Pet Peves from a Pianist. — Page 2

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#26

re: Pet Peves from a Pianist.

Posted: 8/29/05 at 8:44pm

What a fantastic thread!
The page-protector-in-a-binder deal is great by the way (I've doing it since I was 10)
Bump for a good thread

#27

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT ABOUT AVENUEQPAT OR ANYONE THAT HAS POSTED HERE!

PET PEEVES FROM AN ACTOR:
Accompanists that are rude about their requests.

Years ago at one of my first auditions ever, I wasn't prepared the way that many accompanists like an actor to be prepared. I didn't know that pianists preferred music in a binder or anything like that. So I go in and the accompanist gives me this look and goes, "What is this? I can't work like this." He proceeded to tell me how to do things correctly... as if I couldn't speak English.

Recently, I was in a class and the accompanist had a problem with my music binder. "How am I supposed to play this?" he asks. I ask him what the problem is and he goes, "These sleeves aren't non-glare. I can barely read the music." I sat at the piano bench and the "glare" did not make the music any less readable. I was also scolded for snapping my fingers to set the tempo, rather than clapping the tempo. I can understand if I snapped my fingers in his face, but I was snapping as if you were snapping along to a jazz song with a groove. I was furious.

Can we have some sort of mutual respect between actors and accompanists? Actors: Prepare yourself and your music correctly! Accompanists: Don't take it personally if an actor does something wrong!

Sorry, I needed to vent.

Thank you, AvenueQPat for your post. Very informative and helpful!

#28

re: Pet Peves from a Pianist.

Posted: 8/29/05 at 9:00pm

I have such a great respect for all musicians and accompianists. They are asked to play music well with may be never before hearing the song- its a hard task.
Recently at an audition I went to, the lights blew out in the middle of the audition while a girl was belting away a tune. But miraculously, she didnt flinch and kept singing, and even more miraculously, the piano player kept on playing in the pitch dark from memory. It was amazing.
I have learned a lot from this pianist- he has become a mentor of mine. I have learned how to make myself as prepared as possible so I can avoid future conflict with a piano player. Remember most accompianists are on your side- they are there to aid you.

Also- invest in non glare sheet protectors- they are the best in the business!

"They hear drums. We hear music."

#29

re: Pet Peves from a Pianist.

Posted: 8/29/05 at 9:18pm

ouch joshua! i've never had an experience like that. then again i am really young and they tend to be forgiving to kids.

#30

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:06pm

Joshua -

First and foremost, from your post alone, I can tell that you are a professional, and without hearing you sing or seeing you act - I would want to work with a professional like you in a heartbeat.

The experiences that you had were horid and earlier today I thought to myself.....maybe I shouldn't have called this thread "Pet Peves" because somebody is going to take it the wrong way - I am glad that you didn't take it the wrong way, but that instead you brought up an important point.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of people are divas. This includes Musicians, Directors, Actors, Designers, Tech Crew, and Producers. Unfortunatley we will both run into people like that our entire time that we work in theatre. The best thing that you can do is kiss that persons butt especially in an audition setting. When you are working with a diva Actor, you need to do the same thing. Kiss their butt until their contract is over, and then never work with them again.

I know it must be hard for actors at auditions because that is your chance to show off. The downside is that you never know who is going to be behind that piano and that is a major factor - I worked for a company that bounced checks on me 5 times over 4 months, never cared and I know that if I ever see them hiring or an audition for them I would NEVER work with them. The other plus about being a musician is that you get a bit more control over refrences and stuff like that.

My recomendation is that if you have a jerk pianist (and they deffinatley exist) and you get cast in the production, you need to talk to the producer about how they treated you - unfortunatley if you dont get cast, then you tend to come off bitter if you complain, but if someones behavior really upset you I would say write a letter to the producer. It may or may not do any good but I have been surprised at refrences I have gotten in the past (fortunatley positive) due to cast members speaking to the producers about me. I am sure that negative feedback would come across to which would limit their ability to get hired. My views on refrences is a much longer thread then this however, so I may post a new one some day.

I deffinatley agree with you that more respect needs to be shown to Actors, and I (in memory of Dr Dillamond) have decided to change the Subject of my response to - Tips for Actors from a Pianist. (Sorry about the Wicked Humor, I couldn't resist - Please nobody respond about Kristen being God - Thanks).

On a completly seperate note, I would love to have the chance to work with you in a professional setting.

Thanks again for your professionalism and for not turning this into a "flaming post" which so often happens around the message boards.

You learn to play the straight man, the lines become routine - never really saying what you mean - but i know the scene will change :)

#31

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:48pm

Mutual respect is of course important--however, actors should realize that they will never get a part (or get anywhere) by blaming their accompanist. If the accompanist is truly an inept jerk, the producer and director probably know it (it might be someone they hired for the day and have no choice about, or someone they've never even met), so it is best just to smile and go on, even if the music is an incomprehensible blur or has stopped altogether. How you handle such moments in auditions shows the auditors how you will handle them in rehearsals and performances.

A few tips of my own--I distrust binders, especially big bulky ones, because it is easy for the pages to stick or for the whole thing to overbalance and fall off the music rack (audition pianos are notorious for causing this). I prefer the taped-together method, as long as the selection only lasts three or four pages (any more and the whole thing will slither off the rack and curl around the accompanist like a python).

