16 bars: choosing and cutting your audition song.

Sixteen bars is a musical length, not a fixed number of seconds. Choose a song that shows the right thing for this role, cut it so it lands, and make it easy for the pianist to play.

1. Read what they've asked for

Check the length (16 bars, 32 bars, a verse and chorus), the style (uptempo, ballad, legit, pop/rock, contemporary) and whether songs from the show are allowed. Many panels ask for something in the style of the show but not from it.

2. Choose for the role, not for showing off

Pick a song that tells them you can play this part: the right era and style, a character close to the role's, and your voice where it's strongest. A song you can act beats a song you can only sing. Avoid anything the panel will have heard ten times today unless you're sure you own it.

3. Find the cut

• Sixteen bars often means the end of the song, the build and where it lands, but not always: some panels want a verse, the opening, or a cut that shows a particular part of your voice. If they haven't said, pick the section that shows you best and makes musical sense on its own. Count the bars on the music, not by ear.
• Start somewhere that makes sense as a sentence and end on a strong, held note or a clean button.
• Count the bars in the score, then time your cut. Sixteen bars of 4/4 at 80 beats per minute take 48 seconds; tempo and time signature change the duration. Follow any time limit the panel gives you.

4. Mark the music for the pianist

• Bring clean sheet music in your key, in a folder, printed double-sided or taped so the pages don't fall.
• Mark the start and end clearly (a bracket or highlighter), any repeats or jumps, and the tempo.
• Tell the pianist the tempo briefly, perhaps by singing a line quietly; don't click your fingers at them. Thank them.

5. Act it

Treat the song as a scene: who you're singing to, what you want, and where it changes. A short cut is enough to show a character, if you decide what you're playing before you open your mouth.