Turning an Audition Nightmare into Success

[musictheorist]

I thought I had blown the sight-reading part of my interview, but I still got the job. They gave me a Strauss song that I had never seen before, and told me to accompany one of their best tenors. I was terrified. My hands wouldn't move. I played more wrong notes than I could count. What was it that I had done right that landed me the job and allowed me to play piano for a living?

Here's how I overcame my poor sight-reading abilities to land the collaborative pianist job:
First, my top priority was making the soloist sound good. I stuck to him like glue. I anticipated and made music out of every dynamic inflection, tempo fluctuation, and catch-breath that he took.

Right up there with showcasing the soloist's musicianship is style. If my sight-reading were a solo piece, style would be my top priority. I'd be better off playing all the wrong notes with the right tempo, dynamics, articulations, and tone quality, than if I had played flawless pitches and rhythms without the style.

Rhythm is also way more important than pitch when sight reading. The wrong note at the right time is better than the right note at the wrong time. Furthermore, if I had even once disrupted the flow of the piece to fix a mistake, I would have lost the job right then and there. The beat waits for no one. The show must go on.

So, in the end, the long years that I had spent working on my sight-reading technique mostly didn't help me. I just made music better than the other candidates. That was just the sight-reading part of the audition, though.

[iansinclair]

Well done!  At a guess -- and had I been on the audition jury -- I would have been looking for exactly the things which you say you managed well.  Did you stay with the singer?  Did you give expression as needed?  Did you get the overall shape of the thing right?  Yes to all of those.  It's always nice to get the right notes as well, don't get me wrong -- but if you are going to accompany someone (or someones!) as you say -- the beat goes on. 

[j_menz]

but if you are going to accompany someone (or someones!) as you say -- the beat goes on. 

I think singers get completely thrown if you stuff up the rhythm, really annoyed if you drown them out, irritated if your not on the same dynamic journey, and (unless it's a series of real clangers) completely oblivious to the actual notes - except perhaps at the very start, where they are mentally tuning up.

[pianoplunker]

I thought I had blown the sight-reading part of my interview, but I still got the job. They gave me a Strauss song that I had never seen before, and told me to accompany one of their best tenors. I was terrified. My hands wouldn't move. I played more wrong notes than I could count. What was it that I had done right that landed me the job and allowed me to play piano for a living?

Here's how I overcame my poor sight-reading abilities to land the collaborative pianist job:
First, my top priority was making the soloist sound good. I stuck to him like glue. I anticipated and made music out of every dynamic inflection, tempo fluctuation, and catch-breath that he took.

Right up there with showcasing the soloist's musicianship is style. If my sight-reading were a solo piece, style would be my top priority. I'd be better off playing all the wrong notes with the right tempo, dynamics, articulations, and tone quality, than if I had played flawless pitches and rhythms without the style.

Rhythm is also way more important than pitch when sight reading. The wrong note at the right time is better than the right note at the wrong time. Furthermore, if I had even once disrupted the flow of the piece to fix a mistake, I would have lost the job right then and there. The beat waits for no one. The show must go on.

So, in the end, the long years that I had spent working on my sight-reading technique mostly didn't help me. I just made music better than the other candidates. That was just the sight-reading part of the audition, though.

Sounds like you had the right awareness while accompanying the soloist. You did what good musicians do and that is to listen, listen, listen. even though you had botched a few notes you still listened to the singer. And sight read well enough to keep up,  so your long years working on it did did pay off in the end. Congrats on getting the job !