Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Please please please use a binder!! – Musical auditions basics

It’s that time of year when Spring musicals are having auditions. And we pianists and music directors are tasked with playing for each singer that comes in. I’ve written about the audition process here, here, and here. And I’ve mentioned that you should use a 3-ring binder with glare-proof, plastic protective sheets.

There’s been a thread on some social sites where an actor – at least I’m assuming it’s an actor – proposes that the music be mounted on heavy cardstock. The thought is that the music will not slip off the piano’s ledge and that the pianist won’t have any pages to turn.

As much as I appreciate an actor wanting to be helpful, I still prefer the use of a 3-ring binder …

You cannot predict the size of the ledges on an upright piano. Many of them have small ledges that can only accommodate two pages side-by-side in the first place. So even with mounting your music on heavy cardstock I’ll still have to shuffle pages in the middle of playing for your audition.

Even with cardstock, the pages can still fall off the piano’s ledge.

No – please please please use a binder!

Turning a page is something we pianists are VERY used to – we do it all the time … It’s not a big deal at all to turn a page in a binder … really! not a big deal.

So please use a binder. It’s so much easier for the pianist and you will be confident that your music will not fall down, get mixed up, or be shuffled in the wrong order. That way you can concentrate on the important part of the audition – showing yourself off in the best light.

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