How to accompany someone with the piano?

[faa2010]

It is for me a difficult task but not impossible as I want to think.

I understand that first of all I need to study the piece, but then the issues come when we are not synchronizing in playing.

Please tell me which tips I can follow.

[quantum]

Listen.  Devote more attention to the other part than your own.  Staying synchronized and unified with the other musicians is more important than playing all the notes in your own part.  Prioritize the important parts of the music.  Identify and prioritize the essential elements in the piano part.  If you run into an information overload scenario, play the parts with the highest priority.  

Unlike solo playing, you are not in complete control of the music - all musicians need to work together.  When a performance gets unraveled you don't have the luxury of doing things like: speeding up until your fingers get it, hitting the piano louder so nobody hears the mistakes, or stopping and starting at your leisure.  You need to work as a team to remedy the situation.

Start practicing accompanying even if you think you are not ready for it.  You will learn a lot by actually doing the task, failing, then learning more.  

[dogperson]

The advice my teacher gives is to realize you are not the leader-- a tough one for those of us who are used to determining the phrasing, dynamics, rubato.  You need to follow the singer or instrumentalist. 
See if you can find someone with whom you can practice-- even simple accompaniment.

[avanchnzel]

Watch your soloist like a hawk and follow them slavishly. It's basic etiquette for a soloist to cue you into the music when you come in together, and be clear about their intentions through body language. If they're not doing that already then ask them to.

[Bob]

Prep your part.  Know their part too.

They're in charge.  They lead. 

Let them play and tune to the piano before the piece.

Sometimes I think the accompanist has to know the piece better than the soloist.  If the soloist screws up, you adjust to them.  They only have to know just their part potentially and just play through it.  They might not be adjusting to you.  If they've got rests, they can just count.  It doesn't matter so much if they follow or know your part.  That's if they just play through their part.  If they're on the ball, they should be studying the whole thing so they can interpret their part (and yours).

If they're a weak player, just play like a metronome so they can fit over that.

If the soloist doesn't do it, position the piano so you can see them to visually get their cuing/breathing.  I've seen a few accompanists who have everything memorized so they keep their eyes on the soloist. 


And it depends how important everything is.  If it's a student who isn't that great and the piece isn't great or well-known, why bother doing great preparation, considering you've got other things to do?  Ideally, yes, prep everything well.  Realistically, some projects aren't that important, and it's more about not wasting time on it so you've got time/energy available for more important things.

[timothy42b]

Following an external time source rather than an internal one is a skill that can be learned.

People who play regularly in ensembles don't even realize it's hard.  But it can be.

Playing with a metronome can be a useful first step.  It isn't as real life as a soloist who will speed up and slow down, sometimes unpredictably.  But if you can't play with a steady beat, there's no way you're going to cope with an unsteady one. 

Last Sunday the soloist miscounted and came in a full measure early in a complicated choir anthem.  The organist jumped to the right measure by beat two and it was almost seamless. 

[faa2010]

After a year, I have finally started to introduce myself in the topic about being a piano accompanist.

The first one in June was nearer of failure, because my partner was procrastinating the rehearsal days, didn't want to and he felt forced to do it.

The second one, was simple and I improvised, but despite little mistakes, it was done. I played for a choir and just one piece.

The Last one, that is one which I felt happiness, satisfaction and accomplishment, I played the Berceuse of the Dolly Suite, I played the Second. I started to learnt and practice it since mid October and my partner and I played it on Mid December.

I came to the next conclusions :

- Need to work hard my part since the beginning.
- Rehearsal either with the partner or the group are important
- Everybody needs to get along (or at least have a good reason to work together and go to the rehearsals)
- Chemistry is important, it is Cool when both feel compatible, but the most important thing is to feel compromise, perseverance and that we can have enough time to play and prepare.