Instead of going with the ordinary, think outside the box and send us to serenade your special someone. Don’t worry; we won’t embarrass them too much!

Snagging this awesome gift is free and simple, simply email singinggrams@umich.edu with your name, the name of the recipient, your preferred time based on our available timeslots, and where we can find them. Be different this year, and choose Singing Grams by The Compulsive Lyres!

If you’re craving some more Lyres, worry not – our videos will be on our YouTube page within the week. Also, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to stay updated! We had a blast, and can’t wait to sing for you all again.

The Compulsive Lyres cordially invite you to join us for an evening of music and magic, as we present the newest addition to the Harry Potter franchise.

Join Harry on his daring journey as he competes in the Tri-Singer Tournament and fends off the Evil Bass Voldemort. Who lives? Who dies? You won’t want to miss the concluding chapter to the Potter saga.

The concert will be held in Auditorium 4 of the MLB on December 9th at 7:30 PM – we can’t wait to see you there!

Yes, this is real life – the Lyres will be performing a FREE show on campus every Friday!

The shows will be held in three different locations, for your viewing convenience – once in the Engineering Archway on East U, once inside Angell Hall, and then in the Diag! We’ll perform first in the arch at 12:30, then inside Angell at 1, and finally in the Diag at 1:30. See you there!

For more information on these shows, follow the Compulsive Lyres on Twitter!

Sorry, there are no auditions upcoming! We generally have auditions at the start of every semester, so worry not! Your time to show your talent will come.

Auditions Process

First Round: General Auditions

• Vocalization: to warm you up and test your range.
• Tonal Memory: we play a series of notes, you sing them back to us.
• Your Solo: your chance to show off your voice. You may choose any song from the Jazz/Pop/R&B genre to show us you can be Divas and Rock Stars! We will listen to a verse/refrain of you a cappella, and written music is not necessary to bring. We just ask that you try not to sing Disney, Classical, or Musical Theater selections since these arenÕt the type of music we sing, and donÕt give us a good idea of how you will sound in our group.
• Sightreading: quick and painless – we promise!

Second Round (Callbacks):

We already know you can sing, so callbacks are all about discovering how well your voice blends with the group. They are run much like a normal rehearsal: we will warm up with you, teach you parts of some songs in our current repertoire, and rock out a cappella style!

If you’re anything like we were as freshman looking to join an a cappella group, you pretty much have no idea how the whole auditions process works. Maybe you have seen a Michigan a cappella group perform, maybe you know someone in a group, and maybe you’re just awesome and love to sing – regardless, we understand that the process of joining an a cappella group can seem foreign to even the most experienced singer, so we decided to make this guide to help you out!

This guide will be split into a number of sections, so feel free to skip around. Don’t feel like you have to read this entire article – if you’re only worried about callbacks, skip to that section – just use this guide however you want!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Intro to A Cappella
• Should I Join?
• A Cappella Rush
• Auditions
• Callbacks
• Concluding Advice
• Michigan A Cappella Groups

Intro to A Cappella

Most simply, “a cappella” means that no instruments are used. A cappella groups at Michigan are small groups of singers (anywhere from 10-20) that do just that – sing without instruments. Multiple singers in a group will cover a given singing part, generally with one person singing a solo, one person responsible for “vocal percussion” (beatboxing), and the rest singing backup. The backup singers are usually divided into the four vocal parts of Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. Of course, there is significant room for change in this setup, but this is the more or less default way groups sing.

At Michigan, there are fourteen undergraduate a cappella groups, all with their own unique style. I highly, highly recommend checking out the links to all the different groups at the bottom of this article – the diversity of the groups involved in Michigan a cappella is pretty awesome.

Should I Join?

Making the decision to join any club or organization in college is tough, but it shouldn’t be unnecessarily stressful: the main question you want to ask yourself is whether or not a cappella is for you. In the following section, we’ll talk about common concerns that people have when thinking about joining an a cappella group. Hopefully, it should help make your decision that much easier.

Why should I join an a cappella group?

Joining an a cappella group is an incredibly appealing way to keep (or start!) singing through college. Like many other activities, a cappella offers the potential to make great friendships with people that enjoy doing the same sort of things that you do – in this case, the groups share a common interest in music. If you love to sing, and want to make some great, lasting friendships, a cappella might be the right activity for you!

What if I didn’t sing in high school?

No problem! As long as you can sing, you can join an a cappella group. In fact, I (Christian, from the Compulsive Lyres) never sang before college. Of course, I’ve always loved to sing, but never did so in an organized group. College is a great place to try new things – so if you love to sing, come audition, and give it a shot! You never know what might happen.

What if I’m not good enough?

Again, no big deal. If you audition and don’t get called back or accepted at any groups, life will go on. You can always try your luck again in the next semester of auditions, or try to find another activity to join. There are tons of groups on campus (even other ones related to singing, like glee clubs and choirs), so no worries. You’ll find something you love in college, even if your a cappella career doesn’t play out as you hoped. The only true guarantee is that you won’t be able to join a group if you don’t try – don’t let the possibility of rejection scare you away from joining!

How big of a time commitment is a cappella?

This will depend on the group, but generally, I’d expect to spend about 5-10 hours a week singing. The Lyres, as an example, have two 2-hour rehearsals a week, and are considering adding a third this year to prepare for the ICCAs (a large a cappella competition held each spring). Groups will also be asked by various student organizations on campus to perform, raising the hours per week required slightly. Overall, it’s nothing unmanageable. I know from experience that it’s possible to balance a cappella and other demanding extracurricular activities – I went through my pledge term with my fraternity the same semester I joined the Lyres, and didn’t have any major problems.

