[MaryMag]

I've never had a bad accompanist till last night.

And I guess he wasn't bad, he just couldn't play the music I gave him. I feel guilty that it may have been too hard for him to play, but I didn't know any better since I've used the same music at previous auditions without any problems. He suffered through the first one and then completely stopped on the second.

So number one, if you are familiar with these songs, please tell me if they're too difficult to sight read and if I should remove them from my rep because of it:
somebody somewhere from most happy fella
it's all the same from man of la mancha

And number two, what were the CDs thinking about me as my poor pianist suffered? The first song was kind of horrible because the timing was weird and I felt very off pitch. The second song I essentially sang a capella. Do you spose the CDs were understanding of the difficulties I faced? Do spose they were unsympathetic cuz I was the diva ass bitch that came in expecting the underappreciated accompaniest to sight read something impossible?

In other words, do you think the bad accompaniment hurt my chances of getting cast?

[The Tink]

If it was a bad accompanist, odds are that the directors know it. Of course, I've seen many people blame wonderful accompanists for their troubles when they themselves are the cause of the problem.

The songs you chose should be fine. "Most Happy Fella" isn't done very often, so it's possible he/she had never heard it before...

But, like I said, if the accompanist is bad, the director's usually know about it.

[LHSTrombone]

My accompaniest at Spring Awakening was majorly dragging and Ive had someone else do that before...I completely lose character because im too busy trying to get the pianist to catch up.

[opheliarose]

I once had an accompanist who couldn't keep up with "Poor Wand'ring One."

I ran into the director a year or so later and he apologized to me, which was funny since I had no idea who he was!

Yeah, they know when it's the accompanist. And yeah, it's ok to just stop and say- can we try it at this tempo? Or, can you just play one hand?

I think sometimes directors bring in bad accompanists just to see how you'll react!

I think your songs were fine, MaryMag.

[what_the_heck013]

[MsDivaKate]

In defense of accompanists everywhere....sometimes we're bad because we get called in completely last minute and just thrown in front of the piano without proper time to even warm up our fingers lol


Your song choices were fine though and not overly difficult. If you have an accompanist who really seems to be struggling, its ok to ask them to just play melody one hand with root notes or block chords in the left hand. Most accompanists should be able to modify to this much easier then it is to sight read a piece, especially since some of the best piano players, are pretty lousy sight readers or just lousy accompanists...they can play the piece at their comfort tempo and only that tempo and absolutely suck at following...I had a friend like that who accompanied me for two semesters in undergrad before my voice teacher told me either I had to fire him or she would. He saved us both the trouble by telling me the next semester he was accompanying too many people and that he couldn't keep up with them AND my upcoming recital lol

[opheliarose]

I hope we're not implying all accompanists are bad. It's just the bad ones who we have the horror stories about!

Most are incredible musicians who intimidate the hell out of me! (I didn't really learn to read music well until I was in college. And I still have to mentally translate bass clef). And it's true, a LOT of singers blame accompanists for their own errors. (I had an accompanist sight read Monica's Waltz perfectly, which is just evil of me.) I've also forgotten to tell accompanists about cadenzas that weren't written in, and they were able to just go with me.

Often I've noticed they can't get the real rehearsal accompanist to play for auditions, so they'll hire their not-first-choice, and that's where the bad ones come in.

The worst (for singers) are the ones who normally accompany instrumentalists- accompanying singers is totally different, and they don't always allow for things like...finding a pitch, breaths, etc...

And even the not-so-great ones play piano better than I...

[LHSTrombone]

I have an audition piece that goes from 4/4 to two bars of 3/4 to a bar of 2/4 to a bar of 7/8 to a bar of 2/4 then back to 4/4....I wonder how most players would deal with that one.

[MsDivaKate]

[Chevstriss]

Mary Mag both of those songs are quite easy in the accompaniment, unless you were jumping in at the key change of "all the same" (which isn't even in most published scores) and even then it ain't rocket surgery.

Chances are if those 2 choices were flubbed by the accomp, then everyone's was. The CD's can see that.

[MaryMag]

Well I'm afraid the CDs weren't thinking 'geez this accompanist was totally our last choice' because the accompanist was the musical director! Which does not mean he'll be a horrible musical director. Just means he's not a good sight reader. My old voice teacher (who was primarily a music director) was a horrible sight reader.

It was really bad though, yall. I can count on one hand how many notes he played in 'its all the same.' I essentially sang a capella. I was really unprepared for that. Again, I'm not unhappy with him in any way - I can't play more than hot crossed buns on the piano, much less sight read! - I'm just a little unhappy with my performance as a result of the unforeseen circumstances! (unforeseen circumstances = lack of help from the piano in terms of pitch, pacing, etc)

[LHSTrombone]

[The Tink]

[Don't Tell Mama]

I'm not sure if this accounts for anything, but I once had an accompanist who played the song I gave her way too fast. It honestly sounded like she was playing in double time, and it through me off so badly that I almost forgot the words.

Then again, it was one of those auditions that you're only given a certain time frame to be onstage, so maybe she was just trying to hurry up and get the song over with so the next person could come onstage.


I think, however, in your situation, that the casting directors would take into consideration that you did your best. As long as you can cover up whatever mistakes you may have made, and keep on going as if there isn't a problem - that's all that matters. I don't think you should remove those songs from your rep., since you are comfortable with them and have the voice to pull them off. It could just be that the accompanist had not heard of them before, or was not as familar with the pieces as you are. Nevertheless, it sounds like you gave it your best shot and I think you will do all right.

[jazzygirlsings]

Casting directors know when an accompanist is bad...Afterall, they've had to listen to this person play all day. It's those auditioners who can rise above it and just press on that impress them most...

By pressing on, it shows that (even in live theatre) you will do all you can to keep the show going. I kid you not, one time when I was doing Camelot, the musical director had a brain fart and didn't start the beginning of "I Loved You Once In Silence" during a performance, so I just started singing it...and then he quickly waved his hand and the orchesta came in...and I was on pitch! (Thank GOD!) But those are the kinds of things that make you stand out when you have a bad accompanist.

Seriously, I practice all my songs a capella a lot because I run into tons of bad accompanists...You take over...It's YOUR time. I've had them play it too fast or slow or even adding their own bizarre flourishes, but I will stay my course. I also make sure to set the tempo by singing a bit, so the casting team knows what tempo I originally gave as well...

It doesn't even phase me anymore...

And your songs aren't difficult at all...this person was just bad...

[vanillabean]

I had a terrible audition during Godspell.
I sang Turn Back O Man, and I offered my music, which was the same only cut for one voice, to the accompanist. She refused. I couldn't mark HER book up so I had to tell her where I was going within the piece. Wouldn't you know it she forgot and messed up. I sang the last half of the second verse acapella, and unfortunately her messing up threw me off.

I think that is why I didn't get into the show.
I guess the main thing is don't let it fluster you if they mess up.

[SuperKabob]