This post first had its home on my substack, At Home with Classical Piano, which is where I write regularly now. Come join me there, or subscribe to my newsletter to stay in the loop and get posts delivered straight to your inbox!

I fell into choral accompanying unexpectedly. I was in high school at the time, having taken private piano lessons for a number of years. I was a good sight reader and loved playing duets with my dad. There was a certain boy who sang in the top auditioned choir at my high school, and when he suggested that I come play for the group, I jumped at the chance.

Those first rehearsals were rough! I learned to “give pitches,” playing first the bass, then tenor, alto, and soprano starting notes; to read different lines at the same time; and to follow the conductor’s gestures. I ended up playing for all four choirs for the next four years, and then was hired “for real” when I graduated and I continued to play for concerts while pursuing my undergraduate degree in a neighboring city.

From there, I went on to major in Piano Performance and spent as much of my “free” time as I could accompanying choirs, opera and musical theater productions, and voice lessons and recitals. After I graduated, I played for an accomplished 100-voice church choir that sang at notable local concert venues as well as travelled.

I also did a ten-year stint in Musical Theater, not just as a pit musician, but as a Music Director, and I learned a lot about timing and balance between singers and instrument in my time there.

Once I married and had three children, life in the music lane slowed a bit, but I kept up my “chops” by practicing when I could, and though I let go of the church choir position when home life got too busy, I started to miss it. After a few years, I started to research local community choirs. I ended up going to a summer “sing” of masterworks where I introduced myself to the accompanist and offered to substitute if she ever had a need. That led to a number of jobs with different choirs, and I continue to sub and play for choirs today!

If you have ever wondered if you have what it takes to play for a choir, here are some things I’ve learned along the way that might encourage you in your pursuit of choral accompanying!

What are some of the musical skills needed to succeed as a choral accompanist?

A competent pianist, able to play hymns and some Bach Preludes and Fugues, maybe a Haydn or Mozart sonata

A good sense of rhythm

Ability to learn music quickly

A willingness to serve the music by following the director and doing whatever it takes to bring out the best in him/her and the choir

How should pianists prepare for a choral rehearsal?

The following tips come from my Timesavers for Choral Accompanists

Prep your score (put it in a binder, break the binding/cut it off and have it spiral bound),

Listen to a recording of the music with your music in hand

Know the choir entrances (mark your score)

Practice the accompaniment – have a basic idea and be able to “get through” from the first rehearsal, but then practice and polish on your own time throughout the season. You should be able to play from beginning to end without stopping, in support of the choir; and then your priority is listening to the voice parts and being able to play them in different combinations *especially entrances*; then, as the choir becomes more confident in their parts, your job is to enhance the score musically by paying attention to the conductor’s phrasing, tempo changes, and dynamics; lastly, your accompaniment is the “icing” on the cake – never the most important; it comes at the end, after the foundations are well established. (And if you are playing an orchestral reduction, not to perform at the piano at all, you will try to add color and “sound” as much like the orchestral instruments as you can.)

Take good notes in rehearsal – keep a pad of sticky notes next to your binder so you can jot down notes when the director is addressing the choir, and return to them later when you can practice on your own at home

Plan for page turns! Practice them just as you practice your notes and rhythms.

If you would like to see how I prep a score in real time, check out this post and video.

How to work successfully with a conductor:

Make it your goal to make the conductor look good.

Don’t draw attention to the conductor’s mistakes (dropped beats, defining an Italian word wrong, bringing the choir in a whole measure early/late)

Always follow the conductor!

Anticipate what the conductor is going to say and be ready (the choir missed an entrance, prepare to go back)

Be professional. Rehearsals are not the time nor place to air grievances about the director or about the members of the choir.

Address any concerns privately.

Ask, “Can you clarify when you want me to start? Will you give me a preparatory beat, or an entire measure, before you want me to come in?” “What tempo do you prefer here?”

If a collaboration during rehearsal isn’t working, assume it is a misunderstanding on your part. Try to clear it up by asking questions of the conductor.

It is normal to feel overlooked sometimes, or not acknowledged (although a good director will express gratitude for your work) – that is part of the job, and if you have done your job well the choir will know their parts and sing musically whether or not you end up performing with them in the concert; however, if there is a clear issue of disrespect, where the director is continually pointing out mistakes publicly or disparaging you, and you have tried addressing it in private to no avail, it may be time to cut ties and find another choir.

What are some tips for practicing open score?

First of all: If you just need more sightreading practice, make sure you’re reading music 1-2 levels below your playing ability. Read a lot of easy music to get used to scanning the music quickly and then keeping your eyes moving ahead as you play.

You want to get really good at moving your hands around the keyboard without having to look at them. In rehearsal, you will be looking up at the director from time to time, and keeping him in your peripheral vision all of the time. You need most of your vision to be on the music. That leaves little to no time for looking at your hands. I like to think that if I were blind, I could still play familiar pieces on the piano because my ears and hands would guide me. Get used to how chords and octaves feel in the hands, and even how things feel when you’re switching hand positions (I would say jumps, but really what your hands should do at the piano is shift horizontally - not jump.)

Practice basic 4-part open score reading using Bach Chorales. I have two resources available to pianists to help you develop this skill:

A Choral Accompanist’s Guide to Open Score Reading (free guide)

The Well-Tempered Chorale Player, a selection of 15 Bach chorales written in varying key signatures, including both major and minor keys

Additionally, I have an Open Score Summer Intensive coming up this June 18-20, 2026, where I will teach not only how to work through the Bach chorales, but also share tips and tricks for learning music quickly and prioritizing what is most important.

Join me LIVE for a three‑day online intensive offering practical, hands‑on analysis and guided open‑score practice for choral accompanists and directors, helping you confidently play everything from Bach chorales to fugues.

Learn more and register here.

Just get started!

The best practice is on-the-job! Find a choir. Start by offering to substitute for a local group.

Practice reading a lot of music – it doesn’t have to be choral music; work on reading straight through without stopping and without looking at your hands. Glance up from time to time as if you are looking for cues from a conductor.

Practice your open score reading using Bach Chorales. Take my summer intensive and get a toolbox of strategies that will serve you well in rehearsal. The intensive includes three great workbooks that will give you practice with a variety of real-life choral scores long after the course is over.

Check out more choral piano resources on my website! You’ll find lots of information about what the job looks like, how to tackle different scores, and how you can prepare to be successful as a choral accompanist.

The choir world is a unique one, in that it is made up of a wide variety of people. Of course, serious professional singers may be a part of a choir, but more often than not, choirs are made up of schoolteachers, psychologists, judges, lawyers, doctors, chefs, waitresses, actors, music teachers, firefighters, and every other profession that you can think of. The members may have minored in music, or they may just miss singing in their church choir. They may be proficient sight readers, or they may be fantastic aural learners who struggle to read music notation. Usually, every member can point to one significant musical memory from their childhood that got them “hooked.” And the best choir directors can take this conglomerate of people, musical abilities, and experiences, and weave their voices into a beautiful, unified tapestry of sound that touches the souls of those who listen.

If you are not yet part of a choir, I encourage you to look around and see what is available in your area! Check out a few concerts. Offer to substitute for the accompanist. Get involved in your local community and you will be rewarded with new friendships with people who love music as much as you do!