I always ask the actor to hum a bar or two of the song to set the tempo and feel of the song. Regardless, be sure to lead the accompanist vocally from your first notes--don't let them push you or hold you back.

It is fine to mark cuts as long as they don't require long explanations. And DON'T use those heavily marked-up scores from your voice classes that spell out every tempo change, breath, and glottal stop--they're incredibly confusing.

I ask in all honesty/What would life be?/Without a song and a dance, what are we?/So I say "Thank you for the music/For giving it to me."

#32

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:53pm

"It is fine to mark cuts as long as they don't require long explanations. And DON'T use those heavily marked-up scores from your voice classes that spell out every tempo change, breath, and glottal stop--they're incredibly confusing."

I was just about to ask a question regarding this. Thank you. :)

artistic dominion

#33

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:12pm

I know it's much more convienient to play from copies in a binder (this is how I prepare all my music for my school concerts I play and conduct), but when I was in college, I was taught that you do not bring photo-copies to an audition. This showed that you had made an investment and purchased the score...and not made illegal copies. Actually, if we showed up to a voice jury with photo-copies we automatically failed. I just wondered if anyone else had heard of this, or if it is only something that is considered standard practice in the "classical" music world.

#34

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:20pm

Personally, whether I am the accompanist or the Musical Director, I dont care what people bring in. If they have an original copy of a song, it dosent give me any less or more respect for the person singing.

Now - If you are going to sing for Last 5 Years, and I have heard that JRB likes to sit in on major Broadway or Off-Broadway auditions - and you are going to sing one of his songs, I would recomend having an original copy WITH YOU even if you use a photocopied version to give the pianist - but that is the exception to the rule.

Off Topic (kind of) - I personally love when someone brings me something from the score instead of from the vocal selections - I appreciate their resourcefullness just because its playing something different. And lets be honest - all the producers in the world know that Actors have illegal copies of music.

So the short answer is - I don't think it matters for theatre auditions if you have a photocopy as opposed to an original.

God - I think I am becoming a Broadway World Board Whore.

And my answers are really long. I hope they are informative

You learn to play the straight man, the lines become routine - never really saying what you mean - but i know the scene will change :)

#35

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:23pm

They are very informative. As a young and rather inexperianced actress I find all of this very helpful.

Thanks. :)

artistic dominion

#36

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:24pm

Well....now I can stop bugging my voice students to take the real score with them....LOL! Thanks!

#37

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:31pm

CATSNYrevival - I never can find an accompianist and I found a great resource last week( I posted about it in the student board but I will copy it here as I think it will help alot of people)

While this alternative is in no way a replacement for practice with a real accompianist, it is better than nothing!

Download Midinotate Musician 1.0 (it's free!). http://www.mymusictools.com/score_editors_30/midinotate_musician_19713.htm
It's a program that you can download Midi files into and see the music as sheet music(printable too!). You can also change the instruments(example: change it all to piano so you get used to an all piano sound) in the song for a different sound or if you are learning the singing melody to a song, you can mute the background or vice versa. it's a GREAT learning and practice tool!

A great site with alot of broadway Midi's for Midinotate:
http://www.hamienet.com/cat1.html
Hope this helps the piano challenged out there!

"You just have to do what your voice tells you to do." -Linda Eder

#38

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/30/05 at 10:16am

Thanks for the info Hot Broadway Diva!!!!! (BTW I LOVE YOUR HAIR)

I have not used this program myself, but the only word of warning I would give is make sure that the arrangment matches what is in your book.

A great site for MIDI files is www.hamienet.com

You have to register (free) but you can then get up to 200 downloads a day, and they have a number of Broadway MIDI's that you would be able to input into that program. Well worth the 45 second registration.

Also, the Midi files are graded so you can try to avoid the bad ones before you download them.

You learn to play the straight man, the lines become routine - never really saying what you mean - but i know the scene will change :)

#39

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/30/05 at 10:28am

Thanks AveQPat, I agree with the other posters who said this was the best thread yet! It's good to hear from some pros and what they prefer.

To Joshua: Yes, those guys (or girls) were rude, but you learned something, right? That's just a taste of how nasty people can be in the entertainment industry. There are lots of great people too--more of them in fact. But you gotta have a thick skin; best to get these experiences at the beginning of your career--that's where I'd want them...

#40

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/30/05 at 10:33am

Thanks Guys and Girls for the kind words. Dont get me wrong, I love reading the dream casts, and the Rare CD Poles, and (for about 10 minutes) who is the best Elphaba, but I just try to contribute what I can.

I just think that a board like this is a great chance to talk about technique for things like auditions as both a way to vent and also a way to put some constructive criticism in. I mean the fact remains, that those people who don't want to pay attention to this wont, but it looks like some young people have come here and left questions that can help prepare them for their auditions.

You learn to play the straight man, the lines become routine - never really saying what you mean - but i know the scene will change :)

#41

Tips For Actors from a Pianist

Posted: 8/30/05 at 11:26am

(Yes dear, I use the Harold Washington Branch of the Chicago Public Library. On the 8th floor, somewhere in the M150something call numbers, there are absolute shelves of sheet music. I'll be honest, it's TOTALLY disorganized, but if you go looking you'll find some glorious stuff. Cheers!)

and this thread rocks:) Thanks AvenueQPat for giving us something other than 'OMG! ...blah blah...Wicked..Elphaba...'

Hugs to all.

There's always room for pathos - and jazz hands.

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