Are most vocal selections pretty similar from what actual broadway musicians have to play?

Just as the title says, are most vocal selections (I play the piano) similar from the actual music that musicians play in official broadway musicals or are they different?

For the most part, Vocal Selections are vastly simplified renditions of the numbers from a show, and very different to what would appear in a Piano/Vocal or Piano/Conductor score.

Firstly, vocal selections are designed to be accesible to a large range of performers of varying ability. Therefore, the piano writing is much simpler and will generally consist of doubling the vocal line and chords either on the beat or in the rhythm of the melody with the bassline often single notes. Notable instrumental sections of a song may be an excuse for a slightly more demanding passage. They are also generally printed with guitar chords above, which is very helpful for those who don’t read music as well, or want to perform with a guitar/small ensemble. On occasion, these chords will be incorrect, as they can be misidentified, particularly in Sondheim Vocal Selections (these should generally be avoided as they are of poor quality, and all of Sondheim’s scores are available as full piano/vocal publications.)

Vocally speaking, having the melody doubled in the piano part is often helpful to a performer who is less experienced, or just singing for fun. It can be very annoying to more experienced performers. Broadway vocal scores nowadays generally don’t double the vocal line, although it was standard practice during the golden age, as the vocal line would often be doubled on a melody instrument.

To aid both the pianist and the singer, the keys are often adjusted. This can be so that it puts the song into an easier-to-read key (Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, for example, is frequently published in C Major, whereas it appears in the show score in D Flat Major), and also so that it is an easier to sing key (a high belting song may be brought down to make it more universally accesible, especially to younger voices).

Finally, the vocal selections frequently make an attempt to divide the score much more into individual “numbers”, as opposed to what might appear in the Piano/Vocal score. This is to make it more performable and enjoyable for a solo artist. The vocal selections of Wicked are a good example of this. Defying Gravity and Thank Goodness both appear as solo songs.

The creation and publication of Vocal Selections are an art in itself, and can be the only way a score is accesible in sheet form these days, given that piano/vocal scores are now very rarely published. Many vocal selections get it wrong (too small a selection/over-simplified/convoluted arrangements), but many are spot on and are, in fact, very good substitutions for a piano/vocal score with a large majority of the score being represented. Hamilton and Half a Sixpence are recent examples of this.

Hope this goes some way to explaining the differences!

Updated On: 8/24/19 at 08:05 PM

ClapYo'Hands is absolutely correct; the vocal selections are not indicative of what Broadway musicians actually play. For that you'd have to get your hands on the piano/conductor score, since you play piano. That will have the official accompaniment the conductor/arranger wrote, without the melody, which is what you want.

One of the times that I saw Pippin, I had the opportunity to set in the first row seat that was next to the conductor. He doubled as a keyboardist and I could see his score. It was fascinating to look at it. It had numerous cues, lines, even staging comments. And typical of many musicians, some of his own cues- with highlighted and circled parts and the occasional "watch!" "wait" , etc. It was not anything like the vocal selections books. I noticed also that some pages looked totally different, I assume this could have been something that was added or changed during previews. As a former music major and pianist, I caught myself watching his score as much as I did the show. :)