This post first had its home on my substack, At Home with Classical Piano, which is where I write regularly now. Come join me there, or subscribe to my newsletter to stay in the loop and get posts delivered straight to your inbox!

Whether you are a piano teacher looking for music for your students, or a pianist looking for something new to study or play for an upcoming performance, there are a growing number of resources for free music on the Internet. Generally, “free” music falls under the auspices of what is in the public domain - music that is out of copyright because it meets your country’s requirements for X years past the publication date. However, there are some generous folks who have made their arrangements for beginner-intermediate students available for free download. Below are some of my favorite resources:

Chrissy Ricker has a number of pre-reading and elementary arrangements, as well as a few intermediate selections on her Free Stuff page. You’ll also find quite a few teaching resources on the page as well! (And if you would like to support her work financially, check out her music on PopMusicPlus which has fabulous arrangements of popular songs at every level.)

Gilbert DeBenedetti generously offers his arrangements of classical music and folk tunes, as well as some original tunes, on his site, G major theory. Browse by level.

Making Music Fun is a wonderful place to find music history resources. Did you know you can also download their free sheet music arrangements? Browse by classical, patriotic, Christian, jazz, Christmas, celtic, or nursery rhyme categories, or find by level (1-5).

And, of course, everyone should know of the Petrucci Music Library, where you can find a huge assortment of classical music in the public domain. Search by composer, nationality, time period, or instrument difficulty (Piano levels are ordered by the RCM levelling system, which generally starts at year 2-3 of piano study. No pre-reading music here.).

Choral pianists and conductors in search of choral-only music can check out the Choral Wiki, where you can search by voice part. If you’re looking to strengthen your open score sightreading skills, this could be a great resource for you.

Recently, I took advantage of several of these websites as I am preparing summer music for my students. I always like to have something a little out of our “norm” for the summer to keep things fun!

What is your go-to resource for sheet music? Do you take advantage of any of these free resources, pay for a monthly subscription for access, or write your own? Let me know in the comments.

This post first had its home on my new substack, At Home with Classical Piano, which is where I write regularly now. Come join me there, or subscribe to my newsletter to stay in the loop and get posts delivered straight to your inbox!

I have slowly been making my way through Ravel’s Jeux d’eau. You may know the piece from the 2024 Olympics, when it was played in the opening ceremonies by pianist Alexandre Kantorow on a grand piano in pouring rain.

The picture makes me cringe – what an awful way to treat a beautiful instrument! However, the image of rain falling on the very instrument whose music simulates the movement of water is incredibly effective. My shock and awe at this sight drove me to explore the piece myself a few months later.

Let me start by saying that this is a difficult piece to learn! It is not straightforward like Mozart, where the notes fit neatly into their appointed beats and the melody is often clearly delineated in the right hand. Instead, Ravel seeks to create an impression of the different ways in which water moves.

In the Pacific Northwest, we are very familiar with water, specifically rain! Our rain comes in all shapes and sizes: fine mist that you barely see, steady unrelenting rain lasting weeks on end, quick torrential downpours, light pitter-patter drops that evolve into unexpected hailstorms. And then there are the rivers, lakes, ocean...and the waterfalls that barely drip with water in the summer’s heat but cascade violently during winter storms. Think of the millions of tiny water droplets that make up all these expressions of water and then imagine translating them into ink by giving a toddler a ballpoint pen with the instruction to “cover the paper with dots.” This is what the music looks like. How do you even make sense of it all?! My process with this, and all new pieces of music, tends to look like this:

1. Get an overview – listen with and without the score, muddle through a first reading

2. Analyze sections to identify patterns, work out chunks

3. Practice note by note, taking it apart hands separately, and write out the beats where necessary

Zoom in, zoom out and repeat. Even though I may start this process by going through steps one, two and three consecutively, I am constantly revisiting one or the other of the steps as I work towards mastery. I can never stay in one step exclusively or I hinder my own progress.

When presenting a new piece to a student for the first time, we make choices about how we will teach it: play it first for them; talk through it and analyze what is happening; or let them muddle through without any assistance. All three approaches accomplish different goals, and all three approaches are needed throughout the student’s time of study with us.

When we approach a new piece ourselves, we also make choices about how we will begin learning it. It is important to get an overview of it at some point (some may argue that this is an essential first step), perhaps by listening to a recording or muddling through a first reading. The latter is almost impossible to do in the Ravel, as parts are just not readable at first glance. Nonetheless, it is important to have an idea of how the piece is laid out and what Ravel is trying to communicate.

Analysis can get us a long way, as we study the piece first for an initial theme and begin noting sections that vary from, or repeat, the theme. We look for key changes, tempo changes, and register changes. We might even mark our music before we ever begin playing, identifying an ABA form or writing in names of notes or chords that are difficult to read (multiple ledger lines, for instance, or passages with double sharps!).

Practicing note by note, hands separately, slowly and methodically is also an important strategy, but it can be easy to “miss the forest for the trees.” In other words, we can get too focused in on the minutiae that we lose the whole arc of the piece if we stay in this mode too long.

Our practice must constantly be a process of zooming in and zooming out. Similarly, we need to teach our students to have a sense of the whole (This is usually not a problem, as students like to power through to the end, despite making numerous mistakes, or playing haltingly as they struggle to figure out notes in the midst of “getting through”) and to attend to small sections that need troubleshooting. This is why “play your piece three times a day” or “practice for 30 minutes a day” is not sufficient instruction. We need to spend time during the lesson demonstrating how to look at the big picture and identify sections (zooming out), and then in writing in fingering and practicing short bits in a focused and detailed manner (zooming in) so that our students learn effective ways to practice.

One fun way I like to “zoom out” when students are getting lost in practicing short bits is by taking them to the last four measures of a piece and teaching them the section. We then discuss working backwards as a practice strategy: now that they know the last four bars, they can learn the few bars before those and play to the end, feeling a sense of accomplishment!

If you play for a choir, you know that practicing choral music often demands a quick, efficient approach. This is where analysis is most beneficial to begin with, then muddling through the whole piece (identifying shortcuts), and working note by note only at crucial points. If you are interested in learning more about this approach, you can check out my Open Score reading workshop.

Practicing does not have to be a chore; it can be an enjoyable process of problem-solving and discovery when we learn to zoom in and zoom out, taking advantage of our time and energy by working hard on details in short, focused bursts, and then rewarding ourselves with the chance to play what we know and have already mastered – or listening to the music with our score and taking note of what another pianist does to make it musical.

Which of these three phases of music learning do you enjoy most? Do you tend to spend your time in [teaching or practicing] one phase more than the other two? I didn’t even speak to the topic of memorizing - is that a part of your learning process? Let me know in the comments!

This post was originally published on my Substack, where you can find my latest posts, Practice Sessions, and Mini Musikhaus recordings. To have content delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for my Newsletter.

From treble clef paperclips and music-themed ornaments to beautifully illustrated children’s books and resource books to use in your teaching, to a magnetic iPhone tripod and a Bluetooth pedal page turner that will make your life a little easier, you are sure to find something to love!

Check out my Substack for 15 of my favorite books, gadgets, and teaching tools for pianists - including gift ideas for piano students!

