If the piece calls for singing, go for it.  If your piece has a song in it–a mother rocking her child to sleep, a famous musician, etc–heck yeah I think it's called for. But if your piece is about a mute girl, I doubt she'll sing.  What I'm saying is don't add singing just because you want to show off a voice; it needs to relate to the piece you're performing.

It depends ont he amount of singing and teh purpose. I would say as a rule of thumb you should never sing for more than 15 seconds if you can help it. I personally try to only to use music for comedic affect, I think when you try to make it serious or dramatic it generally doesn't work regardless of your singing abilities (it can work but almost everytime I hear someone try it, it doesn't sound believable).

 If you still want to go for it remember, just cause you're singing doesn't mean you don't have to worry about your character I think part of my problem with people singing, is that most people focus on singing well, and completely lose their characters, you have to sing while still incharacter, that usually means singin ina differnt voive than you usually sing in please if you're goignto try singng for dramatic effeect remember that! Other wise instead of adding to your piece the singing can make it harder to believe.

oh and one last piece of advice. I know this sounds cruel and mean but it could save your piece here it goes.

If you can't sing DON'T!

oHIo said:

blackbooklove said:

I believe most states/districts/leagues have a rule against singing for more than 30 seconds, and I am a firm believer in this rule. I also think that the singing needs to be a part of the piece, not just something added in to showcase someone's voice.Like the previous poster mentioned, if the piece is about a musician, I say go for it.

-Songs used as transitions between sections of a piece that have nothing to do with the storyline. This is seen a lot in duos and OI.

-You are not Kristin Chenoweth. You are not Ethel Merman. You are not Raul Esparza. You are not Patti LuPone. And, you are not Norbert Leo Butz. Therefore, you have no right to randomly burst out in song for no reason. I don't care if you can hit C above staff without even warming up first. If you start singing “At Last” in the middle of “The Lovely Bones”, there's a problem.

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Okay, I've quoted the stuff I want to comment on. First of all, the 30 second rule is (afaik) not a state rule in most areas. The 30 second singing rule is a rule in CFLs but not in NFLs at all.

Most people who have singing in their pieces do not just randomly do it to showcase their voice to the audiences. In examples I've seen, it's been used very tastefully. Take, for example, the Wizard of Oz in Duo which took 2nd place this year at NFLs. They were able to have singing transitions that were a.) funny and b.) relevant to the plot. They were actually functional.

As far as the “You are not Kristin Chenoweth” comment. Who ever said that the singing had to be good? I've seen excellent examples in DI where the person sang badly and it ended up being very powerful.

I think we all can agree though that excessive singing can not only be annoying, but it can hurt the piece and the message the performers are trying to convey.

I was almost positive it was an NFL rule. It's been on the top of nearly every single ballot I've ever received in multiple events. *Checks file of every ballot she's ever gotten, because she's lame and keeps all of them in her room*… “Scenes from musicals are acceptable, provided that the singing be limited to a maximum of thirty seconds total within the presentation.” Every other ballot I had with guidelines included a similar statement.

I didn't say nobody should ever sing ever, I merely pointed out that if you are going to sing you should have a reason to do so, and it should be in some way, shape or form related to the piece. As for the Wizard of Oz piece you mentioned, their singing was obviously related to the piece and therefore not uncalled for, making it a good addition to the performance.

The Kristin Chenoweth comment was pointed at people who only sing in pieces to prove that they can. Again…”I don't care if you can hit C above staff without even warming up first. If you start singing “At Last” in the middle of “The Lovely Bones”, there's a problem.”

Jeska said:

Ray Nesrym said:

 If you still want to go for it remember, just cause you’re singing doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about your character I think part of my problem with people singing, is that most people focus on singing well, and completely lose their characters, you have to sing while still incharacter, that usually means singin ina differnt voive than you usually sing in please if you’re goignto try singng for dramatic effeect remember that! Other wise instead of adding to your piece the singing can make it harder to believe.

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Absolutely!!! That’s my issue with singing as well. I judged a DI at NFLs this summer where the girl had a LOVELY voice, and it did make contextual sense for her to break into song for effect at one point, but I had a really hard time believing that her character would be able to sing that well. Not to mention the accent she had used for the rest of the piece mysteriously dissapeared at this point. I’m all for a little bit of singing if the piece calls for it contextually, but the performance of the song has to match the character you are portraying as well as the emotions that would follow… For instance, a piece that I once saw (”Blue,” I believe its called. I may be wrong, don’t quote me on it) established early on that the main character (the mother) loves to sing “You are my sunshine” to her baby. The baby dies in the end (yay DI!) and she sings to the dead baby… This can be a beautiful moment if the song is executed correctly – quiet, heartfelt, perhaps a break or two in the voice… but if the performer is concentrating on the actual singing rather than the acting going on behind it, its nowhere near as effective, and kind of awkard.

Quoted for emphasis.

Don't force it. And if you don't know if it feels forced or not, then don't risk it. Unless it seems very natural to you as a performer, it won't come off that way to the audience.

Temple said:

And I liked Rachel Kenny's “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Just for the record.

Off-topic, but I LOVED her version of “Little Shop of Horrors” too.  Hit her my 4th round at Wake and was just amazed.

Anywho, I sang in my oratory er, last year (as in.. the 07-08 season) and it did very well.  There isn't an NFL rule saying you can't sing and I don't think it really matters.  Singing, to me, can be a hit-or-miss thing.  You've got to have the heart, the soul, and the emotion to really deliver a vocal and make it inspirational or powerful for the performance.  If you're missing that, then it just doesn't work out.

I'm planning on adding a little musical bit into my HI just because I love singing, and I think it could add to the character.  I'm not saying make a random character sing in every piece, but it's just one of those “things” that you can do to add a little bit of detail to your piece. (Humming, whistling, etc.)

I would say not to force musicality in your piece, but if it CAN fit and can link scenes or something together, then go for it.  It's just all based on the piece, and whether you think it will connect with the audience or not.

I'm going to agree and say that singing can definitely be powerful at certain points, funny at others, and completely brutal at others. There are some people who simply know how to execute it without sounding contrived or like their trying too hard to be funny or emotional. It definitely takes a strong performer (like “The Wizard of Oz” duo of last year and Rachel Kenney's “Little Shop”) to pull it off. But little incidental things like humming or whistling really aren't so distracting as transitions unless their just simply beaten to death ad nauseum.

Ooh I just remembered.

Nathan Rarick sang in his HI of Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone which he got 2nd at Nats with.

He basically sang the words to the tune of Phantom of the Opera, and it was amazing =]

I've been wary of if not against singing in pieces for a LOOOONG time but I finally “got it” this weekend. I'm sitting with my team waiting for an awards ceremony, and I don't know how it got started, but we sat there and sang all of the songs from DI and Duo finals at Harvard this year… and it occured to me that they REALLY stick with you! Frankly I'm a little bit embarrassed that it took me almost seven full years of forensics to figure this out, but my goodness is it a good strategy for memorability!