Accompany a Performer
Accompaniment in music is more than just the background of the song; the accompanists make up most the song itself! You can accompany on harmonica, guitar, bass, violin or learn to accompany on piano or keyboard. No matter what you play as an accompanist, the art of catering your music to the soloist can be quite challenging, and require a lot of practice and training.
Contents
Steps
- Take music lessons. In order to play as an accompanist, having a basic understanding of music theory and your instrument are extremely important. A soloist will almost always expect you to have a thorough understanding of music theory and be able to modify your music using tools you learn from music classes. If you aren't too confident in your music theory, community colleges offer basic music classes that teach you a rough understanding of theory.
- Accept that you are not in the spotlight. Your job as an accompanist is to accentuate the soloist, not yourself. This means no trills, improvisation or any other musical ornaments. You will need to be comfortable with playing just the sheet music and allowing the soloist to take care of the musical embellishment.
- Understand the music inside and out. The key to accompaniment is precision, which only comes from a thorough understanding of the piece. If you lose track of where you are in the song or aren't familiar with the specific changes that occur during the piece, a soloist will quickly lose his ability to follow along with you. The soloing musician needs the accompanist to provide a solid backbone of music for them to play on. Make sure you can play the piece without even thinking about it, starting from different points, and with the same precision every time.
- Tone down your parts if necessary. More often than not, an accompanist will not get an ideal score or piece written just for accompaniment. It's likely that you will need to modify or alter the score, so that you do not overshadow or muddy up the soloists' parts. You don't want to mimic what a vocalist or guitarist is playing exactly, so you might need to cut back on your notes to provide a breathable foundation for them.
- Communicate with your soloist. Every musician is different and has their own tastes and preferences. Soloists are no different. Being that you're setting the musical foundation, you need to find out what they need in order to do their job correctly. Whether that be playing softer in certain parts of the song, or crescendoing along with them in another part, you will only find out what they need from you if you have solid communication.
- Learn to follow your soloist. Changes in tempo, improvisation and expressions of musical virtuosity are frequently performed by soloists. You will need to understand how your soloist plays, their style, and sense what they're about play before they even play it.
- Rehearse as much as possible. You will never understand the music thoroughly, your soloists cues, or work out the kinks in a song, unless you rehearse as a group as much as possible. The tighter you perform together, the more seamless your performances will be, and the better the foundation will be for your soloist to play to.
Tips
- Always talk to your soloist about the way that seems right (or wrong): tempo, volume, and style. Don't criticize or take comments as insults, but come to agreement and make progress quickly.
- Simplification is always a good thing with accompaniment. The attention is not on you, and you do not want to take up more of the sonic landscape than you need to.
- Feel free to reduce the music if necessary.
- Having a thorough understanding of guitar chords will help you in modifying the music to not overpower the soloist.
- If you just stick to notes in that chord, it won't conflict with the solo.
Warnings
- Do not be offended when a soloist gets angry or tells you how to play. Take it as constructive criticism.
- Make sure you are not playing too quickly or slowly for the soloist. This can annoy the soloist and will affect his or her performance, and will sound unprofessional.
- If the soloist gets mad because you're being a space hog just take it as constructive criticism. Never resort to violence!
