12 dec. 19 days to the new year.

looking back, this has been a super busy and hectic year. but must say the most enriching thing i ever done was to do accompaniment. yea, as in not pei2 people to go around to anywhere but piano accompaniment.

ac·com·pa·ni·ment
Music. A vocal or instrumental part that supports another, often solo, part
a subordinate musical part; provides background for more important parts [syn: musical accompaniment, backup, support]

courtesy of www.dictionary.com

ok so wad about accompaniment.
for one, i believe all pianists shld do accompaniment at some time or another during their course of study in the instrument. its quite a skill, another discipline all together, and will definitely make u more sensitive to music. why? when doing accompaniment, for once u r looking at more than just 2 staves (ok we shall exclude rach wif 4 staves or debussy wif 3 haha) and there suddenly is one more or two more staves in super small print above ur piano part. thus u cant just play wadeva u want in wadeva way u want in ur own part. u have to find out what's happening in the solo part. It;s not just about u anymore, selfish arrogant pianists!

u have to make sure u dun overplay and cover the soloist. or else u will end up in such a situation my friend (a violinist, not so pro though) told me about. they were playing franck sonata 4th movement, he and his accompanist. (even tho this is a chamber work for piano violin i'll still say accompanist.) it was a performance i think, or a small scale recital. but anyways the general idea is that the star is the violinist. but wad happened after franck? wow the pianist is very good! great pianist! oh and the violin provides a nice support too. How embarassing.

accompaniment is a skill that is hard to acquire. it is part of chamber playing. u need to use your ears more than anything else. Its something that non-pianists (eg violinists) get a lot of opportunities to do, either by playing solo wif an accompanist (well u need to know where to come in and such) or playing in an orchestra (just look, how many orchestras actually have a piano in there?) The accompanist doesnt just provide a backdrop that is just there. it also has to support the music. help the soloist bring out important stuff like emotionally high points. the accompanist has to make sure that after playing the piano for the soloist, the performance turns out better than ever, the performance is enhanced, and not compromised. hmm its hard work. practise is of course a must. (yea, dun ever be as mad as me as to take a score in the morning and help someone wif an audition tape in the evening. it wasnt an easy piece anyways. had like an average of 6 notes every time i press the keys, and its a super FAST song...)

Havin said all that, not everyone can do accompaniment. becuase not everyone is as sensitive as a good accompanist is and so on. but its always good to start. make urself available to do accompaniment. its good enrichment for the pianist. if not accompaniment, duets wld be a nice starting point too! the collaboration between the players... etc etc...

good accompanists are just that: good. its hard to become a good one, and i aspire to be one. its hard. damn hard. n i know i wun make it when i break down in the middle of franck. at least not yet. one day i will.

til then. i still think all pianists should get out of their shell. get out of ur comfort zones. look down, dun put ur nose so high and mighty way up there. for once, let others shout at u for not doing something good enough, cus its going to affect others. take the responsibility. take the challenge. help a soloist become a greater one. by doing so, u r learning. by learning, u make urself a better pianist. wif all these using of ur ears, u will improve. definitely. and playing wif diff soloists will allow u to find out sounds of diff instruments, and if u ever want to create a similar sound on the piano (an exact same sound is imposs. how does a piano sound like a violin?) u will know how to do so.

accompaniment.

ch