Audition Process

Vocal Assessment

  • Whenever a potential member is ready, the VP of membership will help schedule their assessement with the music team.

  • During a rehearsal, the potential member will join the music team in another room with a piano for the following exercises:

    • Vocal range test, both high and low, to determine which voice part would be the most comfortable for the singer, based loosely on the following scale:

      • Tenor: F4 to G5

      • Lead: A3 to D5

      • Bari: C3 to F4

      • Bass: F2 to B3

    • Tonal recall: 3 to 5 notes are played on the piano and the singer sings them back on a neutral syllable. This is to test their ear for learning parts.

    • Sing a simple melody a cappella, one that everyone knows such as Happy Birthday, The Star Spangled Banner, or Amazing Grace. This is to hear their tonal quality and intonation.

    • The singer will be taught a simple 3 to 5 note tag/warm up. The auditioner then sings another part of the tag/warm up while the singer sings the part they just learned. This is to assess their ability to hold their own part while harmonizing.

  • Following the assessment above, the singer will be immediately informed if they are cleared to move on through the audition process, or provided areas of improvement to work on (with help, if desired) and encouraged to try again next rehearsal.

  • If the singer passes the Vocal Assessment step, YAY!, they will then be given access to our four selected tags and asked to learn specified parts on some or each of the four tags. The assessor may assign the learning of these tags based on the following choices:

    • Assign a minimum of two tags on a single voice part (but may assign up to four).

    • Assign two to four tags on multiple voice parts. I.e. “Learn lead on tag 1, and baritone on tag 2.”

Chorus Audition

  • When the singer is ready to officially audition (even if it’s on the same night as their assessment), the VP of membership will help schedule this with the music team to occur before a rehearsal, during the break, or after rehearsal.

  • The singer will sing the assigned tags in a quartet of music team members.

  • The assigned tags may be sung in any appropriate key, or even multiple keys. This is to test the singer’s ability to make similar changes in actual rehearsal and also to put tags in keys more appropriate to the singer’s intended voice part.

  • The singer will be coached on at least one or two elements, and asked to try again. This is to test the singer’s ability to accept coaching and learn.

  • The four qualification tags are as follows:

    • You’re Mine - This tag features key modulations to assess tuning, sustained tones, including a short lead post, to assess vocal resonance, a mildly dissonant V79 chord to assess part solidarity, a very difficult tenor interval in the antepenultimate measure to assess ability to execute difficult passages.

    • I’m So Alone With the Crowd - This tag features an opportunity for artistic expression in a non-metronomic fashion. It also has a few non-traditional/non-intuitive chord changes (such as bVII to major I7 to VI7) that will force the singer to learn a difficult part rather than sing by ear. Finally, it features a high tenor line that will assess the necessary vocal range of an SATB chorus. This tag can be pitched higher as well.

    • Line, Cross That Line - This tag features many chromatic passages in all but the baritone line. Not all intervals are half steps so the successful execution of this tag will depend on the singer’s ability to learn their part extremely accurately rather than approximately or by ear. It also features a glissando in the bass of a major 17th (two octaves and a third) testing the bass’s ability of extended vocal range.

    • Put Your Head On My Shoulder - Written in F# (*shudder*), this tag adds the difficulty of reading double sharps and lower (instead of the more common upper) naturals. It features a baritone solo to assess vocal artistry. It also is a rangy tag, putting the tenor as high as B4 and the bass as low as F#2.

  • The singer will be immediately informed if they passed, or will be provided areas of improvement to work on and encouraged to try again at another rehearsal.

  • If the singer passes, CONGRATULATIONS!! They are now a member of the chorus and move onto the final step of obtaining official membership by registering with the Barbershop Harmony Society and paying dues, both of which the VP of membership will guide them through.