Live and Recorded Accompaniment Both Have Benefits for the Musician

School ensembles are just that – groups of musicians performing music specifically written for their voices or instrumentation. For most students, that is not only the core of their high school music experience, but the only performance component. And it is a good one.

Through their participation in chorus, band, orchestra, jazz ensemble or other similar ensembles, student musicians not only learn how to perform on their own instrument or voice, but how to work with others, be responsible for their part of an overall effort, expand their understanding of music terminology and history, and proudly perform with their friends and colleagues.

However, for many students, performing music written for the soloist is also a part of their overall school music experience. Whether to perform that music in a solo and ensemble festival for adjudication and possible honors, to have it included in a performance at their school that features such programming or simply as a part of their ongoing efforts to become better musicians, performing solo repertoire gives musicians the chance to become better musicians.

An integral part of performing solo literature for voice, woodwind, strings or brass is the accompaniment. For a fair portion of the literature, the solos come from large ensemble works such as concertos and works written for solo and orchestra (or band). To make the piece more accessible, arrangers compose a piano reduction of the large ensemble’s music so that the piece can be performed by two instead of 50 musicians.

In addition, there’s a large body of literature for just about every instrument and voice where the music is written specifically for a soloist and single accompaniment – again most often the piano. Those pieces represent a broad range of musical eras and genres, ranging from classical to modern, sonatas to elegies and nocturnes. One of the real draws for students to perform solo literature is the opportunity to find, practice and perform a piece that fits their abilities, range, tone quality and technique well, and explore a genre that they enjoy themselves.

Like every other aspect in life, practice makes perfect, or close to it, in music. Solo literature is intended to be performed with the accompaniment; and to make the most of that performance, the performer should rehearse with that accompaniment beforehand.

For many, the accompaniment is recorded and thus available from the first rehearsal to final gig. Recorded accompaniment can be either one that was professionally prepared, made available as part of or in addition to the purchase of the solo literature, or a recording made by a local pianist for the student to use.

In the case of the local recording, the quality of the recording is as important as the quality of the accompanist and the piano. Having a proper recording of the accompaniment, performed on a quality piano and done in the historically accurate style at the proper tempos helps the performer learn their solo part properly, playing it in tune and with the correct phrasing, dynamics and nuances. Whether purchased or procured, the recorded accompaniment needs to support the soloist’s efforts and be in a format that makes its use effortless and adjustable. Current technology can also offer the student musician the opportunity to adjust the intonation and tempos to better match the student’s skills.

While a recorded accompaniment gives the student many such opportunities to refine their part, having the accompaniment provided live during practices can support the student in other ways. First and foremost, the accompanist is a fellow musician, able to provide feedback and insight into the soloist’s efforts. The accompanist can complement, critique and correct the student musician as they work together toward the unobtainable perfect rendition of the concerto, sonata or nocturne.

As the student and accompanist work together, each musician hears how the other is performing, reacts to each phrase or statement, adjusts to what they hear and strives to blend their parts into the performance. Even if the accompanist is not the student’s teacher (and in most cases is not), the accompanist can add much to the performance through his or her own musicality, educational background and personal experiences. Live performances should be done with live accompaniment.

The drawbacks, however, of live accompaniment are the availability and the cost. While the live accompanist can make adjustments, start over again at any point, and give the performer valuable feedback, accompanists are not available every time students practice their parts. And most accompanists, save the student’s actual music educator, should and do expect compensation for their own preparation and participation.

Often, the best the student musician and accompanist can arrange is one or two practices prior to the actual performance. As a result, many students opt to not only practice with the recorded accompaniment, but to perform with it as well. Once the recording is started, the performer must follow it. No further adjustments can be made to tempo, intonation, phrasing, dynamics or style at that point.

Taking all of this into consideration, practicing with a recording and performing with a pianist would seem to give the soloist the best opportunity to be successful, whether performing for a rating or selection, or for an audience. However, performing with a pianist requires practice as well. Not doing so before the final performance or a brief dress rehearsal, not only limits the enhancements that live accompaniment provides, but often hinders the overall quality of that performance.

If the resources are available, the best results would be achieved with the student using a recording provided by the pianist to work on their part initially. Once the student is able to easily match the tempos of the recording, practices should include the pianist so that both can bring out all of the qualities of the selected piece. Technology can aid the preparation but cannot replace the personal aspect of musical performance.

Steffen Parker is a retired music educator, event organizer, maple sugar maker, and Information Technology specialist from Vermont who serves as the Performing Arts/Technology representative on the NFHS High School Today Publications Committee. He received the NFHS Citation Award in 2017 and the Ellen McCulloch- Lovell Award in Arts Education in 2021.