On Being an, ahem, "Accompanist"

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

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.