So I saw this post recently and it gave me accompanist feels. So here's a musical rant for all you.
Look here's something people may not realize. Every singer you see? Wouldn't be half as good without accompaniment. How many times have you heard something instrumental and a swell of music makes you pause (see: LOTR music)? That's musicians. Who when there is a singer involved are lumped in the phrase: accompanist. Without people realizing exactly the contribution they give.
Here's the thing, accompanists aren't just playing blindly. Well maybe they are, but good accompanists aren't.
If a singer sings softer? The accompanist will play softer, if they're louder? They have to be louder (of course exceptions exist). But this generally means that in anywhere as short as three minutes to as long as three hours, this person is consistently listening. Listening for queues and shifts and changes.
And here's the thing. Singers? Adlib.
Not the lyrics... Well no, that's a lie. We totally adlib lyrics when shit hits the fan. I once repeated the entire first verse of Habenera (and no one noticed, go acting) cause I repeated a line by accident and, being in Canada, decided repeating the first verse would be better than slicing in the second. Since lots of people in Canada can speak French and splicing verses would've led to sheer dafuq-ery.
But anyways. Sometimes you sing a line six different ways and on performance night? Sing it a seventh. Your accompanist is listening for these queues.
An extra breath, a pause for emphasis, a pause cause you forgot your next fucking line (fml), a pause cause you tripped onstage and hiccuped a phrase (again fuck my fucking life).
Accompanists matter.
And I was lucky enough to have a phenomenal one.
A good accompanist can make or break you. If you are singing and you go off note, or off rhythm or just off practised script, a good accompanist can save your ass. And make it sound intentional.
Do you understand that power? Do you understand the trust of "this sheet music is terrifying to me, but I trust you to play this, and if I screw up for you to hold me and help me"? Accompanists matter.
I had the same accompanist for three years. I transferred schools after. But I paid my dues. I paid a significant amount of cash when I probably could have found a cheaper student accompanist. Because he was phenomenal. He was and is to this day, the most amazing man I've ever met. He is still a good friend of mine. (And his wife was my singing teacher and I love her too, basically a beautiful family all around, their kids are fantabulous as well.)
But I would bring in a piece of music. And he would sit there with me and explain the history. He was my music history teacher as well. He would tell me about how certain words should be emphasized because that was the intent of that era. How this composer meant this, and the story of their life and who they were. I connected to the words and the poetry and the melody. He connected me to the history. The intent and true meaning. The person behind the tune.
We would dabble in timing and rhythm. This Italian piece had more flair. This contemporary piece was meant to be sung straight. Certain key aspects of things I never would have thought about.
And he watched me.
I would do a musical number. And perhaps I would pause. A fermata. A breath. A space. A suspended piece of time. Never a stop. Never waiting. Just breathing. And he would watch my form. My face, my belly, my breathing. Waiting for that indrawn breath. Wait with me in the moment. For that first movement of my lips.
To play again.
To perform with me.
And it aggravates me to see people being flippant about this.
When I transferred schools, I had other musicians in band come up to me and applaud me for being so nice. I was a good singer, but I was still so humble and bashful. And it just infuriates me that there are musicians. Proficient musicians. Out there. That think they aren't worth as much. Or that have resentment towards singers cause they can be such diva bitches.
You are not more important than your musicians. You are a musician. You are one of them. You aren't above them. Get the fuck off your high horse.
I am a musician like any other musician. Without my accompaniment I am not half as effective to an audience. I can sing a cappella and quite well. That doesn't mean I can perform a recital that way (well choir groups and stuff, but by myself? come on, we come from a society of harmony, accept it and move on). Accompanists make me more effective. Phenomenal accompaniment has made me better. Phenomenal accompaniment has made me sound much better than I am. I am more effective with accompaniment.
If you actually think you are better than your backup there is something wrong with you. When you go on stage you are putting on a show. And the support is just as important as the main event.
I do not deserve applause for being a decent fucking person. If you practice every day to get a piece right and have the history and the background to be good at what you do, how do you think your accompanist deserves any less? Do you think they practice less? Just because you're in the spotlight does not mean you automatically get to treat other people worse.
That's like thanking your waitress for a wonderful meal and ignoring the chef that fucking cooked it. Just because you're the one people see, doesn't mean you're the only one onstage.
I'm not saying accept bad treatment from bad musicians. You are generally paying for a service. And it sucks be a singer cause you're often paying for accompanists that other musicians don't have to. But you are paying for a service all the same. You deserve the respect.
But so do they.
Treat your musicians fairly.
(Y'know what, apply this to sound and lighting crew as well, those beautiful bastards never get kudos)
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