The Scoville Series: Part 1 Some thoughts on working with an accompanist

By Jon Scoville

Choreographing the teacher/accompanist minuet: An accompanist's primary role is to assist and support the teacher in making the class go. If there are good lines of communication, both verbal and visual, from each side, the working relationship will be positive.

• The accompanist is helped greatly by the following: The opportunity to see enough of the

  movement during the demonstration to make decisions about instrumentation and sound

  qualities. This seems obvious, but occasionally, the accompanist’s view will be blocked

  by students or the accompanist may be new in that particular class and will have had a

  chance to see a movement phrase with which the dancers are already familiar.

  
  

• A clear count-off: doesn’t have to be long - usually 7 & 8 will do. But make sure the

  subdivisions of the beat are in the count-off: Seven 2 3 Eight 2 3 is a vastly different feel

  from Seven - &– Eight - & –. Generally the feel (triplet or duplet) will be evident when the phrase is shown, but re-iteration in the count-of is always a good idea for both students and accompanist.

  
  

• Singing: Scat singing or other vocalizations give the students and accompanist a great

  deal of information about how to feel the flow and/or attack of the phrase. Many teachers

  have signature songs which they use when demonstrating the movement and this is very helpful to the accompanist.

  
  

• Counting out loud during the phrase: no need. In fact it can often be a distraction. One

  teacher, who shall remain nameless (because, typically, I can’t remember his name) used to count during the entire combination. And not only would he unconsciously alter the tempo, but he would occasionally intersperse crits to the dancers and then try to pick up the count again, usually far away from where the count actually was.

Counting can be helpful, however if the phrase is an odd meter (e.g: 5/4, 7/8, etc.) or a

mixed meter (e.g: two measures of 4/4 followed by a measure each of 3/4 , 9/4, and 2/4). I once worked with a teacher who used mixed meters in many phrases in every class. It became a counting marathon rather than an opportunity to dance. Under these

circumstances counting along can help the students find the down beat and will help an

accompanist who may not have had a lot of experience playing those time signatures.

Once the class and the accompanist all seem secure with the meters, the teacher can stop counting along and let the music support the dance.

• While this is a pedagogical issue, it does affect the accompanist’s attitude towards the

  class: There are teachers who will teach not only an entire class, but occasionally a whole semester working in one meter and often in one tempo. While we all have our personal movement preferences for triple or duple meters, a change of pace and feel will help expand the students’ understanding of the rich variety of qualitative choices at their disposal.

  
  

• On occasion a teacher will choose to let the groove of the movement take over and keep

  the class dancing continuously for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. While this can be great fun

  for all, it also can put heavy demands on the accompanist’s arms and hands and cause

  repetitive strain injuries. Be aware of this and take occasional short breaks for crits before counting off again.

Problems: The main sources of tension between teacher and accompanist often revolve

around the music not being appropriate to the movement. There may be genuine aesthetic

or interpretative differences or there may be inexperience on the part of the accompanist

(or the teacher) which makes it difficult for the musician to recognize what quality of

sound should go with particular types of movement.

With a seasoned accompanist, generally a word or two in a non-hostile manner will solve

stylistic problems: “A little more attack”. “More legato/lyrical, please”. “Could you give

it more syncopation or more emphasis on the down beat?” Equally helpful is a nod when

the accompanist does get it right. Then they know in the future what you are looking for

in a particular quality. 

But sometimes the accompanist doesn't get it and before or after class conversation is

warranted. Try to do it in a bridge-building manner. And recognize if you lack a music

vocabulary or the accompanist doesn’t comprehend dance terminology you may have to

resort to more poetic images to try to explain what you are asking for. “Try making it

more urban.” Or “like barbed violet smoke” (which I could translate as in a minor key

with soft attack and some dissonant extensions in the harmonic structure!) In the spirit of

maintaining a two-way street, when you have not worked with a particular accompanist

regularly, it helps to let them know when a class has gone well from a musical point of

view. It also helps to invite questions from the accompanist after class if there have been

any communication problems.

Expectations: You have a right to expect the musician to be on time, set up, and ready to

play. You also have the right to expect the musician not to play while you are

demonstrating (though I will occasionally turn the volume way down on the amplifier of

my Drumkat and try a short non-intrusive phrase to see if it works with what the teacher

is preparing). For the musician it is very helpful if at least some of the phrase is

demonstrated at the tempo at which it will be played so that they can plan accordingly.

Showing something in a slow tempo and then counting off much faster can be a recipe for

musical (and often dance) disaster.

Rapport: When you work with an experienced accompanist, often just a look in their

direction is sufficient for them to give the class a one-measure intro. And once a rapport

is established, the accompanist may be able to bail you out by remembering a tempo from

20 minutes earlier, or recognizing that you’ve counted off with a duple feel when you

demonstrated it in triplets. Remember, the accompanist is there to help. And anything

with chocolate in it makes an excellent bribe. 

[This is the first in a series of articles by Jon Scoville on working with musicians. Other

topics will include working with a composer, copyright / royalties, and music

recommendations.]

About Jon

Jon Scoville is a composer, author, and musician. An Associate Professor/Lecturer at the

University of Utah, Professor Scoville teaches music resources for dance, rhythmic analysis,

percussion accompaniment, aesthetics, and choreography. He has toured internationally as a co-artistic director of Tandy Beal & Company, and is the author of Sound Designs. Professor Scoville is a prolific composer for dance, including scores for the faculty as well as

choreographers Alwin Nikolais, Murray Louis, Laura Dean, and Sara Rudner, among

others. This series was first printed in the Utah Dance Educators Organizaton.