My formal training in piano stopped shortly after I completed my undergrad. I took a few graduate level courses at an international music school, but never ended up pursuing my master's degree. Yet, I have worked hard in the years since to maintain my skills and even to improve both technically and artistically. There were opportunities that presented themselves to me - like being offered the pianist position at my church and taking one-off lessons with a friend's teacher - and others that I intentionally pursued - like getting into the musical theater world and finding a community choir. But the thing that has grown me the most is something I never would have predicted: listening to myself play.

In 2018, my children were squarely in the grammar school phase and it occurred to me that I should try making a CD during the hours in which they were attending school. I'd recorded one before, with the help of friends who owned a small production studio, and we had recorded live tracks at a beautiful music center in the mountains. (Listen to that album here.) I'd also been a part of several live choral recording projects, so I was aware of the pressure to perform and the hyper-consciousness one enters when in such a situation. But I didn't want to record in a studio on someone else's instrument or even on a single day. My vision was to record on my own piano, in my own living room, over the course of weeks, taking a leisurely pace and listening to takes in between recording sessions.

Doesn't that sound fantastic? The reality was so much different (read more about that here). Between the piano developing weird clicks, airplanes roaring overhead, and the neighbors mowing their lawns, it was quite the experience! I learned a lot about self-recording and producing. But I learned a whole lot about myself as a pianist, too.

Listening to recordings of yourself is eye-opening and not for the faint of heart! The process of recording and my desire to share my music turned the heat up even more, and so for several months I scrutinized my playing ruthlessly. Everything was subjected to criticism, and I found myself asking, “What makes my playing different? What is my signature sound? How might I convey my personality and feelings about this music solely through sound? Who am I as an artist? What differentiates my sound from the thousands of existing recordings?”

The exercise was immensely stretching and so good for my playing. I became more concerned about accuracy, but also more intent on producing a beautiful tone. I wanted listeners to hear the shimmery top of my piano and feel like they were in my living room listening to one of my intimate house concerts.

In the end, the recording was far from perfect, and there are definitely things I would do differently a second time around. But it was mine. And I had emerged a better musician and pianist because of it. (Listen to the recording here.)

Why do I share all of this with you? Because too often we sit down and play the piano for the thrill of playing and we forget to listen to what we're producing. The physicality of playing is so absorbing that we forget to make music. Either we are facing technical challenges, or fingering difficulties, or odd leaps, or we're taking pride in how fast our fingers can fly and what kind of physical gymnastics we're capable of at the keyboard. It is so easy to forget about the sound. Even worse, when we are faced with a new piece of music, especially in a collaborative situation where we are playing for a choir, we get so hyper focused on playing the correct notes that we forget to breathe and sing the lines.

We have the incredible privilege of being musicians. Our goal is to make music. And the way we get there is to start listening.

In your playing this week, whether on your own or with a choir, I encourage you to listen intently to the sound you are making. Challenge yourself to be musical every time you sit down, even during a first reading. You will find that it makes the process so much more enjoyable, and your playing will be better because of it!

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"Tell me about what you just played. Did you include the dynamics?"

"I don't know."

Have you had a similar exchange in your studio? This is all too common with my students. They play for me; I make some comments, praising them for what they did well and addressing one or two things that need work; and then they try again. Then they look to me for my approval. 

But I don't want them to always look to me; I want them to notice if they have accomplished what they set out to do. I want them to listen.

My goal in piano teaching is to create independent learners. I want my students to play well technically and express themselves musically, but I also want them to eventually be able to learn music on their own. In order to do this, I will need to spend a number of years with them building up their technical, musical, and reading skills. I also need to teach them to listen.

How is this accomplished?

When students first come to us, their movements are often crude and unrefined, and they are so intent on pushing the keys that they forget to listen. But that doesn't mean they can't be taught! This is why we begin teaching them how to count, drawing their attention to when notes move higher or lower - aurally and visually and kinesthetically. It is why we teach dynamics and the difference between staccato and legato playing. As they grow, we talk about phrasing and making the music sound like a conversation, or a story. We introduce concepts like rubato.

We  need to teach students to pay attention to what they are doing at the piano.

One thing we can do to help our students begin listening to themselves is to have them play through a piece once, working out movements and fingerings, and then ask them to play it a second time with dynamics (or articulation, or whatever it is you want them to attend to). The physical won't always be isolated in practice, but it is often this way when we approach a new piece.

We can't toss out body mechanics. Students still need to move their fingers, control the force of their arm weight, and so on. And so much of their work in learning to play the piano is focused on controlling their movements. But as they work out technical difficulties, they ought also attend to the sound.

I remember learning in this fashion for many years - practicing to master playing the instrument with each new piece I was given - and then my teacher would start asking me to "add expression."

As pianists, our goal should always be to play musically. The movements our bodies make are just a means to an end. If we, or our students, can play all of the correct notes but lack any shaping of the phrase, articulation, dynamics, or rubato, what are we doing?

I like to tell my students that the piano is a musical instrument, not a computer! 

Pressing the right keys doesn't make music. Shaping the sound with the way we move, breathing between phrases, listening to how notes rise and fall, and making adjustments to the tempo and dynamics does!

Here are some things we can do to train our students to listen so that they can become musicians at the keyboard, not merely piano "players":

1. Demonstrate what we want them to do. Have the student sit in your "teacher chair" while you play. Talk about what you are doing. Then, have the student try to imitate your playing. Praise their efforts. Discuss how they can manipulate their movements to achieve a certain sound.

2. Record the student and play it back to them. Tell them what to listen for. When students are physically removed from making the sound, they can listen more intently.

3. Play recordings of other pianists, either audio or video, for your students and encourage them to listen for a specific thing each time.

As students mature and become more self-aware (and better listeners), they will develop the ability to play more musically. Their desire to make music will grow, and they will begin self-correcting their mistakes and adjusting their movements to create the kind of sound they want to hear. 

As you welcome students to lessons this week, consider how you can encourage them to be better listeners as they play!

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1. Duets are fun! As one of my young beginners said once, “It sounds better when we play together.” A duet can help the simplest beginning song sound like “real music,” and even our youngest students need to experience making beautiful music!  I love mixing things up once in awhile and starting a lesson by playing a duet with a student. 
2.  
3. Here are some reasons why playing duets with our students can be really beneficial:

• Duets are one way to teach steady beat. We can clap, count, march, and tap until we are blue in the face (and sometimes we do!), and still we have students who need more practice with this concept. Duets are one tool we can use to help keep the beat as our students play, and as we play together more often, the experience can help our students start to internalize a steady pulse.
• Duets strengthen the teacher-student bond. We all want to connect with our students, to form a relationship of trust and respect so that the teaching-learning exchange is profitable and enjoyable. When we sit beside our students and play duets, we create a shared experience where for a moment we are musicians together.
• Duets are a great way to practice sightreading. Some students will naturally read every piece of music they can get their hands on. Others need a little encouragement. Find pieces that are a level or two below the student’s playing level, and read them together as a duet at a moderate tempo. Help the student be successful by previewing the score together, discussing where there might be unexpected rhythms, leaps, or key changes. Then, set the tempo and play!

If you are using a method book series like Faber and Faber, Alfred, or Bastien, you will find teacher duets written in the lesson book for many of the student’s songs. These are great to play with beginners after the student has mastered playing their part.

