On Working With An Accompanist

One of the many hats I wear is as a collaborative pianist. I am an accompanist at UMass-Amherst, where I focus in the trumpet studio. When I started there in 2021 I worked with the flute and horn studios as well, but the following year I needed to cut back a bit to balance schedules, and decided to dedicate my time just to the trumpets.

I absolutely love the work I do as an accompanist. I love working with music majors who have done the technical work on their piece and are focusing on higher-level performance considerations. I love helping people work through anxieties and concerns. I love being a receptacle for whatever venting they need to do about their theory homework/geology midterm/annoying roommate.

Students come to me with vastly different levels of experience when it comes to working with a pianist. I’m hoping that the jumble of thoughts below can help anyone improve their experience, whether coming to it for the first or fortieth time.

🚨🚨 Potential terminology minefield 🚨🚨​

There’s a bit of consternation about “accompanist” vs. “collaborative pianist” vs. “pianist” within The Community. You’ll notice me use them interchangeably because personally, I don’t care. But know that some people take great offense to the title “accompanist,” saying it suggests a subservient or inferior position (these are probably the same type of people who get up in arms if you call drum corps “band” and I would suggest that we all be a little more judicious in how we expend our Lifetime Outrage Minutes but to each their own and I digress!). “Pianist” is the safest bet, and also happens to be the most efficient.

My feelings on people who get up in arms about terminology

Things to Do Ahead of Time

• Contact the pianist as soon as you find out you need a pianist. I get asked “how far in advance do you want me to send you the music?” My answer is always “now, or as soon as you have it.” To me, there’s no such thing as too early. There *is* such a thing as too late, though. I’d say two weeks is the absolute minimum amount of lead time (two weeks before your first rehearsal, not the performance…). If it’s a notoriously fiendish piece, a bad orchestral reduction, or anything by Jolivet (shudder), it should be at least a month in advance, preferably more.

• Confirm their fee. If you’re paying them personally, find out how and when they prefer to be paid.

• Ask the pianist how they’d prefer to receive your music. This varies widely from pianist to pianist. Some people have gone full digital and just need PDFs. Some people will only play from an original. Some people swear by sheet protectors. Some people prefer a three-hole punched, double-sided photocopy, but are so type-A about the whole thing that they prefer you just send the PDF and let them do it themselves (it me). Ask them!

• If they want you to make photocopies for them: Please be sure that when you generate your printout, you maintain the same even/odd page orientation. In other words, if in the original, page 2 was on the left and page 3 on the right, don’t push things so that page 3 is on the back of page 2. This messes up all the page turns. I’ve lost count of the amount of times that someone spent the time to make a printout for me, but I wound up having to scan and reprint the whole thing anyway just so the page turns weren’t a nightmare.

• ​Communicate your target tempi. If BPMs are printed in the part, confirm that you’ll be using them. If they’re not printed or you’re deviating from what’s printed, communicate your BPMs. I get super suspect because the following scene happens far too often in a first rehearsal:

Me: Ok so how fast are we taking this?
Student: ::looks like deer in headlights:: Oh, um, you know, the usual tempo people do.
Me: Hmm, well the only marking is Andante and there tends to be quite a bit of variation on people’s preferred tempo. When you’re practicing, where do you set your metronome?
Student: ::looks as guilty as a golden retriever next to a destroyed garbage can:: oh, I take it about here ::begins to snap with the metric integrity of July 4 fireworks, eventually settling into something resembling a pulse::
Me: Okaaaay, sounds good! ::taps into metronome, marks part with bpm, starts playing::
-eight bars after their entrance-
Student: That’s too fast. 

​Your First Rehearsal With Your Pianist Should Not Be the First Time You’re Hearing the Accompaniment. 

Not to get all “when I was your age” but WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE, if I wanted to hear a recording of a piece that I didn’t own on physical media, I had to trudge to the Music Library (UPHILL BOTH WAYS THROUGH SNOW), hunt something down that was on vinyl or cassette OR 8-TRACK and then sit and listen in a musty booth with gum stuck to the chair. 

Me in the previous paragraph

The ability to access myriad recordings whenever and wherever you are through the magic of amazing Pocket Internet Machines is a PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER. USE IT. Listen to the complete piece. Mark in cues and whatever you need for tricky entrances. It will be a colossal waste of everyone’s time if you wait to figure this out in your rehearsal with a pianist.

