Vocal Audition Crimes 3 Mistakes That Turn Judges Off

Vocal Audition Crimes 3 Mistakes That Turn Judges Off Suzy S. Have an audition coming up? You may know what TO do, but what about what NOT to do? Take a look at these tips for singing auditions in this guest post by Glendale, CA voice teacher Ben M... Let’s face it: auditions are nerve-wracking. Youre presenting your talent for somebody elses approval, and thats not easy to do. But auditions can also be a ton of fun and lead to amazing changes in your life. It’s incredibly important to make auditions a habit, even if you’re happy with where you are in your singing career. The more auditions you attend, the easier it will be to convince yourself to go to the audition in the first place, the better you will perform, and the more likely any given audition will lead to the result you want.  We’ve already covered the things you SHOULD do at an audition in a previous post. Here are the top three vocal audition crimes to avoid. 1. Letting Your Fear Take Over A teacher once had to convince me that my anxiety over auditioning has exactly 0% benefit to my performance. Many of us believe that our anxiety will somehow prepare us to perform and will cause us to do a better job because we “take it more seriously.” But theres a difference between anticipation and anxiety. It’s great to be mentally prepared and aware of what will be expected of you at an audition. But the moment it crosses over to stress, you’re wasting valuable physical and emotional energy. You’ve crossed over to the dark side, where you’re now faced with the risk of psyching yourself out, forgetting your lyrics, or creating unnecessary tension in your voice. If you find yourself in this position, take a deep breath, count to 10, remind yourself that it’s just an audition, and RELAX. Just as with vocalization, the only way to see the results you want is to let go and allow your body to arrive at and STAY at a place of rest. 2. Not Knowing Your Words By Heart There’s never an excuse not to know your lyrics at an audition. In fact, there’s every reason to ensure you know them by heart. It’s not just to prove you know the words â€" it’s about internalizing the song and spending time with it, which is one of the important tips for singing well. Once you learn how to efficiently memorize lyrics, it can actually be quite fun. The process allows you to apply your own voice to the song and make little changes in phrasing and intonation. Methods vary depending on how you learn best, but I have always found that memorizing a song line by line yields the quickest results. Sing through one line of a song until you know it, then start from the top of the song and sing up to the line you just learned. It may seem like it takes longer this way, but you’ll find that you internalize the tune much faster. Remember to do your core memorization at least one night before â€" you’ll find that the words come much easier the next day. Related Video: The Best Audition Songs for Every Voice Type 3. Going Too Far Out Of Your Sweet Spot Not everybody agrees with me here, but an audition is not the time to try something you’ve never done before. Nor is it the time to try to sound like somebody you have never sounded like. It’s tempting for singers to go over the top and show the outermost range of what they can do, but the problem with this is that you are exposing your limits to the folks auditioning you. In the process, you’re taking the attention away from what it is you do best. When an audition notice asks to “see your range,” be smart about your choices. Make sure that your audition piece is 90% in your sweet spot â€" the tried and true range and timbre of your voice. If you like, you can add a few special embellishments that show the tip of the iceberg, but don’t make that uncharted territory the meat of your audition. Besides the weakness-exposure factor, you’ll find that whatever anxiety you do carry into the audition will not work in your favor if you’re trying to hit higher notes or mask yo ur voice with a tone that isn’t yours. Lastly, don’t go at it alone!  Consulting a vocal coach is a necessity before attending a big audition. Besides helping you brush up on technique, a good coach will also be able to critique your audition and help you pinpoint weak spots, preparing you for an easy audition process that you can repeat again and again. Readers, what other tips for singing auditions have helped you? Let us know in the comments below! Preparing for a contest or competition? Check our singing contest tips here! Ben M. teaches music performance and singing in Glendale, CA. He attended Northeastern University and is currently studying voice at Brett Manning Studios. Learn more about Ben here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by Beacon

