Re: Practicing with accompanist

>On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 07:47:33 -0800, "Karl Perry"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>>I'm starting to do more solo work with piano. 
>>>From those of you who have done this a lot, do you have any tips about how
>>to get the most out of practice sessions?

I have accompanied on piano and harpsichord several kinds of soloists,
including violinists, in the classical and baroque repertoire.  Most of these
have been amateurs, but some were highly skilled, such as the concertmaster of
our local symphony orchestra.
  Here are a few ideas to think about.
1. Amateur soloists are not used to communicating with their accompanist, with
eye contact and body motion.  When you start the piece, be sure to engage the
eyes of your accompanist -- don't just face the music and start at will.
2. The most common criticism that violinists have of their piano accompanist is
that the piano is too loud.  For heaven's sake, keep the lid down!  Further,
the pianist must try to listen for the soloist, and if I can't hear her, then
I'm playing too loud.
3. The most common problem I have with soloists is that they lost count,
especially in tacit portions of the music where they may have several measures
rest.  Two things might help here:
a) When practicing, carefully count out the silent parts.  Don't just skip over
them and jump to the next point where you come in (unless it's a whole section
of the music).  In many cases, the piano part is sketched in for you to give
you a clue, but if it isn't, then sketch it in yourself, if that will help.
b) Ask the accompanist to give you a cue.  Remember, your accompanist has the
full score. And then, during your tacit part, LOOK at the pianist for this cue.
 It is frustrating for me to try to get the soloist's attention to give a
one-measure "heads up", only to have the soloist lost in contemplation and
looking away from me.
4. I'm pretty good at rescuing an improper soloist's entrance.  Again, I have
the whole score, so I can just play a chord or two, or even nothing, while I
scan the soloist's part to see what went wrong.  (Of course, the fault might be
my own.)  So, if you have an experienced accompanist, just keep playing.  Don't
shut the piece down and try to dissect it at that time.  BUT -- when you get to
the end of that section, THEN you stop and try to figure out what went wrong. 
I work with a flutist, and one of our pieces is a deceptively simple piece by
Haydn.  It took us forever to work out a section that sounds like a beginner
should just be able to toss it off.  We just had to pick our way thru it,
slowly.
5. Things get tougher when you have a 3rd instrument.  My own experience with
this is playing continuo, say with violin or flute on solo and cello +
harpsichord on continuo.  Here, the cello has a more difficult problem when
things go wrong, because the keyboard can determine what happened and adjust to
the soloist, but the cellist is then left in the dark.  My advice, maybe not
good advice, to the cellist is to stop playing and wait until you reach an
obvious entrance you know, or until the keyboard player can cue you in at some
obvious point.  But remember, if the keyboard is played correctly, his/her
lower note dups your own, so you may be able to get back in sync that way.
  Sometimes the cellist does not realize that something went wrong, and keeps
playing as if nothing happened.  That is NOT GOOD!  When this happens, I try to
cue the cellist to stop, perhaps by shaking my head or waving my hand.  That's
fine, if the cellist is occasionally looking at me.
--------
  I think the main skill to be learned is to be aware of the othersâ parts. 
I sometimes, in practicing alone, will play the part just to see what the
soloist will be doing when we do get together.  That worked OK until I
accompanied a violist.  Maybe someday I'll learn to read the viola clef.
  It's really rewarding to play in small groups, and I hope you have a great
time at it.  Pete Brady