A Cappella Rush

Now that you’ve decided to join, you are officially part of the process of “rush” – basically just our word for recruitment. An extremely important date to know is for the actual event of A Cappella Rush – Wednesday, September 7th, from 8-9PM. At a cappella rush, you’ll get to hear each of the a cappella groups on campus sing and get to meet each of the groups after the performance! It’s really important not only because you get to meet the members of all the groups, but also because this is the primary way to sign up for an audition. Of course, if you can’t make the event, you can contact groups individually to schedule an audition, but most groups will fill their audition schedules at A Cappella Rush, and you’ll have to try to get a walk-in audition in the place of someone who drops from the auditions process.

There aren’t a whole lot of frequently asked questions about Rush, but I do have one super important tip: sign up for as many auditions as you can handle. I’m sure there will be a couple groups that really pique your interest at Rush, but it can’t hurt to get as many chances to find the perfect group as you can. Yes, it might be slightly annoying or tiring to go to five different auditions, but if it means you get to find a group that’s perfect for you, it will be worth it. Sign up for tons of auditions.

Auditions

Each group runs their auditions slightly differently, but most follow the same general formula. As an example, you can click here to see how the Lyres auditions work – most groups follow this same general format. There will usually be a test of your range, a test of sightreading, and a request for you to sing a short snippet of any solo you wish. Groups (obviously) want to know how well you can sing, and the auditions are the first step in that process.

What solo should I sing?

Just pick whatever song you think best shows off your voice. If you can sing high, sing high, if you can sing low, sing low… etc. Don’t try to be a singer that you’re not in auditions – it will likely reflect poorly on you as a singer. If you can’t belt a C, don’t try to do it in auditions – be safe, but show us that you can sing.

How difficult are auditions?

This depends on the group, and your own skill. Honestly, the only way to know how hard they will be for you is to give one a shot. In general, I’d say the auditions are moderately difficult, but nothing undoable. We don’t want to make it too difficult, but do want to weed out less strong singers, so moderately difficult seems like an accurate answer to the question.

What if I mess up?

No big deal! Auditions aren’t judged based on one note or one exercise, they’re much more about general musical and vocal talent. Even if your voice cracked, don’t worry – if you nailed the rest of the audition, we’ll know that your mistake was a fluke.

Callbacks

The final stage of the rush process are the callbacks – generally only given to ~10% of the singers who audition for a group. The callbacks are generally more personal than the auditions, are significantly longer (30 minutes, as opposed to a 5 minute audition), and are your final chance to impress the group!

In a callback, you will generally be asked to sing another solo (which isn’t scary anymore, you’re a professional from all the auditions you went to), and you’ll probably be asked to sing a piece of music with the group! This is a time to show both your energy as a performer and your skill singing – even if you hit every note, if we couldn’t see you performing alongside us at a concert, it’s unlikely that you’d be chosen to join our group. Mostly, just be yourself. If you sing your best and have fun, your odds of getting into the group are much better than they’d be if you let your nerves get to you.

After callbacks, you’ll generally be contacted that night by the group, and they’ll let you know if you’ve been accepted.

Concluding Advice

More than anything, I would suggest that you just give a cappella a shot. It is an incredibly fun activity, and I know that it’s been instrumental in making my college experience the best it can be. You have nothing to lose by trying – so give it a shot. Again, you never know what might happen. Yes, you might not get into a group, but you also have a chance to join a group in which you will find best friends, and make lifelong memories.

Good Luck!

Michigan A Cappella Groups

• 58 Greene
• Amazin’ Blue
• Compulsive Lyres
• Dicks & Janes
• Gimble
• GMen
• Good News
• Harmonettes
• Kol Hakavod
• Kopitonez
• Maize Mirchi
• Sopranos

Written by Christian Keil – Lyres ‘13. Special thanks to Lisa Elder for her help with the article.

Auditions will be held today (Thursday, September 8th) and tomorrow (Friday, September 9th) in room C on the third floor of the League. Sadly, all audition slots have been filled, but you can still try and get an audition by walking in – if you’re lucky, someone might drop from their signed up spot, and if there on time, you can take it!

For more information, say you’re attending our auditions on facebook, or email us at auditions@compulsivelyres.com.

The Auditions Process

The Compulsive Lyres hold auditions at the beginning of fall (and sometimes winter) semester. We generally have two rounds of auditions over several days.

First Round: The first round of auditions has several components.

• Vocalization – We’ll warm you up and test your range.
• Tonal Memory – We play a series of notes, you sing them back to us.
• Sightreading – You’ll have about a minute to look at a line of sheet music, and sing it on the syllable of your choice.
• Solo – This is your chance to show off your voice. You may choose any song from the Jazz/Pop/R&B genre to show us you can be Divas and Rock Stars! We will listen to a verse/refrain of you a cappella, and it’s not necessary to bring written music. We just ask that you try not to sing Disney, Classical, or Musical Theater selections since these aren’t the type of music we sing, and don’t give us a good idea of how you will sound in our group.

Second Round (Callbacks): We invite a portion of auditionees for a second round of callbacks. During this round, we are looking to see which voices blend well with our group. Callbacks are run much like a normal rehearsal: we will warm up with you, teach you parts of some songs in our current repertoire, and rock out a cappella style!

Thanks for your interest in the Lyres, we hope to see you this fall!

-Emily Byl, Lyres Music Director ‘11