For students who have been taking lessons for a few years, Margaret Goldston has some fun elementary level duets that are great for sightreading. Try “Duets for Bear Lovers,” “Duets for Cat Lovers,” or “Duets for Dog Lovers.” (I just learned that she also has three books of “Duets for Christmas Lovers!”) Goldston’s books feature primo and secondo parts of equal difficulty, and it can be fun to take turns playing each part with your students.

You might also try Helen Marlais’ “In Recital Series” of duet books published by Alfred Music. 

A fun book for intermediate and advanced students is The Rodgers and Hammerstein Piano Duet Book arranged by Walter Pels and David Carr Glover. (You may have to find this one as a used copy!) Depending on your student’s sightreading ability, you may prefer to assign pieces in this book for the student to study at home before playing together.

At the advanced level, students may enjoy Faure’s Dolly Suite, Dvorzak’s Slavic Dances, Compton’s C.S. (Chopsticks) Theme and Variations, or any of a number of wonderful pieces for four hands.

What are some of your favorite duets to play with students? Let me know in the comments!

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I was teaching out of one of the Faber Piano Adventure books the other day and came across “Whirling Leaves,” which I have taught many times before. Something about seeing it again reminded me of my first time trying to teach it to a student, and the ensuing struggles to master the rhythm. 

The piece is not that difficult: a left-hand accompaniment pattern that repeats, beginning by itself and then gradually bringing in a simple right-hand melody over the top. But inevitably kids get the counting wrong the first time they read it, and by doing so they establish a [bad] habit of playing the incorrect rhythm every single time. 

An experienced teacher knows this about this particular piece and will “frontload” the student with information to make the first reading a success: Play the piece for the student so he can learn how it is supposed to sound; count and clap the rhythm together; have the student write in the beats; practice playing just the left hand and counting aloud until the rhythm is mastered. But a beginning teacher does not always anticipate what challenges a particular curriculum/piece of music might present, especially to a student who lacks the background knowledge needed to be successful. Further, a beginning teacher often has limited strategies for addressing challenges as they come up.

Are you aware of the different stages of teaching we go through, the normal path of growth and development for a teacher? When I went through my teacher training to become a certified public-school teacher, I learned that there are three stages every new teacher goes through (whether new to the profession or new to a particular grade level or curriculum):

1. Teaching with a focus on me – How do I get through the day? What am I supposed to be doing? What are others thinking about me?
2. Teaching with a focus on the curriculum – What am I teaching? How can I adequately explain what needs to be taught?
3. Teaching with a focus on the child – What does the child need? Is my instruction reaching him? What does she understand, and where is she still struggling? How can I adapt to meet his learning needs?

Each stage can take a year or so to move through, through no fault of the teacher. It is just how things tend to work! 

Which of the above stages do you most identify with currently? 

If you’re at #1: Be encouraged, knowing that all of us start at this stage! Rather than feeling self-conscious about your teaching, be assured that you have something to offer. Be willing to learn from your mistakes. As you approach each lesson, review what the student already knows and build on that foundation. If things aren’t working, don’t be afraid to stay with a piece for a few weeks, or even to review old pieces to solidify concepts. Try different things. Reach out to a colleague if you’re not sure what to try. Know that as time goes on, you will refine your teaching and hone your skillset.

If you’re at #2: You’re starting to think more strategically about content. Lean into this time! Research best practices in teaching. Take a pedagogy class, listen to podcasts, follow a blogger. Choose a method and stick with it; learn its strengths and weaknesses and supplement where you need to. Although not strictly related to pedagogy, you might find some helpful resources in my article on Professional Development for Pianists.

If you are at #3: You’re comfortable with your teaching materials (method, anthologies, technique) and ready to really consider how to address specific needs of students. Be intentional about finding music that both highlights their strengths and challenges them to grow. At least once a year, reflect on where each student has been and where you would like them to go. Check in with parents to give and receive feedback on lessons and practice. Experiment with different ways of explaining the same concept. Join a good piano teacher group on Facebook and participate in the discussions, use the search function within the group to explore specific topics, and be open to learning new ways to teach effectively. Some well-moderated groups include Professional Piano Teachers, The Art of Piano Pedagogy, and Piano Teacher Central.

Wherever you are at in your teaching journey, I hope you are enjoying the process of discovery and growth – both in your students and in yourself! I don’t think any of us ever “arrive,” but we can definitely refine our skillset and become better communicators and educators if we are willing to commit to a lifetime of learning!

I am offering a mini-course this fall on When the Method Book is Not Enough, all about evaluating the curriculum you're using and how it fits your particular students' needs. We will discuss ways to supplement your current method books or transition out of them altogether. My goal is to give you a better understanding of what method books can and cannot accomplish as well as an assortment of tools and resources to curate the best books for motivating and engaging your students. If this topic interests you, click here!

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Working as a choral accompanist can be very rewarding. There is nothing like supporting a group of singers from behind the keyboard: helping them to learn their parts, encouraging their progress, and then enjoying the fruits of our labor as we accompany them in concert. Carrying out a director's vision, anticipating what he/she is going to do before he/she does it, and contributing to the overall excellence and beauty of the music can be incredibly fulfilling. However, there are times when we work with directors and our personalities don't mesh well, communication is difficult, or maybe we are the better musician. Rather than cut ties and run, it can be worthwhile to try and make things work, especially if we are invested in supporting the choir members. Here are some ideas for how to remain professional and keep the peace while working in a less-than-ideal situation:

Make it your goal to make the conductor look good.
o    Don’t draw attention to the conductor’s mistakes (dropped beats, defining an Italian word wrong, bringing the choir in a whole measure early/late)
o    Always follow the conductor!
o    Anticipate what the conductor is going to say and be ready (the choir missed an entrance, prepare to go back)
o    Be professional. Rehearsals are not the time nor place to air grievances about the director or about the members of the choir.

Address any concerns privately. 
o    Ask, “Can you clarify when you want me to start? Will you give me a preparatory beat, or an entire measure, before you want me to come in?” “What tempo do you prefer here?” 
o    If a collaboration during rehearsal isn’t working, assume it is a misunderstanding on your part. Try to clear it up by asking questions of the conductor.
o    It is normal to feel overlooked sometimes, or not acknowledged (although a good director will express gratitude for your work) – that is part of the job, and if you have done your job well the choir will know their parts and sing musically whether or not you end up performing with them in the concert and whether or not you are publicly acknowledged. However, if there is a clear issue of disrespect, where the director is continually pointing out mistakes publicly or disparaging you, and you have tried addressing it in private to no avail, it may be time to cut ties and find another choir.

Being a choral accompanist means contributing to the success of the choir, and this requires professionalism and respect in our interactions with directors. Even in less-than-ideal circumstances, our professionalism and artistry can make a lasting impact. By choosing grace over grievance and collaboration over conflict, we not only support the choir’s success but also have the opportunity to grow as musicians and colleagues.

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Commit to doing one thing better.

That's it: one thing! What is the one thing you want to have accomplished today at the piano?

We can easily over-complicate things as adults. We think we need to come up with a warm-up routine, or read through a whole piece from start to finish before we start practicing, or…[fill in the blank]. But often we just need to commit to doing one thing better.

I must admit: my summer was not filled with much practice time at all! Instead, I spent time with my three teenaged daughters, taught piano lessons, worked on some product development, and spent time evaluating and honing systems in my music studio. So when I returned to the piano last week, I had some decisions to make! What music do I want to study this season? What performance goal am I working towards? Which piece will I work on first?

