Serving as an
accompanist is usually hair-raising, rarely simple, and never
straight-forward. I’m of the opinion
that, as a species, accompanists top the list of “those taken advantage of.” For example, did you know that we are actually
not accompanists? Nope. If you truly understand our skill set you
would call us ‘collaborative pianists.’ Most
instrumental music is written “for (insert
instrument) and piano.” Not “for (insert instrument) with simple piano
accompaniment in the background.” I
recently played a trumpet sonata that the teacher fittingly referred to as a “solo
piano sonata with trumpet obligato.” He
is a smart, smart man.
It’s important to
note that collaborative pianist does NOT mean:
-Private teacher
-Vocal coach
-Counting buddy
-Diction reference
-Metronome
-Translator
-Tuner
-Psychologist
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| Oh no you didn't. |
You musicians (and
singers…) fail all too often to realize that CPs easily spend as much time as
you do preparing music. We have 10 times
as many notes and don’t have the luxury of reading only one line of music at a
time. I’ve probably practiced 30 hours
for your saxophone recital, full of weird twentieth century music (and did I
mention that it’s for saxophone?), plus rehearsals and the performance, and I
might make $100 for it. Woot. I could make more watching your pet
chinchilla.
So it’s clear
that we’re not in it for the money. No. To
us, it’s a sport. Being a CP is the
musician’s equivalent of competing in the X Games. It’s dangerous, risky, and never goes the
same way twice. Consider the following
example:
Example 1: You are accompanying a senior trumpet
recital. After a lengthy piano solo, the
trumpeter miscounted and has failed to come in.
Do you:
A) Keep going and hope he’ll catch up
B)
Stop playing and wait for him to come in
C)
Go back and replay your solo
D)
Improvise a funky vamp while waiting for him to figure out where he is
E)
Throw your hands up in the air and walk off stage
The answer? Well, here’s where it gets fun. It COULD be any of the options, but rarely is
the same one twice. Depends on the
circumstances. In that particular
instance, which has happened to me several times, I typically start with D,
moving to C or B if warranted, and eventually land on A or E in dire
situations. You won’t be able to know
until you’re in the moment. It’s a
reflex kind of thing.
Example 2: You
are accompanying a junior vocal recital.
The soprano has clearly forgotten what language she is singing in the
middle of a French aria and is now inserting random syllables at will. Do you:
A) Keep going and hope she remembers the words
B)
Stop playing and start over
C)
Start singing along with the correct words
D)
Throw your hands up in the air and walk off stage
The answer? Well,
you’d think A would be appropriate, but the real answer is Invisible Choice E) Brace yourself.
We choose E because Example 2 invariably leads to:
Example 3: You
are accompanying a junior vocal recital.
The soprano has forgotten what language she is singing and is now
inserting random syllables at will. This
mistake has thrown her for a loop and she is now singing an aria, originally written
in 3/4, in 4/4. Do you:
A) Keep going and hope she figures it out
B)
Stop playing and start over
C)
Start singing along with the right words in the right meter
D) Instantaneously figure out how to
insert an extra beat per measure into your accompaniment and hope it fits.
Again, any of
these choices could, and very likely will, be utilized in various
situations. Best to be prepared for any
of them.
CPs have the
psychic capacity to realize when a mistake is coming and adjust before it
happens. The more you collaborate the
better you get at this. I recently
rehearsed a sonata with a trumpeter and I made two rhythm mistakes because she was
the first trumpeter I’d worked with that actually played the right
rhythms. CPs need to understand that
whatever is wrong in a rehearsal will be 3 times MORE wrong in a
performance. CPs sacrifice their
preparation and desire for a great pianistic performance to salvage the other
person and make them look as good as possible.
Usually.
To summarize this
point, I leave you with the all-too-common:
Example 4: You
are accompanying a senior clarinet recital.
The clarinetist in question failed to give you music until two weeks
before the recital, didn’t contact you about rehearsing until three nights
before, and doesn’t have your money. Do
you:
A) Play your best. It’s a matter
of principle.
B)
Play the pieces, but ignore all cues and tempo changes.
C)
Play a trombone sonata instead of the clarinet piece.
D)
Make signs and picket.
Well, my readership,
I’ll leave that one up to you.
