What does he play??

[stormx]

Hi !!

I beleive we all have witnessed the following situation:

Let imagine a TV show, with a pianist hired as an staff member.

A singer is invited to the show to be interviewed, and without being pre-arranged, he is asked to sing something.
The pianist HAS NO IDEA ABOUT THE SONG, but he is asked to provide some acompagnement...

So, my question is:

WHAT DOES THE PIANIST PLAY? 

[Bacfokievrahms]

is this a trick question? if so the answer is a piano.

[pianomann1984]

LOL!  Now how long did you spend thinking of that? 

[stormx]

LOL 

I mean, does he improvise some sort of harmony in the song's key?

[pianomann1984]

I would say that any pianist hired for such a show would be interviewed for his knowledge of the standard song repertoire.  He/she will have the song and harmony memorised and will simply, as you say, improvise, transposing the chord sequence in his head to whatever key necessary, improvising accompaniment and flourishes as he/she goes.  It's a wonderful skill (one which I have not yet acquired, though I improvise a lot!)

[Daevren]

Just hit the chords in the same key. Very easy actually.

But its very hard to play a song this way. Most singers need a piano to start off to make it a bit or alot easier. So if this happens it will only be for a small section. If you really can't do this, just hit some tonic chords/arppeggios. If you are really bad just hit some strange chords to piss off the singer so he/she brings sheet music and tells the pianist what is going to happen.

[tds]

oh, btw, does anybody think piano life is much easier without singers? i know, that is a very bad question! tds

[pianomann1984]

LOL!  Singers do seem to have been intent on ruining pianists' lives since the dawn of time, though I have to say working with singers is a valuable experience and skill to any performing/practicing pianist.