I picked up some music that has been lying dormant for a few months and returned to it: Liszt's Jeux D'eau, Debussy's Sunken Cathedral, various Chopin pieces, a Bach suite, a new piece by Heino Kaski… And as I've been reading through, I've started noting what needs work! Some music needs harmonic analysis, others need slow work and decision-making about fingerings; another piece needs to be committed to memory because there are too many awkward jumps; still another piece needs technical work. 

I pulled out my practice journal again and wrote down what pieces I'm working on this year, and then made a short list of what I need to do next. I love doing this because it gives me a focus. The next time I return to the piano, I'll know exactly what to start on. Whether I have ten minutes or an hour, I will be able to grab a piece, start working, and accomplish something because I've made a note of what specifically needs work.

Whether you are working on music for your personal growth, a performance, or just to keep up with your students, try keeping track in a notebook or on a piece of paper what you accomplish each day and what you want to work on next. Be specific. Write in measure numbers. Tell yourself what needs work. Be your own teacher. 

Little gains add up to big wins. Do one thing better today!

For more thoughts on practicing, see:

Using a Practice Journal for More Effective Practicing

Always Be Prepared: Three Songs at the Ready

Practicing in Sections

Backwards Practice

How I Memorize a Piece of Music

How to Prepare for Accompanying an Instrumental Sonata (or Concerto) Quickly

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Are you ready for choir? My choir starts up next week after having taken 3 months off for the summer break, and I can't wait to see everyone and dive into some new music! As a choral accompanist, I don't need to worry about getting my voice back in shape, but I do need to get back to the piano in earnest and “warm up my chops” that have gotten a bit lazy over the summer!

Here are a few things I'm doing to get ready for choir:

1. Clean out my tote bag. I was given this amazing, sturdy burlap “Chopin” bag years ago, and I use it for toting music to all my collaborative piano gigs.

2. Clean out my black piano binder, add a mechanical pencil and post-it-notes.

3. Commit to sitting at the piano 10 minutes a day. Since I don't have choir music yet, my goal is simply to get some music back into my fingers, focus my attention on reading, and enjoy returning to practicing music that has been on my shelf for a little while: Ravel's Jeux d'eau, Debussy's Sunken Cathedral, a Bach suite (Bach is SO good for reading multiple voices and practicing efficient fingering)…

Once you receive your music for the new season, you might want to check out my free guide, Timesavers for Choral Accompanists. 

Also, commit to arriving a few minutes early to each rehearsal. It can be tempting to show up right on time, but by showing up 10 minutes early, you build in time for unexpected traffic, give yourself the opportunity to connect with a choir member or two before rehearsal, and maybe even get a chance to quickly scan any new music the director hands you. Plus, arriving early helps you establish yourself as a leader, providing an example for others to follow and contributing to the overall professionalism of the group.

As always, you can find more resources specifically designed for choral accompanists at CoriBelle.com/Choral-Piano. 

Looking for something more? Feel free to shoot me an email!

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Picture yourself sitting at the piano. You listen to the choir, play their parts as they sing, and follow the conductor. As you scan the score, you suddenly notice an upcoming tenor entrance that is sure to go awry. You make a quick decision to pull back on the other voice parts, leave out the soprano melody, and play the tenor entrance clearly and on time. The tenors nail the phrase, the conductor stops to address a diction issue with the choir, and you all return to the beginning to review the section again. This time, you play all parts equally and listen to see if the tenors can get their entrance without your help. They can. You sit back, proud of the tenors, and full of the satisfaction that comes from preventing a train wreck. You are the Invisible Conductor.

Has this happened to you? 

A good choral accompanist makes many decisions like this “behind the scenes,” many times without the conscious knowledge of the director or the choir. The accompanist is the “invisible” conductor, contributing to the success of the choir technically (playing the right notes), musically (playing with expression), and artistically (working in tandem with the director to accomplish his or her artistic vision for the music). The accompanist functions as a co-leader with the director in bringing out the full potential of a choir.

Why do I mention leadership in what is obviously a subordinate role? Because a good choral accompanist is a leader, leading the choir (and sometimes the director) by example. The accompanist is confident in her skillset, knowledgeable about how best to support choral singers, and willing to submit (to the director) or lead (in partnership with the director, or in the director’s absence) as the role requires.

The choral accompanist holds two main roles: that of rehearsal accompanist, which requires one to play all of the vocal parts during rehearsal as well as learn the accompaniment, and which may include leading vocal warm-ups, rehearsing singers in sectionals, and substituting for the conductor in his or her absence; and that of performance accompanist, often the sole musical support for the choir, but sometimes called upon to be part of a chamber ensemble, orchestra, or to provide accompaniment for guest soloists. The two roles vacillate between leadership and support, requiring the accompanist to lead and to follow as the situation requires.

At the time of this writing, I have been accompanying choirs for over 30 years. I began by playing for my high school choir and church youth worship team, and have played in multiple schools, churches, and community choirs. I have experienced good and bad directors, high praise and harsh criticism, being barely acknowledged and receiving flowers and honorariums. Though choral accompanying has never become a full-time gig for me (I am not aware of anyone for whom this is true), it has remained a steady part of my life and has stretched me personally and musically more than I could have imagined when I began at the age of 14. When you find the right fit in terms of ensemble and director, being a choral accompanist can be incredibly fulfilling – more than a paycheck, it can bring you like-minded community, networking opportunities, musical fulfillment and validation; and it can grow your skills in leadership, communication, and collaboration.

If you play for a choir, there is much you can do to sharpen your skills, grow as a musician, and work in tandem with the director to bring out the best in your choir. I have a growing library of resources designed specifically for choral accompanists including online workshops on how to read vocal parts in open score. You can take a look here.

And let me know if there is a specific question you have or resource you would like pertaining to your role as choral accompanist. I'd love to help!

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I am excited to announce a new online choral accompanying workshop: How to Read Open Score Canons and Fugues. 

This is a follow-up to my original “How to Read Open Score” workshop and will build on some of the same ideas (scanning a score, prioritizing which voice parts to play at what time). Note: There is no prerequisite to attend the first course in order to benefit from the second, especially if you are already comfortable reading Bach chorales in SATB.

When voices move in canon or fugue, they “take the road less traveled” and break out on their own independent paths, wreaking havoc for the choral accompanist. But there is no need to panic! It is possible to make sense of the divergent vocal lines and maintain a solid presence at the piano while giving support to the singers. 

Join me for an on-demand online workshop and we will discuss practical strategies you can use to tackle canons and fugues in open score with confidence. All attendees receive a student workbook with exercises to work through during the class as well as extra music to work on after class to extend your learning. In addition, you will receive an invitation to a new choral accompanist community online where you can ask further questions and receive support for your work.

I hope to see you there!

Click here to join the workshop!

The role of choral accompanist has a direct impact on the success of a choir. With a great director, a choir can accomplish much; with a great director + a great accompanist, the sky is the limit! Without a great director, the accompanist can still be a powerful catalyst for growth, covering over “a multitude of sins” and gently filling in gaps to bring forth beautiful music. Conversely, if an accompanist lacks skills and/or professionalism, it will affect the tenor (pardon the pun) and musicality of the group. 

If you currently serve a choir as their accompanist, your work at the piano in rehearsal is as important to a choir's success as the foundation of your house is to the home in which you live! 

