The Phenomena of the Accompanist

 Since my terrible experience at the jazz audition, I have wondered. . . what makes a good accompanist?! I recently stumbled on a question that was posted on a piano forum. The question was posted by a woman who had been trained classically for 25 years and had recently decided to join her church's band. Boy, this woman was in severe distress. She reported to, although being able to read the music very well, having a really difficult time playing with singers and getting them to do what she wanted to do. She said that when they were singing at a bit slower tempo than they rehearsed, she would speed up in an attempt to get them to sing faster; an attempt that ended in vain. Her post ended with the question "How can I be a good accompanist?". Well, I think I have the answer to that. . .

Classical piano is most definitely a solo instrument. The only thing you have to pay attention to is yourself, really. It's the same with all instruments that hold the melody line. But, when you're playing good old rhythm guitar, bass, or percussion, you learn very quickly that the most important thing to listen to is not yourself, but rather the others playing around you. And most classical pianists never learn this!! Which is why the transition from playing solo instrument to a percussive one can be rather difficult. It just takes developing the skill of listening. As a jazz drummer, I have been given a talking to many a times because I do not listen to the bass player sometimes when I am playing, therefore the time is not entirely in sync. This kind of "in the pocket" playing is crucial to stylized music such as jazz and gospel!!

Second of all, being a classical musician often requires you to play both melody and harmony at the same time. When classical musicians (guitarists included) are asked to accompany, they often don't know what to do with themselves. All they want to do is play the melody!! But playing the melody while accompanying will give you a very angry singer on your hands, because the melody is for the singer to handle, not the accompanist. Plus, playing the melody often steps on the singer. . . not good. I mean, people didn't come to hear the accompanist play, they came to hear the singer!! So, backing off is a well needed skill. And the only way to back off while still playing something that will compliment the singer is to learn how to play passing tones and lead in notes. Definitely not something a classical player is used to.

To top it all off, the accompanist needs to remember that they are not the star of the show. They need to remember that although they do have the job of keeping time, the singer will ultimately have the most control in a performance, and the best thing you can do is just follow the singer. Don't speed up when the singer is out of time, because honestly that just makes both of you look bad. Go with the flow, play with feel, and don't try to steal the show by overplaying with fills and such. It's a happy medium that can be difficult to accomplish, but will eventually happen after the accompanist has committed to doing all of these things!