Simple Interest

Simple Interest Simple interest is calculated on a principal amount. The simple interest is calculated by the formula; simple interest = (P * R * T/100). Here P is the principal amount borrowed or lend. R is the rate of interest in percentage. T is the total time period. The abbreviation used for representing simple interest is SI. The Total amount that is due after the time period is the sum of the initial principal amount and the simple interest amount calculated. Example 1: Find the simple interest on the amount $ 5000 with a rate of interest 5% and what is the amount due after a time period of 2 years? Solution: Given Principal amount = $ 5000. The rate of interest percentage= 5% = 5/100 = 0.05. Time period mentioned = 2 years. Simple Interest SI = I * R *T. SI = 5000 * 0.05 * 2 = $ 500. Amount due = $ 5000 + $ 500 = $ 5500 The Amount due after 2 years = $ 5500. Example 2: Find the simple interest on the amount $ 6000 with a rate of interest 4% and what is the amount due after a time period of 3 years? Solution: Given Principal amount = $ 6000. The rate of interest percentage= 4 % = 4/100 = 0.04. Time period mentioned = 3 years. Simple Interest SI = I * R *T. SI = 6000 * 0.04 * 3 = $ 720. Amount due = $ 6000 + $ 720 = $ 6720 The Amount due after 3 years = $ 6720.

9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job - Introvert Whisperer 9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job Congrats! After all the hard work and effort on your job search, you landed a great job. You deserve to feel excited. The next step is to start your new job and move past the learning curve. As you’re starting to think through important things like when you have to get up in the morning and when you will do your workout, there’s one very big thing to plan. How to be a major success in this job? It’s ok to admit that’s what you’re shooting for. What you do in the first 90-120 days in your new job will “set the tone” for how your time in the job (and company) will go. When you were looking for a job one of the things you had to think about was the first impression you made on decision makers. Generally, you only have one chance to make a good first impression and that chance was maybe a minute long. Your first few months on a new job are when the first impression and a lasting impression on the people you work with are formed. It is the time you build your Personal Brand. It’s a much more critical time than anyone realizes and is often written off because you’re in a learning curve. And everyone is given a break during a learning curve, right? Yes and no. Yes because we all know what learning curves are like. No, because we’re humans and still expect you to deliver. Here is your “New Job Strategy” #1 â€" Learn your job by understanding the expectations. Spend time with your boss and key co-workers to not only show you the tasks and how to do them but what do they expect. This is your performance. We get too wrapped up in the task and fail to realize that those people do have expectations for how we do the work. Ask early and often. #2 â€" Learn people and process. All businesses hang together by various processes. You may be only 1 of many in the entire clockwork of a process. If you learn the entire process or business, your ability to think outside the box goes up significantly. It will also help you to better understand how your work interplays with others. #3 â€" Learn the boss. You need to learn many things about your boss. You need to understand what their work priorities are so you can support them with your work and communication. You need to discover how they learn and how they best take in information. To ignore this is to irritate the boss and create a poor impression. #4 â€" Figure out problems and solve them. Plan on an early win. Our work is all about solving problems if you think about it. As you are going through and learning the things outlined above, be looking for problems you can solve quickly. Try to contain your solutions to your own scope of work or minimally only a couple of others. Do not attempt to solve world hunger because you won’t have the clout built up to be given money and resources. You do want to solve problems that have visibility so when you are done; it becomes an affirmation that you were a good hire. #5 â€" Do not bad mouth how things are being done. One problem newbies have sometimes is making the mistake of unearthing business problems and make disparaging remarks about them. You do not know who may have implemented the very thing you are trying to improve. Take the approach that you can see opportunities for improvement. Your approach and attitude are critical. #6 â€" Don’t boast about your previous employers/job. It doesn’t matter if you worked directly for the Pope. No one wants to hear how great things were in your other job. Its not relevant to this job and may get people wishing you had stayed at the previous job. Do not compare and don’t put down people or companies. #7 â€" Ask for feedback Don’t make the assumption that “no news is good news” when it comes to your work. Ask for feedback on a routine basis and if you have things to improve take that as a sign that you better improve quickly. #8 â€" Learn the culture You can be doing all things right but if you fail to “read” the culture and learn to adapt to it, you will never fit in. A work culture is the way people interact, how decisions get made and even language. It can include things like informal leaders within the group that need your attention. Understanding a group’s culture is tricky because it can be very subtle. It can be done with observation and asking questions. #9 â€" Build relationships While you are hunkered down learning all these new things, don’t fail to ignore that a big part of your success will be with and through other people. Make a point to get to know your co-workers. Keep in mind that your first impression will last for a long time. By doing these things, you will position yourself for success and a strong Personal Brand. Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech. In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression. Get your copy now by clicking here. Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleash your professional potential. www.introvertwhisperer.com