Is a pianist going to need the help of a page turner in a moment?

[faa2010]

This weekend I saw the movie The Page Turner, a thriller one, but it make me think about the work of a page turner: they turn the score pages for the musicians if they need to sightread, in this case pianists, so they don't interrupt the music flow.

This job can be seen easy, but I saw that it is not as it seems: they need to read the scores as well and follow with both eyes and ears like the musicians and have a good synchronization with the musician.

However, if someone studies to become a musician, I think that teachers can show how to overcome the difficulty of how to sightread and not lose the continuity of music (the most common one is to study the piece and memorize it in enough time).

Is a pianist going to need the help of a page turner in a moment?

[pencilart3]

No. Memorize the music.

[mjames]

No. Memorize the music.

lolno

[iansinclair]

Organists -- as I just wrote in a different post -- almost never fully memorise the music.  This is partly because the ones who work for a living (sacred organists) almost never have time to do so!  A church organist has a minimum in most positions of three concert pieces and 4 to 5 hymns and an anthem accompaniment to learn every single week!  In fact, pianists are the only ones who routinely memorise music.  (I might add, parenthetically, that if you plan to be a practicing organist, your sight reading -- real sight reading; that is up to performance standard if not concert standard on the first go through -- better be good.  I can't count the number of times I've had a hymn change 5 minutes before the service!  Never mind funerals...)

Page turners are very very useful people.  For an organists, they not only turn pages but many times they can assist in registration changes.  Ideally they should be accomplished musicians themselves (I always tried to have my page turners at least be also students of the instrument -- and often apprentices who took occasional services as well).