Here are a few thoughts on what you can do to enhance the focus, accuracy, musicality, and overall professionalism of your choir:

Qualities of a Great Choral Accompanist

1. A great choral accompanist is proficient at the piano. Playing well technically and having a good understanding of music theory and form will enable you to learn music quickly.
2. A great choral accompanist anticipates what the director is going to do next. A “good” accompanist “follows” the director; a “great” accompanist is so focused on what the conductor is doing that he or she can anticipate things like: what problem spot the director will go back to rehearse the choir at, where in the music the director wants more rubato or expression, and when more support of the vocal lines is needed. 
3. A great choral accompanist isn't easily offended, but recognizes the need of all musicians (including him/herself) for continued growth and problem-solving.
4. A great choral accompanist is efficient in home practice time. When given a stack of music at the beginning of a season, prioritizing what needs work first is essential. (For help with this, check out my free resource, Timesavers for Choral Accompanists, below!)
5. A great choral accompanist is receptive to the needs of the choir. You are the director's second pair of ears and can often hear things that the director misses. Take the initiative to bring out certain vocal lines that choir members need help with when learning parts, and be available to choir members who might want a little help during the break.
6. A great choral accompanist is always professional. Your role is more akin to that of the director than the choir members. As a leader in the group, your attitude toward the director, the music, and the choir members will affect others. Set an example by not engaging in gossip, working to build up rather than tear down, being prompt to rehearsal (early is better!), and being focused during practice.

If you are currently serving a choir, consider it a great privilege to be the “unseen conductor.” The choir relies on you for its support. Continue to hone your skills, striving always to be better than you were the week before, and let it bring you great satisfaction that you are contributing to the success of your choir!

Resources for Choral Accompanists

For more support and encouragement in your role as choral accompanist, check out these resources:

Choral Accompanists Facebook Group (click the image)

Timesavers for Choral Accompanists (click the image)

How To Read Open Score: On-Demand Workshop for Choral Accompanists (click the image)

Find more resources in my growing library for choral accompanists at coribelle.com/choral-piano

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Working as a freelance accompanist and independent contractor often means looking for work. While we would all like to receive the word of mouth gigs that show up because people know us and like what we do, the fact remains that there are times when we need to market ourselves and find our own work. Here are four ideas of where to find accompanying gigs, and what you need to do in order to land them!

1. Narrow down exactly what you want to do! 

There are so many options available to collaborative pianists:

• Vocal accompanying
• Instrumental accompanying
• Playing for church services
• Weddings
• Working in musical theater in the pit band, as a rehearsal accompanist, or as a musical director
• Playing for school choirs
• Playing for a ballet company
• Play on a cruise ship
• Play for local student festivals like solo and ensemble
• Record accompaniment tracks or play for auditions
• Play for your local opera company

2. Let people know you’re looking for work.

Start with friends and family – let them know you are available to play for [fill in the blank]. Go to the places and individuals you’d like to play for and let them know you’re in town and available for hire. If you can, get in front of people and play for them. Offering your services as a sub can get your foot in the door and serve as a sort of on-the-job interview!

Connect with local musicians. Start with a local Facebook group and look for musicians’ meet-ups. Or ask someone to coffee. Get to know who works in the area and ask them to help spread the word that you’re looking for work.

Email choir teachers at local schools. Find out if they need an accompanist for choirs, musicals, or their annual solo and ensemble festival.

3. Look online

Join your local Facebook groups. In the last several years, many local musicians groups have showed up online. Start looking for location-specific groups of piano teachers, accompanists, pianists, and musicians. Some cities even have groups that function as job boards, where you can find gigs. Introduce yourself to the group, check in often, and take advantage of opportunities to get in front of people and play.

4. Advertise online

Pianoaccompanists.com offers a free listing of your contact info and can be a good first online presence for jobs. You can also set up a simple webpage with your name, a short bio, and contact information. When people reach out to you, be quick to respond (within 24 hours) and clear about whether you are or are not interested/available for the gig. Think of every contact as a networking opportunity and make a good first impression. Even if you aren’t available or don’t end up getting a gig, people will remember how you treated them and if you were prompt and polite with your communication. Maybe you’ll get a future call back!

The jobs are out there, and once you make a few connections, things seem to start happening. It will take time to get “known,” but once you have a solid regular gig, whether with a school, church, music studio, or community organization, more work will come your way!

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This summer I ran two piano camps for my students and any interested friends/siblings/potential students. One was Joy Morin's “So You Want to be a Composer?” and the other was her “Music of the World” camp. Both curriculums are fantastic and served my two groups of students well.

I've written about the composer camp elsewhere, but in brief, I ran this camp with six 6-12 year-olds: two current piano students of mine, two students who take Suzuki violin lessons, and two former campers with some beginning knowledge of music and the piano. Since it was a smaller group, I was able to give individualized attention to students as they worked on their own compositions. The curriculum definitely requires kids to have the ability to listen and discuss music in a focused manner, although it has plenty of variety to keep everyone engaged and having fun!

The second camp I ran was Joy's “Music of the World,” and this was with an entirely different group of students! I hosted 11 kids for this one, more on the younger side (several 6-year-olds) and in their beginning years of piano. This was a very craft-heavy camp, as each day we cut and pasted facts and illustrations related to each country into a “lapbook” that the students could take home. Kids also had the opportunity to make an instrument each day.

Because I knew I had a younger group (and a lot of siblings!), I researched some outdoor games to supplement with. We ended up playing an egg-and-spoon game for our visit to Australia, throwing pennies into a frog's mouth during our time in Peru, kicking hacky sacks on the day we visited China, and playing mancala (with egg cartons and beans!) when we went to Ghana.

Many of the campers from both weeks had attended my Piano Camps for beginners last year, and they were thrilled to be back for more.

If you're looking for a ready-made camp curriculum for your students, check out these camps by Joy:

So You Want to Be a Composer?

Music of the World

And my camps designed for beginner students with 0-2 years of piano:

The Great Music Race

Musical Secret Agent

What other camps have you hosted in the past? If you have a curriculum to recommend, leave a link in the comments!

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America! America! God shed His grace on thee!

Image by Nikki from Pixabay

When the world shut down in 2020, I asked a friend of mine, Seiko Werts, to help me put together a virtual concert. I wanted to do something in the style of our Indie Musikhaus house concerts, where we provided music from a mix of genres that was connected by a meaningful theme. We filmed our parts separately in our homes and Seiko beautifully melded them together into one of my most favorite concerts.

As you celebrate this Independence Day, I hope you enjoy the music we prepared in honor of our country, the many people who call it home, and the God who allowed our forefathers to dream up the “American experiment” and establish such a wonderful place to live.

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If you play for a choir, chances are you have been asked to play “open score” in rehearsal. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “open score” refers to the way the music is laid out for a choir: each voice part (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) has its own line of music written on the treble or bass staff.

Why is Reading SATB Open Score So Difficult?

Pianists struggle with reading open score because they are used to reading only two clefs - treble and bass – joined together. In general, the right hand plays the treble clef notes and the left hand plays the bass clef notes. However, when faced with four lines on different staves, the pianist is forced to make choices about which hand plays what.

Additionally, the choral pianist must quickly scan the separate voice parts and decide immediately how to cluster notes together, so that he or she can play as many of each voice parts' notes as possible. Often, it is physically impossible to take all of the notes from all of the voice parts and play them all at the same time.