Sub-point: do your listening while looking at the piano part. Frequently there are tempo, style, or expressive markings in the piano part that should very much inform your own playing. These are not secrets. They’re written right in the music. If you choose not to look at them… well honestly that’s pretty dumb.

I know we’re all busy people, but I judge you HARD if you come in to a rehearsal with me and you’ve never looked at or heard the piano part. Not because I think it’s “disrespectful” (although some people might rightfully perceive it that way), but because to me it suggests a profound lack of curiosity. Curiosity that is crucial to being successful at literally anything.

Things I Notice in People Who Have Successful and Productive Rehearsals With Me

• They’ve done their homework. They know what tempos they want. They’ve looked up all terminology they’re unfamiliar with. They’ve done research through recordings to know about typical performance practice.

• They have a plan. They come in with goal(s) in mind. “I’d like to start with that tricky transition in the first movement before we run it, and then I’d like to hear your part at the beginning of the third movement before we play together since I’m still unsure of my entrance.”

• They understand what should be addressed in a rehearsal vs. their own practice. Our rehearsal should be about coordination, communication, and collaboration, not about your individual technique.

Things I Notice in People Who Have a Tough Time

• They’re expecting me to run the show. Organizationally (how we’re rehearsing) or musically (making performance decisions). For players who spend most of their performance time in ensembles, it can be weird to feel “in charge.” But you are in charge! I’m just here to assist you.

• They haven’t been practicing with a metronome. You must hold yourself accountable for having a steady and fluent sense of pulse, otherwise our collaboration can’t happen. Often times when things go off the rails, it’s because you haven’t been using a metronome and now I’m the first thing holding you accountable for pulse. It’s very uncomfortable.

Once You're In a Rehearsal

• Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. Any reasonable pianist is happy to accommodate polite requests like “could we take that spot faster?” or, “I think that spot needs to be a bit softer.” Just as important: if you do the thing again, and it still isn’t what you want, ask again. This is your time to create the musical performance that you want. Be politely insistent.

• Related: You have to know what you want. Yes, I may have played this piece a million times and can provide you with insight as to typical performance practice. However, there’s nothing more depressing, as a musician and a human, then when I ask, “how do you want to handle that tempo change/rallantando/transition” and the player says, “well… what do other people do?” BOO. Boo to that. First off, if you just wanted to do what other people do, you easily could have determined what that is on your own (see “do your homework”). But also, what a missed opportunity for you as the player to analyze, synthesize, experiment, and make a musical decision!! You know, insert some artistry, individuality, and humanity into the music??? If you’ve consulted with recordings, your teacher, and the music and you still don’t know what you want? Just make a call. You can always change it if you don’t like it.

• Remember that you don’t always have to play! It can be just as valuable to sing or wind pattern through your part along with the accompaniment, especially if you have a lot of other playing to do that day. I am never offended by this and consider it just as useful, plus you’re demonstrating that you are thinking ahead and know what you need as a player.

When It's Time for Your Performance

• Confirm whether or not the pianist wants a page turner. If they do, it’s usually your responsibility to find someone suitable.

• If you’re making a poster, include the pianist's name. That's it. That's the bullet.

• Remember: I can see your part. I can always find you. If something gets wonky, or you get lost, please keep playing even if you think it’s wrong. I will find you because I am looking at your music. If you get lost during a rest, just make an educated guess and come in. I will find you because I am looking at your music. If you panic and stop playing… I cannot find you because you are not playing your music.

• Regarding the lid: If I'm too loud, please don’t immediately ask to go to half-stick. Nothing wrong with it (it’s frequently the right choice for very young players and vocalists), but it shouldn’t be the first move when trying to find the right balance. In working primarily with trumpet players, my default is to operate with the lid at full stick. Regardless of the instrument I’m accompanying, this gives the piano the broadest palette of colors, the most room for contrast, and the best situation for responsive playing. 

• Enjoy yourself as much as you can. We are there to make you look as good as possible and can often help hide mistakes that you didn’t even know you made. Remember why you love playing music and do your best to let the audience see that love.