What I want to be when I grow up: Dance Class Accompanist

[pinkfloydcramer]

I've been curious about this gig for a minute or 2. A state U lists an opening, and also I have been talking a friend who is a pianist on the staff of a local college music dept. who has a couple years experience playing for dance classes. He says he only really started to get the hang of it towards the end of his stint. He has kindly loaned the book he used, a classical "greatest hits" fake book that enabled him to sight read the melody and improv the accompaniment (if he didn't already know the piece in it's entirety- unlike me he has an extensive repertoire).

 

This gig may be within my capabilities, with a fair amount of work to shore up my reading. And I already have decades of experience playing for dancers . Anyone here have any experience doing this?

[tfort]

Ethan Iverson has done it a bunch and I believe he still does. He writes about it on his blog, Do the Math.

[MAJUSCULE]

I accompanied for a semester or two of ballet classes. It was fun and super interesting, even if it didn't pay amazing, and I only did one of the two or three nights a week it was taught. I pretty much just improvised modern classical/new age/straight-eighths jazz kind of stuff, trying to pay attention to the kinds of moves they were working on and responding just like I would have with a band. They usually had either a pianist or a percussionist, though I think in a pinch other instruments sometimes subbed in. Couldn't do the spring/summer session and lost the gig. Oh well! If you have the chance to do it, I'd definitely recommend it. Crossing the boundaries of music into other art forms is so rewarding.

[Docbop]

Gigs like this can really be good for your playing and wallet. As you noted it will sharpen your reading, but open you up to lots of melodies and comping ideas. Plus your getting pay to do some technique practice. A lot of gigs people look at as boring can be really good learning opportunities. Rehearsal pianist for singer or singers again sharpens sight reading, really makes you good at transposing on the spot, and comping. If you really get into working with singers and learning their weaknesses and helping sneak in a note they have trouble hitting and other things you will find yourself working as much as you want. Those Sunday brunches my old guitar teacher did one of those for a nice hotel for a few years. He said easy money and as long as he not loud and music has a nice feel he can play just about any song he wants to work on. To him it was paid practice and he picked up private party gigs from it all the time more money. Even guys playing piano in department stores view it as paid practice, your wiggling your fingers in a musical way and learning all sorts of great melodies. Odd gigs can be great skill developing opportunities.

[pinkfloydcramer]

Thanks! Googling about it, some discussions of it seem to be more about repertoire while other discussions seem to focus on improv, cadences and such. My friend (a formidable jazz pianist) said that sometimes he just "made stuff up". I could ask him to expound more on that but he is just recently became a daddy so I'm trying to leave him alone.

 

Although he at times asks for suggestions on what to play at the pop solo piano gigs he is moonlighting on, to provide for his kid- he's gone to the Dark Side learning Queen songs and Elton etc. so has enough to deal with already, lol.

[MAJUSCULE]

Yeah, to be clear, I was almost always completely improvising, not playing tunes and soloing.

[pinkfloydcramer]

Gigs like this can really be good for your playing and wallet. As you noted it will sharpen your reading, but open you up to lots of melodies and comping ideas. Plus your getting pay to do some technique practice. A lot of gigs people look at as boring can be really good learning opportunities. Rehearsal pianist for singer or singers again sharpens sight reading, really makes you good at transposing on the spot, and comping. If you really get into working with singers and learning their weaknesses and helping sneak in a note they have trouble hitting and other things you will find yourself working as much as you want. Those Sunday brunches my old guitar teacher did one of those for a nice hotel for a few years. He said easy money and as long as he not loud and music has a nice feel he can play just about any song he wants to work on. To him it was paid practice and he picked up private party gigs from it all the time more money. Even guys playing piano in department stores view it as paid practice, your wiggling your fingers in a musical way and learning all sorts of great melodies. Odd gigs can be great skill developing opportunities.

 

I'm definitely into checking out "odd gigs"! And boring is fine, as long as it's a different kind of boring . I used to play for voice students back in my college days. Going to check into whether that's currently available- I wasn't very good back then but was still in demand. COVID eliminated my private club Sunday brunch gig of 10 years running.

 

Before the current unpleasantness I was keenly following the expansion of Von Maur dept. stores into the SE. Daytime work! BENEFITS! That would be worth the added responsibility of keeping the piano clean. And from what I understand, you get paid per arpeggio.

[danstein]

I used to have a couple of regular gigs accompanying modern dance classes. It was great improvisation practice for me! Basically, the teachers were most interested in rhythm, accents, and getting the right sort of energy for whatever they were teaching. As long as I could hit that stuff, I was free to do whatever I wanted harmonically and melodically. Once I got familiar with a particular teacher's style, I could pretty much make it as challenging for myself or as easy as I felt on a particular day. I can't recommend it highly enough for an improvising pianist! Now I wish I had made a practice of recording what I was doing on a regular basis.

 

For ballet classes, they are probably going to be more interested in proper classical repertoire - although if you have the skills to pull it off, go ahead and improvise some two-part inventions!

[David R]

I've done it a few times, it's more about the tempo and the rhythm (waltz vs. 6/8 jig vs. 4/4) than about a tune. The dance teacher would have some example repertoire and then I would bring other tunes or improvise in the styles she needed. I knew most of the other pianists in the rotation so we could compare notes.

