How to Make Your Audition POP: 10 Best Pop Songs for Auditions

Sonnie is a professional musician and educator who teaches Singing, Classical Voice, Pop Voice, and more. She is available for online lessons on her Lessonface profile.

Auditions for choirs, vocal solos or musical theatre rolls are basically job interviews for your voice

The judges are assessing vocal quality, range, versatility, vocal projection and stage presence. It basically comes down to how you sing and not necessarily what you sing. Having said that, you wouldn’t typically go into a choir audition and sing an aria from Wagner. So, what can you sing that is recent, appropriate and does not require a Brobdingnagian voice? 

Below you will find a list of songs rated from easy to difficult, showing the ranges of the songs and reasons to choose them (almost like Pokémon cards for songs).

Easy

“Somewhere Only We Know” - Keane/Lily Allen

Range: Octave
B flat 3 - B flat 4

This is a classic song that was originally sung by Keane and was later done by Lily Allen, so it is quite widely recognised.

Reasons to choose this song:

It has a good range for most singers
The interval jumps of sixths (which show that the singer can control their voice)

It’s easily transposable

The lyrics are non-offensive

It can be sung with or without a backtrack


“Beautiful Mistakes” - Maroon 5 ft Meghan Thee Stallion

Range: Octave
F4 - F5

Reasons to choose this song:

It has a good range

The rhythm and melody are easy to learn

The rap part of the song can also be used to show flexibility as an artist

The melody has interval jumps, but not greater than a fifth


“Make You Feel My Love” - Adele (Bob Dylan)

Range: Ninth
A3 - B4

This is a soulful, emotive song that was covered by Adele but was originally written by Bob Dylan. 

Reasons to choose this song:

It has a range of more than an octave

The lyrics are non-offensive

The melody and rhythms are easy to learn

It can be performed with or without a backtrack. 

It allows the singer to demonstrate expressive abilities


Medium

“Roar” - Katy Perry

Range: Tenth
B flat 3 - D4

Reasons to choose this song:

It has a wider range than most pop songs

It is a great song to demonstrate that a singer has good breath control

The melody and lyrics are easy to learn

The words are non-offensive

The singer can be as dramatic as possible to demonstrate a confident stage presence (however, Katy Perry’s outfits are not advised for the audition) 

It is easy to perform with or without accompaniment


“Bad Habits” - Ed Sheeran

Range: Tenth
G3 - B4 or G4 - B5

Reasons to choose this song:

It is easily transposable

It has a wider range

The rhythm is easy to master

You can use body percussion to accompany yourself on the chorus to add something different to your audition

It gives the singer the possibility to demonstrate falsetto/flute register if the “ooh” parts are done


“All of Me” - John Legend

Range: Eleventh
E flat 4 - A5

This is one of the best romantic songs of today. It is not only great for breakups and romantic movie scenes but also for auditions. 

Reasons to choose this song:
    
This is a good song to demonstrate a singer’s range, especially the link between the ranges

It contains interval jumps of sixths that show vocal flexibility and control

It can be sung without accompaniment, or the singer (if they have basic piano skills) can try to accompany themselves using the opening chords that are repeated throughout the song

This is a great song to demonstrate facial expressions and emotive singing


“I Choose” - Alessia Cara (from The Willoughbys)

Range: Thirteenth
G3 - E4

Reasons to choose this song:

It has two opposing parts that allows a singer to show a calm, legato side of the voice as well as a full-blown dramatic side 

It has large interval jumps of an octave

The words are appropriate and uplifting

The melody and rhythm are easy to learn

It can be performed with or without accompaniment


"Ocean Eyes" - Billie Eilish

Range: Two octaves
E3 - E5

A contemporary audition song list is never complete without at least one Billie Eilish song.
 
Reasons to choose this song:

It has a very wide range of two octaves so singers who can perform this accurately will definitely impress the judges 

This is a good song for singers with a well-developed lower range

It can be sung as a duet or solo

It can be performed with or without accompaniment

It has more challenging rhythms and timings that demonstrate the rhythmic abilities of the singer 

(Billie Eilish outfits and make-up are not recommended for auditions.)

Difficult (Showstopper)

“Human” - Rag N Bone Man

Range: Nineteenth
A3 - B5

Reasons to choose this song:

It has a very wide range

It is a showstopper song if it is well executed

It provides the singer with the opportunity to demonstrate intense emotion and expression

The melody contains a jump of a twelfth (which will impress any auditioner)

The lyrics are easy to learn and appropriate


“Butter” - BTS

Range: More than two octaves
A3 - E4 - C6

BTS is the modern ABBA in the sense that no-one wants to openly admit listening to their music and liking it.

Reasons to choose this song:

It has a very wide range

The rhythm is more complicated with the syncopations

There is also an opportunity to perform the rap parts

The song gives the singer the opportunity to demonstrate flute/falsetto register that goes up to C6

The lyrics are easy to learn and non-offensive

The melody includes regular interval jumps of sevenths and octaves. It also includes an interval jump of a fourteenth


A very important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t attempt any song without preparing for it properly. Attempting to jump a fourteenth if you’ve just recently started singing could possibly damage your voice. It is advisable to try an easier song and do it well rather than try a difficult song and do it poorly. This way you’ll definitely pop, lock and rock your audition.

ABOUT SONNIE Sonnie graduated from the University of Pretoria with a Bachelor degree of Music, specializing in music education, music therapy and singing. She received this degree with distinction and academic honors in 2015. In the same year she started her Master’s of Musicology degree and received a bursary to study music education in Finland for six months. During this time she specialized in music education, music therapy and indigenous music. In 2016 she was part of a team that compiled music textbooks for the South African CAPS (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements) for grades 10-12.  > Book a lesson with Sonnie

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