Search
Exceptional piano accompanying is to a soloist what fine China is to Christmas dinner.
Growing up, dinner time was always a family time in our house (as it should be). That was especially true during the holidays. For Christmas dinner my mom would make a feast and serve it on our dinning-room-only China dishes. The food was awesome, and the China it was served on contributed to make for a memorable family time.
I’ve squeezed about as much as I’m going to get out of that analogy. Let’s just say it’s a generally accepted fact that an accompanist will make or brake a performance.
So let’s break this down. How can you be an exceptional piano accompanist for your church soloist or ensemble?
1. Prepare well individually.
Spend the time necessary to be able to play the arrangement at various tempos. Know where the repeats are, and be aware of all expression marks. This is the foundational step to accompanying well.
2. Rehearse often together.
The more you can rehearse with the soloist or group, the better the “ensemble” will be. Less rehearsal sacrifices confidence on the part of both the vocalists and the accompanist.
3. Become comfortable enough to improvise.
This one’s a little more advanced—but if you can take something out that’s not working, or add something to improve, do so. I use to feel that if it is written, it has to be played exactly as notated (the whole play-it-as-the-composer-intended-it issue). But that’s not always the best option. For example, orchestra reductions don’t always work well with just the piano. Imagine what might make it sound better. What can you add (or subtract) to make it match your pianistic style?
Just make sure your improvisations don’t interfere with your primary role: accompanying. If you add too much, you have the potential of slowing down the performance or coming across as a competing component in the ensemble. Conversely, if you don’t add enough, the vocalist might feel unsupported, which can ultimately contribute to a lack of confidence in the final performance. Like anything, you need to strike a balance.
Developing your accompanying skills is a worthy goal, especially in the service for the King. In my experience, far too many pianists miss out on the opportunity to refine their accompanying abilities, which is truly sad. Perhaps they don’t consider it necessary to focus on. Regardless of the reason, I believe you can never pay too much attention to the details that help to make a song minister with greater effectiveness. Sure, God can “use” a song that is poorly prepared and unrehearsed, but let’s not put Him in a box. Let’s give Him our best.
Christ deserves our finest China.
Question: What helpful tips can you share that have helped improve your accompanying skills?
Related posts:
Comments
Thanks for this post! I am not an accompanist, but as a soloist I know how important it is to have someone at the piano who is well prepared. I have just begun to really look into some of your material. Thanks for using your ministry to be a blessing to others.
I look forward to reading more and more of your work and I have printed off one of your free arrangements for our pianist at Foothill Baptist Church.
I, too, want to thank you for your post and all the helpful comments and suggestions you make.
The Lord has blessed me with the talent to play the piano and have used that talent to play for our church for many years. And though I do not consider myself to be great, I have been blessed with the ability to “feel” music. When I accompany a soloist, I am able to improvise and use dynamics to help make the song come alive. The soloist tends to “feed” off my playing, and I “feed” off the soloist. Such a joy to be a part of the experience of a meaningful moment in music that brings praise and honor to our Lord!
I also appreciate the free arrangements you have offered on your web site. You use a style that is so refreshing. Keep up the good work. God bless you.
LaNell, thanks for your kind comments. Glad to know you find something useful here.