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How To Be A Good Musical Theatre Pianist

April 15, 2011

Being a pianist for a musical requires a different skill set from the classical pianist or

the rock pianist. It requires sensitivity and flei!ility, you need to !e a good reader

and a good listener. It isn"t a!out hitting all the notes correctly or even improvising

fluently, it"s a!out playing #hat"s needed eactly #hen it"s needed.

A fe# points$

1% &he a!ility to sight read #ell is necessary to the theatre pianist. 'ost people are

taught to #ork for perfection in all areas during their years of piano instruction, #hich

requires many hours of practicing the same piece over and over until the kinks are all

#orked out. (earning to sight read also requires hours of practice, !ut the hours need

to !e spent reading things you"ve never seen !efore, and not stopping to fi anything.)et a huge stack of scores from a li!rary or a friend and devote time every day to

reading those scores at a moderate tempo, without ever going back to correct

anything. &ry not to drop any !eats, and #ork to read several !eats ahead of #hat

you"re actually playing at any given moment. As you"re doing this, try to #ork out

#hat is most important and play that first, adding the other details as you find you are

a!le. *eveloping this skill is the !edrock of practical piano playing upon #hich many

of the other skills rely.

2% A theatre pianist is frequently called upon to play music #ith more notes than are

physically possi!le to eecute. &he part may include the !assline, the off!eat chords

of the second violins, the melody, and a piping countermelody an octave a!ove. &hiskind of music is not for the literal+minded you"ll have to leave some of it out. Ask

yourself$ -hat kinds of details are necessary for the performers to hear during this

rehearsal /ro!a!ly you"ll need the !assline and the melody. *o they kno# the

melody (eave it out and play the comp chords in the top of the !ass clef. r add the

countermelody. &ry to imagine the full teture and intelligently play ust #hat is

necessary. And then !e creative #ith your playing. eally try and evoke that cello or

trom!one #ith your thum! in the left hand. Articulate the #ood#ind passages #ith

the panache the actual players #ould. nce you kno# the !ones of the piece, make a

real effort to play it in style, #ith character and verve.

3% Along those lines, the theatre pianist isn"t an epert at all styles, !ut can playpassa!ly in many different genres, from classical and romantic music to a44, to

gospel, to rock, to country. no# ho# to play s#ing rhythms, ho# phrasing #orks in

various genres, and pay attention to #hat genre the music is in. (erner and (oe#e are

going to !e different than 6tiles and *re#. 6ondheim is going to require the clarity of

the counterpoint, #here 'ichel (egrand is going to need a very 7rench use of the

pedal. 8ou don"t need to !e an epert, !ut you need to have a passing familiarity #ith

many different styles. 9ack of all trades, master of none.

:% A theatre pianist listens to the other performers. I don"t care ho# !eautiful your

scale #ork is, or ho# quickly and accurately you play stride piano if you"re not

listening to the singers, you"re useless as a player in a pit or a rehearsal. And #hen

you get into that pit and the other instruments are playing, you need to !e listening

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enough not to ust mindlessly dou!le instruments that are carrying their sections

perfectly #ell.

5% A theatre pianist has a thick skin. -hen things rush, everyone turns to the pianist

and says, ;8ou"re playing too fast< It"s killing us up here= even if it #as the singers

#ho got things moving too quickly. &he theatre pianist kno#s #hat really happened,!ut smiles and says, ;I"ll take it a couple of notches slo#er this time.= If you are

easily offended, playing theatre piano is not your thing. And if it #as you that #as

rushing, a colla!orative pianist has the humility to say$ ;it #as me. I"ll fi it.=

>% Ideally, a theatre pianist is a!le to transpose at sight, although in reality this

happens very infrequently. In practice, much of this kind of thing relies not so much

on transposing from the page to the piano #ith note+perfect accuracy, !ut a

kno#ledge of key!oard harmony that allo#s the player to recreate the style and chord

progression roughly in the ne# key until some!ody has the time to go and transpose it

properly. And #ith the proliferation of electronic key!oards, it"s frequently done #ith

the push of a !utton. As you are a!le, try moving pieces a half step and then a step ineither direction. ften it can !e done !y ust imagining a ne# key signature.

?% A good theatre pianist is paying attention during rehearsals. ften a choreographer

or a director #ill say, ;take it from that spot #here such+and+such happens= 8ou need

to kno# #here that is. A lousy colla!orative pianist is too !usy going over passage

#ork or making musical okes to !e !othered #ith kno#ing #hat"s going on in the

room. &he good pianist is mentally present and ready to go #hen called upon.

&heatrical pianism is a lifelong learning process, #ith a premium on flei!ility,

stamina, and creative thinking. &he good ne#s is that they are skills #hich can !e

learned, and even self+taught. And you"ll find that if you master these skills, you #ill

get #ork, !ecause you"ll !e a true asset to any production.