One of the first jobs Tomoko had as a piano performer was accompanying other musicians, especially singers. She did this at her high school and at a Catholic church as a college student. Tomoko has also performed any times as a member of a musicians’ group throughout her career.
One thing she learned quickly is that being an accompanist
takes more than playing the piano well. Here are some aspects to consider – and
appreciate.
One way to start is to accompany yourself. Interestingly, singing
while you play the piano can help you play better. Typically, soloists sing the
melody line, which usually aligns with the treble clef staff notes on
traditional sheet music. The piano part tends to play the melody as part of a
chord using the right hand. The left hand then plays the base line, which
includes the chord roots. Those chords support the melody so it helps you to
coordinate those two aspects of music.
Learning how to accompany yourself singing can help you
accompany others. As a good test of how well you know the piano piece, trying singing
along as you play. This exercise helps you pay attention to both your playing
and the other musician’s music. Another good step is practicing the piano piece
to a recording and backing track of the music, aiming to play the piece simultaneously
without error. This step can help you gain more self-confidence when you practice
playing with the musician(s) themselves. This “reality check” is most useful
while the other players are honing their parts because you can get a sense of
their style and habits (especially how they handle mistakes). If you are lucky
enough, you might be invited to the musician’s own lessons with the teacher so
that everyone can be literally on the same page.
As an accompanist for other musician, the key point is that
you need to coordinate with them. That means knowing their part as well as
yours – and how the two fit together. It means actively listening and playing
simultaneously, rather like mirroring another person’s action simultaneously. You
need to be at the same point, not ahead and not behind. And if the musician
changes the beat or skips a note, you need to adjust immediately to support that
person seamlessly to cover their tracks. You might even need to transpose the music
to another key during the performance.
To add to the challenge, accompanists usually get their music
after the other musicians, so that means less time to practice. Sometimes accompanists
get no prep time but have to sight-read the music for the first time while
they are accompanying the musician during the performance. Even if you get the
piece a bit before the performance, you may find that piece difficult to play,
in which case you may need to drop some of the complexity yourself, making it
simpler with fewer flourishes to keep up the tempo and still support and align
with the musician’s part. Just think of it as a realistic arrangement.
By now you can see how important piano accompanists can be; they can make or break a performance. Friendships have been formed – and broken – because of the accompaniment experience. It is no surprise that the job can be daunting, but the experience can also really hone your own performance – and make you more appreciative of musicians. Including Tomoko.
