> > Yes, but isn't it also the job of the soloist to follow the
>accompanist?
>
>Nope! It is the accompanist's job is to follow the singer.
I agree, but I ALSO think it is the soloist's job to follow the
accompanist. The role of leadership is shared in a good partnership.
> That's
>just one of the ground rules of being an accompanist. If the
>accompanist is doing his or her job, they will follow my tempo. (I
>explain why this is so toward the end of this post.) A really good
>accompanist can even accomodate for mistakes the singer makes, or
>memory lapses - I've sung with wonderful musicians like this
>supporting me, and it feels so great! I am so grateful and
>appreciative to someone who can do that.
When I accompany someone I do my best to do what you describe. I also
appreciate it when the soloist responds to what I do, and feel that
I'm wasting my time when that doesn't happen.
> > Louis Armstrong was once asked how he could sound so good night
>after > night, no matter who was in the rhythm section (piano, bass,
>and > drums). He replied that while travelling to the gig he would
>imagine > playing with the best rhythm section ever. When he arrived
>at the gig > he would continue to play with the imagined rhythm
>section if the > actual one didn't measure up.
>
>That sounds like what I'm saying, playing with the imagined
>accompanist who knows how to play my song ;)
I agree.
> > When Herbie Hancock was playing piano for a Miles Davis trumpet
>solo > he once played a horribly wrong chord. Miles heard what
>Herbie had > played and responded by playing a phrase that fit
>Herbie's chord, > making it sound as though it had been planned.
>
>That works great for jazz, but in classical, you're not
>improvising. You spend hours and weeks and months and years
>learning how to sing things exactly correctly as written and/or as
>prescribed by tradition or current performance practice.
>Improvisation really has no part in classical music at this point in
>time.
I think that the Miles/Herbie story could be applied outside a
context of improvisation.
> > Are you sure that you want to do that? What about the idea of the
>> soloist and the accompanist as a partnership? What about the idea
>of > an ensemble?
>
>In classical music, there must be some point of order to keep all
>the parts synchronized as precisely as possible. There must be a
>leader to keep the ensemble together, and usually that leader is the
>conductor. In an opera, or a symphony orchestra, all members of the
>ensemble are led by the conductor. When there are only two people in
>an ensemble, and no conductor, there still has to be a leader in
>order for the ensemble to take shape. And in the singer-pianist
>relationship, it's normally the singer who is the leader, because a
>singer has a lot more variables going on with their instrument than
>does a pianist, and they need to have the flexibility to change
>things if necessary or desirable.
Leadership is not exclusive to classical music. Regardless of the
genre, the smaller the ensemble the easier it is for the role of
leadership to change throughout a piece, provided the musicians (I'm
including the singers) are willing to be flexible. I think it is a
shame to insist on fixing the role of leader when the music itself
dictates that it changes from bar to bar, perhaps.
>I think the points you bring up are probably very valid for jazz or
>other freer forms of music, but classical music just doesn't play by
>the same rules as jazz.
As I've suggested above, I don't think that my points need be
restricted to jazz. For example, I think they apply to a soprano and
guitar performance of Debussy's "La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin", which
I think of as a duet. You can hear my rendition with Raissa Dorff
here: http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/1181/1181373.html
I suspect that an excellent accompanist leads without you noticing
it. You might ask your favorite accompanists about that.
John Link
http:/www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink
Check out my CDs:
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink2 (John Link Sextet)
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink (John Link Vocal Quintet)
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