for patterns, clues and instances of consonance and dissonance. We can achieve success toward entrepreneurial ear training the same way!
As you prepare for your next audition, begin practicing your open-ended questions. Make a list of them, along with topics that encourage your colleagues and friends to share their career goals and brainstorm about projects. Before you know it, your finely trained ears will benefit from a wealth of ideas and opportunities, as well as an extended network of colleagues with whom to collaborate. Be sure to have a stack of business cards in your audition bag, next to your water bottle, binder and audition shoes—you’ll want to be sure to connect professionally and in a timely manner. Happy training!
Written by Peter Thoresen, a Manhattan-based voice teacher, music entrepreneurship specialist and arts consultant. Peter recently served as business manager to legendary operatic baritone, Thomas Hampson, and works regularly as a diction coach and vocal consultant for the Manhattan Girls Chorus. He also offers career advising services, and is a co-founder and principal teacher at Voice Lessons in Washington Heights. For more information on lessons & advising, visit peterthoresen.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/voicelessonsinwashingtonheights. Follow him on Twitter @DrPetesTweets
