SONG CHOICE

2012-01-30T13:32:00.002+10:00

Why song choice is so important

One of the most important things to consider when performing as a singer is song choice.

It's not always just a simple case of picking a song YOU love and singing it because it sounds great to you. There are many different things you need to take into consideration when choosing a song to sing in front of people.

1. THE AUDIENCE: Who will be the likely target audience. Will you be performing at an RSL where the average age is over 60 and possibly full of families. Will you be performing at a council free event that will have many different types of people ranging from toddlers to grandmothers. Will the audience be a national TV audience of over 2 million viewers or will it be at a 21st or 40th B'day party, which will obviously have 2 very different types of audiences.

2. THE POPULARITY OF THE SONG:
Now depending on how you answered the first question. That answer should give you the types of popular songs that you should be singing. For example if its at an RSL or similar you would go for an old school song that was popular back in the day, or a modern version of an older style song. You wouldn't choose heavy rock or anything with swear words as this would not fit your audience type. Say you were performing at a 21st the popular song choices could be as varied as the people. but in general you'd ask what songs the B'day person wants and then go from there. In the end when performing for an audience you need to think about what songs they would think are popular and which songs would get their toes tapping, get them up to dance, get them singing or get them feeling an emotional connection to that popular song.

3. THE JUDGES:
Say you are performing in front of judges. Whether it be for a reality style competition, a talent quest or an Eisteddfod. Even just these 3 different types of judges would vary greatly. Would are the judges looking for ??? If at a talent quest you could ring the organizer and ask what is the judging criteria is and choose your song based on what song would cover all those sections. If performing for a reality show think of who you will be singing to. If doing a song that EVERYONE else is doing make sure you change it up to make your version stand out from the rest - no one wants to hear the same song over and over again and if your the 100th person singing it they're going to zone out instantly. With Eisteddfods its important to find out the rules, as these types of competitions are run very strict and song choice could be limited and maybe research who the types of judges were from last years event. The other thing you can do is possibly check who the sponsors are as more often than not you will find that the judges will be someone from one of the major sponsors. So if for instance one of the sponsors is a Model agency and they are judging take into account that they know nothing about a singers singer - if you know what i mean, but they would be looking for how good you look, your choice of outfit and how well your confidence and personality comes across, plus they'd be scoring based on their favourite songs not necessarily the ones that sang a song the best.

4. NO SONG CHOICE:
What about if you are auditioning and you don't have a choice. Instead you are told what to sing. I had this happen when i auditioned for Popstars in 2000. Well is wasn't 100% no choice but there was a 5 song list and a song had to be chosen from that whether you liked it or not. When this happens the songs have been chosen for a reason by the record and or production company so you need to choose a song based on how well you can sing it and if in a group situation try to sing a part that shows of your strengths. With things such as musical auditions sometimes you have to choose a song just from that musical. If this is the case i believe you should choose a song based on the character you are going for and it's always best to try and learn every song for your female or male roles that you can incase they put you on the spot and ask do you know another. Remember the 2nd most important rule for a singer - Always be prepared.

In the end you need to remember that when choosing a song whether its one song or a whole set list, do your research and take everything into account. As with performing try to remember it's not always about you and what you like. In my opinion if you're a clever singer you will make it all about the listener.

Have a SINGsational week.

Tiffani Wood (Private Vocal Coaching)

Breakfast with Tiffani

SONG CHOICE