How Can I Make Sense of Reading SATB Open Score Vocal Parts?

Prioritizing what to play and what to leave out is an essential skill for a choral accompanist, one which is often learned during rehearsal in front of 20-100 people. Talk about a high-stress situation! Usually, the pianist’s response is to go home and try to practice all four parts at the piano, away from prying eyes, and hope for better results next time. However, this really isn’t the best use of time. It would be better for the choral pianist to learn how to prioritize what the choir needs most, mark the score accordingly, and practice that. After all, the voice parts are often only 50% of what the accompanist needs to practice; if there is a piano accompaniment, this also needs to be learned and polished!

What Tools Can Help Me Learn How to Read SATB Open Score?

There are very few resources available online, at least at this writing, for the choral accompanist to learn the skill of open score reading. This is why I have put together a growing collection of tools, a few of which are mentioned below:

A CHORAL ACCOMPANIST'S GUIDE TO OPEN SCORE READING

This free guide will take you step-by-step through identifying harmonies and practicing the different voice parts in a chorale from Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. 

THE WELL-TEMPERED CHORALE PLAYER

This guide takes you a step further with practice in all the major and minor keys in which Bach wrote his chorales. 

HOW TO READ OPEN SCORE WORKSHOP

This 40-minute workshop is available on-demand and is accompanied by a 37-page workbook with practical guides and charts to help equip the choral accompanist with the strategies needed to successfully navigate choral music in open score. 

During the workshop, I discuss a progression of strategies that you can try to help you quickly scan a score, decide what is important to prioritize, and mark your score to assist your playing. We work with several choral scores in real time so that you know exactly how to mark your score. The workbook includes an appendix with additional music that you can practice after the class. 

JOIN THE CHORAL ACCOMPANISTS GROUP

There is a new community of choral accompanists forming online where you can find support and encouragement, share your progress, and celebrate your success! Come on over, introduce yourself, and share your stories and questions!

I have plans to expand the resources available to choral accompanists, so keep checking back in! There are several ways to keep in touch: sign up for my monthly newsletter, subscribe to my blog, and bookmark the webpage coribelle.com/choral-piano.

I hope this encourages you in your choral accompanying journey and provides you with some resources to further your skillset and help you bring out the best in your choir.

Happy music-making!

P.S. Do you know an accompanist who would benefit from these resources? Please share this post with them!

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Want to feel more confident reading open score this fall?

If you took my How to Read Open Score workshop, you learned practical strategies to simplify the process. But if your workbook’s been gathering dust—you're not alone!

This July, I’m hosting a 4-Day Open Score Challenge just for choral accompanists.

We’ll spend 15–20 minutes a day working through the appendix exercises from the workshop workbook. You'll get:

• Daily accountability and guided practice
• Space for Q&A and community sharing
• Encouragement to help you follow through

By the end, you’ll know how to make smart, musical choices at the keyboard—and feel great doing it.

Whether you're picking up where you left off or starting fresh, this is your summer confidence boost.

🎼 For Workshop Alumni

Already joined the workshop? Pick up where you left off and bring your workbook to life—join the Challenge for just $9!

🎶 For Newcomers

New to Open Score reading? Grab the Workshop + Challenge Bundle for just $35 and get everything you need to read with confidence this fall!

Learn more and sign up HERE!

Open score reading is one of the hardest skills to master as a choral accompanist. The average pianist is pretty adept at reading music as traditionally laid out: treble clef and bass clef; however, with open score, the music is spread out and difficult to take in all at once. Typically, we see choir music scored either with soprano and alto joined in the treble clef and tenor and bass in the bass clef, or with each vocal part on a separate line as follows: sopranos, altos, and tenors on their own lines written in treble clef, and the basses notated on the sole bass clef staff. Of course, there are exceptions that go beyond “simple” SATB reading, but this is where the majority of choral music lies. So, what is the choral accompanist to do?

Just as pianists have to grow in their sightreading abilities with a traditional score, choral pianists have to grow in their sightreading abilities with open score. The best way to develop fluency in either case is to read a lot of music at a lower level. 

Think about a child who is learning to read. A child begins by recognizing letters as representing sound, then strings the letters/sounds into a word. A first reading experience might look like reading a single word on a page accompanied by a picture: c-a-t. As the child progresses, he or she will start encountering some of the same letter combinations (words) over and over, developing a vocabulary of words he or she can read “at sight.” 

The same thing happens with a pianist. We begin with recognizing step (seconds) and skip (thirds) intervals, moving up or down or staying the same, and then we add to that vocabulary with bigger intervals, chords, and longer strings of “words” in the form of scales and arpeggios. But if we move too quickly into harder-to-decipher patterns, our fluency lags behind. We end up with a disconnect between our playing ability (higher) and our reading ability (lower). To fix this, we must read a lot of music at a level lower than our playing ability in order  to build up our ability to recognize patterns quickly.

For the choral accompanist interested in improving their skill in open score reading, I have put together several resources. One is the online workshop for How to Read Open Score. This gives a step-by-step overview of different scenarios one will face in choral accompanying, along with practical exercises for becoming more aware of what is happening on the page, how the voices are moving, and what is most important to play at any given time. 

Another resource I have put together is The Well-Tempered Chorale Player. This is a collection of Bach chorales notated in open score for the purpose of developing the skill of reading SATB vocal parts that mostly move together (homophonically).

I have found that most collections of Bach chorales available today tend to either be choral parts written on two staves, or simply a keyboard reduction or realization of the parts. While both are helpful in giving the pianist an overview of the melodic and harmonic structure, neither are very helpful for practicing open score reading. The solution is found within each choral score of the Bach cantatas themselves, which offer both the voice parts on separate staves and a piano reduction suitable for accompaniment. I have selected 15 chorales from these works for you so that you do not need to search through each full cantata in order to find what you are looking for!

The chorales in The Well-Tempered Chorale Player are ordered loosely in the circle of fifths, so that you progress from reading in C major to the flat and sharp keys. Major and minor keys are both represented, and you will notice that all of the keys in which Bach wrote the chorales are represented in this collection.

Lastly, I host a Community of Choral Pianists on Facebook where like-minded choral accompanists can exchange ideas, ask questions, and get support for their work. 

I hope you take advantage of one or more of these resources as you seek to build up your skills in reading open score for the benefit of your choir!

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Do you have a good system for billing, either for collaborative work or piano teaching, or both?

For the past two years I have used the free version of an online software called Wave for invoicing and all of my accounting. I have found it to be a great way of keeping track of my business finances.

Currently, my business activity consists of accompanying a weekly community choir, teaching a private piano studio of 11 students, selling digital products online, and collaborative freelance gigs. By using Wave for all of these activities, I am able to:

• Use a customizable invoice template with my logo and business information
• Save customer contact information
• Keep track of paid and unpaid invoices
• Record sales
• Record expenses
• View and print reports for accounting and tax purposes
• Duplicate past invoices for recurring charges
• Create categories and descriptions of recurring billable activities that Wave displays in a drop-down menu (45-minute piano lesson, 30-minute piano lesson, 30-minute rehearsal and Solo and Ensemble performance, 2.5 hour choir rehearsal, etc.)

