Guidelines for Choosing a Cut
Choosing audition cuts is one of the most difficult parts of being a singer/actor. Especially as a young actor choosing songs for college or even professional auditions, it is easy to get plagued by the question, “Is this the right cut?” So here is a guideline of questions to ask yourself while deciding on a cut that will help you avoid feeling unsure of your choice.
Does this cut have a beginning, middle, and end? If not, it probably isn’t telling a compelling story.
Can I show the strongest parts of my voice? Ideally, you should be able to sing this cut no matter what, and still sound awesome. If you can only hit the high note “on good days” then it should not be in your cut. You never know how you will be feeling the day of an audition.
Does this cut fit in the given guidelines? If they ask for 32 bars and your cut must have 50 or it won’t make sense musically, then it is NOT the right choice. A bit under 32 is great, right at 32 is great, even one or two over is okay, although some theaters WILL stop you at bar 32, but anything over 34 and you are risking annoying the accompanist, or worse, looking ill-prepared and selfish.
Does this cut make sense musically? What I mean by this, is if there is a key change in the song and you skip it in your cut, all of a sudden the accompanist will see a new key and have no idea how or when the transposition happened. This is a bad idea because the piano player may not even notice the key change, and if they do, they won’t be happy that it came out of no where. It will also make singing the cut more difficult, as you will have no transition to the new key and will have to pluck your pitch out of thin air. If you do a cut that has a key change, ask your voice teacher or a piano player if the transposition is clear and makes musical sense. Be sure to point out the key change to the accompanist in the audition room as well.
Do I enjoy singing this cut? This one is simply because ideally, you will be able to use your cuts for multiple auditions. If you hate the song or cut, not only will it make it horribly frustrating when you audition for shows that the song fits, but also the auditors will feel the bad energy and be more likely to not enjoy your work. Your body listens to your brain and if the brain is saying “ugh not this again,” your voice will follow suit. Pick a song and a cut you love!
This is by no means an all-encompassing list of exactly how to pick a cut, but it hopefully makes the task feel a bit less daunting. How do you pick your cuts? Let me know in the comments! Happy auditioning, loves!