#17: Get to know the countryside
Tuesday 7/23/24
One comment I get quite frequently on TikTok is along the lines of “how do you have all this rep knowledge?”. On TikTok I make a ton of videos offering ideas for songs. One of my series is call “Oh, You Like That? How about this?” where i offer alternate options to popular audition songs like Pulled or Journey To The Past or Santa Fe. I’ve done about 40 videos in that series. In addition, I have a lot of videos simply suggesting songs I love, songs by voice part, songs for certain shows/characters, and so many other varieties of that sentiment.
HERE IS MY TRICK!
JK, i really do not have one. I simply use a few habits and tools to capture great material. When I hear something I like, I try to think about ALL the uses of that song too.
One key thing I do is watch as many Senior Showcases as possible each year. If I know a song, I skip that performance (sorry kiddos!) and go to a song I don’t. This makes the process QUICK but does require attention. If I think it is a good audition piece - or COULD be with the right cut or handling - I add it to a note in my notes app. I record the title, the show, where I saw the performance, and who/what it may work for or what edits i think it needs to work.
I have a SiriusXM subscription for the OnBroadway station but I also will listen to some other stations like 80s on 8, 90s on 9, Pop2K… Decade specific stations are great for me because it helps me focus on what kinds of shows songs I hear may work for. If i’m driving, I’ll take a pic of the screen so I can revisit it.
Occasionally, I’ll also categorize my songs in a google drive doc. I like to sort songs by genre/style and USE or the variety of use options. Sometimes I’ll even link yt vids I like for that song or I’ll like some kind of reference tool.
I don’t think my library is any more knowledgeable than anyone else. My brain is just always “on” when music comes my way. I like to write it down or take a pic, go back into youtube, find the original version, watch others, search the title plus “audition”, and if I think it has potential I’ll start working on a cut right away.
I’d say I have a steady “library” of about 2000 songs I’m ready to recommend at a moment's notice. Of those, probably about 200 or so I regularly use in coachings and have made cuts of.
I would encourage all coaches, professors, teachers, and actors do find a system that works for you. While I don’t always listen to music in the background of my activities for the purpose of research, it certainly is something that is constantly on my mind. “Oh what is this?” “what, what is this from” and so on. I guarantee you that a part of the reason you don’t have a decent library is because you aren’t focused on it. Focus on it a bit! Quickly you’ll start hearing new and exciting things all the time!
Dreams Don’t Die
Julie