There is some legwork on my end to get invoices to my clients. The free version of Wave only offers a link or downloadable PDF of invoices, so I have to email each customer when I am ready to bill. For now, I am willing to invest that bit of time in exchange for getting to use a free tool. Wave does have automations available for paid subscribers, so that is an option for those who want that feature. At any given time, I am able to view a report of income and expenses broken down by categories I have assigned. There are many reports available at the click of a button!

Wave is a great tool for collaborative pianists (or “accompanists” if you prefer the old school title!) and piano teachers to keep track of billing and payments in a professional, organized fashion. I encourage you to give it a try!

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Image credit: David Yonatan González from Pixabay

After attending my How to Read Open Score workshop (still available!) and practicing the exercises in the accompanying Student Workbook, you might want more exercises in SATB open score reading. Here are some that I recommend:

Brahms Liebeslieder - These are wonderful dances. I have them scored for SATB and piano duet accompaniment! Some go quite fast, but you don't have to practice them fast. Often you just have two voices moving at a time. When SATB all sing, it's usually homophonic, forming chords. It would be a good next step after my workshop for continuing your practice with some of the things we talked about. 

Schubert Magnificat - This is also quite accessible. It is a 3-movement work. A good one for marking unisons and making choices as to which 2-3 voices to prioritize out of the 4 on a first reading. There is a little bit of practice here for prioritizing vocal entrances as well. 

Haydn Creation - We worked from "Awake the Harp" in our workshop. There are a number of solo movements in this piece. I would suggest looking at #13 "The heavens are telling the glory of God" and #26 and #28 which are two settings of "Achieved is the glorious work." All three of these movements are for chorus only, set in SATB, and which will require you to make decisions about what you want to play. 

Haydn Nelson Mass - This is a multi-movement work for soloists and chorus that combines all the elements from above - marking unisons and parts, homophonic movement, deciding which 2-3 parts to prioritize, some individual vocal entrances but not too crazy. 

These are all good starting places, if you're not quite ready to dive into more complex work like the Bach fugues! 

Want more resources? Check the Choral Piano page or join our new Choral Accompanists facebook group! 

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Last Friday I had the privilege of hosting an online workshop on How to Read Open Score for choral accompanists. In addition to the 40-minute workshop, each participant received a 37-page student workbook which contained practical exercises for use during the class, as well as several charts to guide one's initial assessment of a score (Secrets to Open Score Reading, A Snapshot for Open Score, and Triage for Open Score), and several appendices of musical selections to work on after completion of the class. I am happy to report that the majority of those attending found the class to be “extremely valuable” and “extremely relevant” to their role as choral accompanists.

What fun it was to share strategies that I use at the piano to assist singers in learning their parts! Open Score reading does not have to be scary. My goal with the workshop was to show pianists how to look at a score, mark it, and prioritize what is most important to play. 

It is a common misconception that being good at Open Score reading means one must play all the notes. This is simply not true. Singers need a solid rhythmic and harmonic foundation, and they need to be able to hear their parts voiced at different times in the music. A pianist needs to know what to prioritize so that he or she can lead the singers to hear what they need to hear in order to learn their parts well.

I hope that you, too, will find this to be extremely valuable in your pursuit to become more excellent at Open Score reading and supporting your choir in the best way possible!

Click here to go to the workshop.

Why do we perform? Why go through long weeks (months, years) of preparation, wrestling with technical and musical challenges, fixing mistakes, "practicing for performance," only to subject ourselves to public scrutiny and our own self-criticism and nerves?

After all, our audiences could just turn on a CD, log in to YouTube, ask Alexa to play something, and we could save ourselves the trouble!

But the communal experience of enjoying live music cannot happen digitally!

I used to play for musical theater, and because it was a small regional organization with a tight budget, I was often in the pit band. And I remember the nights when the audience was flat, seemingly afraid to make a noise or laugh at jokes. Those performances always required extra effort from the actors, but it felt like playing to a black hole. 

On the other hand, on nights when the audience clapped the moment the lights went down and laughed at the first stage antic, the energy was electric. The actors felt it, the band felt it, and the night became a continuous give-and-take.

Live performance is this wonderful conversation between artist and audience, a sharing of lives, an expression of our shared humanity. And when the audience is engaged and "gets it," it is incredibly fulfilling for all those present, something AI will never be able to duplicate.

If you find yourself talking yourself out of performing because of your own doubts or nervousness, try thinking about what the music means to you, and then consider that it might have a similar effect on someone else. Maybe someone is just waiting to hear the thing that only you can say through music. Of course, they could just put on a CD, but then it wouldn't be your living, breathing "voice" they're hearing. Don't be afraid to share your life through the awesome gift of music!

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Last week I put on a concert for the seniors’ group at my church. I called it “Joy Comes in the Morning.” I put together some of my favorite pieces by Bach, Liszt, and Margaret Bonds, along with a selection of hymn arrangements to show how music expresses the human experiences of joy, sorrow, and worship. The program began and ended with Bach. I’m happy to share with you some of the pieces I played at the concert.

Bach's is some of the most difficult music to play in the piano repertoire, both technically and expressively. He was a master artist, producing over 1,000 compositions during his lifetime. He was also a church musician, writing cantatas for the choir to sing each week, training up the boys’ choir, and serving as organist.

Franz Liszt also wrote some incredibly challenging music; however, for this concert I chose some of his Consolations, which are among his easier works. From pianist and composer Margaret Bonds, I played "Troubled Water" from her Spiritual Suite.

The hymns provided the text for meditation. 

"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." - J.S. Bach

I deliberately chose a mix of old and new music, classical and sacred* to show a continuum in time. If you are a Christian, you know that our faith has roots in the Jewish fathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but that it also appears in the lives of so many others in history. Johann Sebastian Bach is included in this line of believers. His creativity, work ethic, and excellence in all that he did, should inspire us today to dedicated and deep work, and his devotion to God should give us pause as we also strive to do everything to the glory of God.

I don’t know if Franz Liszt was a believer, but I do know that after being a showman celebrity at the piano, he withdrew in the latter part of his life and became quite meditative, composing pieces such as his Consolations. My thought here is that as we are comforted in our trials, God brings us to a point of submission to His authority and His will…and it is there that we find peace, which causes us to worship Him as He intended from the beginning. 

Once again, we return to Bach. This last piece is a bit of a marathon. It begins with an exposition of a theme, a dramatic introduction with repeating motives and fast running notes, then it steps back for a page into a meditative Adagio, stretching out long melodic lines that build and release. Finally, we come to the multi-page fugue in which the fugue subject appears 17 times! I have been thinking lately, as I practice the fugue, that it is like the sky that is new every morning – the clouds continually take a different shape; the sunrise appears in widely varying colors. Bach uses the same subject over and over, but in fascinatingly different ways, and as the piece goes on it becomes more complex and riskier and terribly exciting to play!

The way of an artist is mysterious and compelling; it draws us into another realm, causing us to stop and think, to meditate on beauty and soak in it. It can also induce in us an attitude or posture of worship. I think this is intentional. The God who created the world and made the breathtakingly beautiful sunrises is the same God who created Bach and gave him the inspiration for his wonderfully full and complex musical output, and He is the same God who made us to play and sing and create as He so wonderfully does over and over every morning.

The creation and the re-creation is an act of worship.

*Unfortunately, the hymn arrangements are still under copyright, and as such I am not able to share them here.

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