Song Metadata

Song Title / Show / Album / Standalone

Identify the exact source so you can research context, collaborators, and known cuts. If standalone, define your own story frame.

Composer / Lyricist / Year

Credit correctly. Year matters for style expectations (Golden Age vs. Contemporary) and informs vowel strategy and vibrato choices.

Voice Type, Range, Key

Confirm printed key and your chosen key. Note written range and tessitura. If the tessitura sits high, adjust breath strategy early.

Tempo / Style

Write metronome marking and groove family (swing, 12/8, pop ballad, funk). Style determines consonant energy and phrasing length.

Keywords (10 mood + style tags)

Pick tags a stranger would use after hearing your cut (e.g., yearning, defiant, comic, folk-rock). Reuse them in your audition blurb and social clips for brand consistency.

Lyric Breakdown

Write the lyrics with beat marks

Print the lyric. Insert vertical bars where tactics shift. One playable verb per beat.

Unfamiliar words or phrases

Look up meaning and pronunciation. Note dialect variants if needed.

Severity / Scale words

Circle words that raise stakes (never, always, forever, ruin). Use them to escalate action.

Repetition & Contrast

Repetition needs new intention or color. Contrast marks turns; align with harmonic or rhythmic change when possible.

Story Essentials

Song in four words

Compress the spine. If you can’t, you haven’t found the turn.

Climax point

Mark the exact syllable where stakes peak. Manage breath so you arrive free and supported.

Section purpose (what changes)

• Verse 1: Establish need and problem.
• Pre-Chorus: Pressure builds; decision forms.
• Chorus: Declare action or belief.
• Verse 2: Raise stakes or add new tactic.
• Bridge: Break pattern; reveal or risk.
• Final Chorus/Tag: Consequence and button.

Situation (where/when/why now)

Write a one-sentence playable circumstance. Keep it concrete and present.

Who are you singing to?

Name the partner and the power dynamic. If to the audience, define what you need them to do.

Character & Relationship

Fill concrete facts: age, gender, locale/dialect, time period, economic background, education/experience. Then define the relationship focus for this moment. Do not invent backstory you can’t play.

Acting Choices

Objective

What must change in the partner now? Use active phrasing: “get X to…”

Obstacle

What stops you? Name the partner’s resistance or your inner block.

Tactics (playable verbs)

Choose verbs the audience can see: disarm, provoke, bargain, reassure. One verb per beat.

Trigger / Moment Before

The event that makes singing unavoidable. State it simply so you can physicalize it at the top.

Musical Storytelling

Before hearing the music

State what the audience should understand if the sound were muted. Then confirm the music delivers it.

Musical devices to track

• Harmony: tonic vs. predominant vs. dominant pressure.
• Rhythm: groove shift, hemiola, rubato.
• Texture: accompaniment density, pedal tones, countermelody.
• Form: pickups, buttons, tags, vamp lengths.

Align music and action

Place verb changes on musical turns when possible. If tactic changes but the music doesn’t, verify the turn is earned.

Performance Layer

Physical choices per beat

One functional gesture per beat, anchored in need, not decoration.

Vocal colors

Map mix choices, vowel modifications, and consonant energy to stakes. See Belting, Placement, Vibrato, and Breathing / Support.

Breath plan

Mark inhales and releases. Protect the climax by budgeting air and avoiding late gasps.

Imaginative world

Define space, eyelines, and imaginary objects so the story reads even on mute.

Audition Cut

16/32-bar cut

Target ~25–45s (16) or ~55–75s (32). Include a clear beginning, a turn, and a clean button.

Alternate tactics (for redirects)

List 2–3 verbs you can swap instantly without changing notes. Example: reassure → challenge → seduce.

Summary (1–2 sentences)

State what changes across the cut. This guides your slate and the pianist.

One takeaway word

Aim your performance at one final word (e.g., resolve). It keeps focus under pressure.

Beat Map (How to Fill It)

Each row = one playable action aligned to a musical cue.

Quick Workflow

1. Clarify circumstances and objective.
2. Beat the lyric; title each beat with a verb.
3. Map actions to harmonic and rhythmic turns.
4. Add one functional gesture per beat.
5. Run a listening pass; adjust tactics to true stimuli.
6. Film; the story should read on mute and with sound.