 

Outside of dance classes, I've been working for ten years with a choreographer/professor. Playing for dancers â whether in a social dancing situation or a more improvisational contemporary situation â has deeply impacted how I play music.

[ElmerJFudd]

Nice gig. The classes at the moment should be fairly small if they are giving each other some space and I"m guessing indoors... mask required? Hopefully windows open or hvac set to turn over air between classes.

 

Yeah, I"d imagine keeping tempo is penultimate and getting some rep beforehand to cover the styles they are needing. I do this for school and community theater musicals - but there I have the book long in advance and know what #s have been called for the rehearsal. A bit different.

[pinkfloydcramer]

Great input from everybody, thanks! . But I just checked, and the opening has been scrubbed from the U's job listings (I became aware of it from the state job search site, still listed there.

 

My friend is in the loop at some closer-by private colleges, though. Last we talked he was unsure of what their dance depts. were doing during the pandemic, but was willing to check. So may still be an opportunity. He said it's an in-demand skill.

 

If anyone can post some examples of what they did while working that particular gig, that would be welcomed! Opportunity or no, I'm still curious. "Odd gigs" ought to be a recurring thread here, IMO.

[Mighty Motif Max]

The single biggest thing will be that you absolutely must have rock-solid timing. Take it from a former ballet dancer.

 

Repertoire will depend on the kind of dance you at working with. A ballet class will have different requirements than a modern dance or lyrical class will, for instance. From my years in ballet, it tends to be more about music that fits the given exercise than specific songs, until you get to performance pieces, of course, which are set in stone obviously.

[pinkfloydcramer]

The single biggest thing will be that you absolutely must have rock-solid timing.

 

No problem, I'll have that after I peruse the "How to Improve Tempo Stability" thread.

[KuruPrionz]

Just play Sweet Home Alabama. Somehow that bit of pointless drivel has filled the dance floor again and again.

If it just went away I would never miss it!!!!!

[PianoMan51]

Just play Sweet Home Alabama. Somehow that bit of pointless drivel has filled the dance floor again and again.

If it just went away I would never miss it!!!!!

Yes, but then we"d want to know which key it"s in.

[Mighty Motif Max]

The single biggest thing will be that you absolutely must have rock-solid timing.

 

No problem, I'll have that after I peruse the "How to Improve Tempo Stability" thread.

 

I mean not just general tempo stability within a longer piece of music, but every note in a measure. Things like accidentally rushing a quarter note or an eighth note can throw us (dancers) off, even if your measure-to-measure tempo is fine.

[pinkfloydcramer]

Awww now, the piano solo in SWA is kind of fun, lots of slipping and sliding. Although I struggled with the 6ths at the end for years before I found out Billy Powell cheated, used both hands to play them. I happen to not hate SWA like I hate Gimme 3 Steps and many others.

 

It used to be that to play at a fine dining restaurant you had to know a lot of jazz standards, handle requests for Andrew Lloyd Weber and Broadway, movie themes, even some classical. Now people at those places wear flip flops and ball caps and want the same old worn out bar band crap they hear everywhere else. End of rant.

 

Ballet dancers dancing to SWA, ha.. but for all I know they twerk in their tutus. Never hung out with ballet dancers.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Ballet dancers dancing to SWA, ha.. but for all I know they twerk in their tutus. Never hung out with ballet dancers.

 

There is just as much variance in musical tastes within the ballet world as anywhere else, believe me, but that's not something that's going to happen in class at least. I know ballet dancers who are metalheads and who are also some of the most talented ballerinas I have met. But the music for the classes is generally piano only and romantic-period stylistically, with some jazz thrown in. It will almost always have a steady rhythm to it as well. It doesn't have to be overly complicated. Very well-suited for a solo pianist in most cases. Classes are pretty formal in most cases, but some teachers are more casual. There is also such a thing as "modern ballet", where more contemporary music is sometimes used. Or ballet teachers might just want to have fun and throw in some '90s dance/house music for variety at one performance or something. It all depends on the specific teacher.

 

I am from the Russian side of ballet, but there is also the French form, the Italian form, Belgian, and a few other forms. That's one thing you will want to watch out for - each "school"/type of ballet will have a lot of the same words/names for things, but they will have different meanings. Different positions, rhythms, exercises, etc for the same name. Keep on top of that and know which version of ballet you are working with, and you'll be fine.

[KuruPrionz]

Awww now, the piano solo in SWA is kind of fun, lots of slipping and sliding. Although I struggled with the 6ths at the end for years before I found out Billy Powell cheated, used both hands to play them. I happen to not hate SWA like I hate Gimme 3 Steps and many others.

 

It used to be that to play at a fine dining restaurant you had to know a lot of jazz standards, handle requests for Andrew Lloyd Weber and Broadway, movie themes, even some classical. Now people at those places wear flip flops and ball caps and want the same old worn out bar band crap they hear everywhere else. End of rant.

 

Ballet dancers dancing to SWA, ha.. but for all I know they twerk in their tutus. Never hung out with ballet dancers.

 

Well, for one I have probably played SHA at least 2,000 times, it gets old after a while. I don't pay any attention to the guitar solo on the record, nobody cares. Just zip about in major pentatonic and play some stupid riffs over and over a few times and they are happy. I've done far less than my share of fine dining gigs but then I am from Fresno CA so you are more likely to play someplace where somebody got stabbed or shot.

 

I used to photograph dance, started with the community college dance troupe and the Fresno Ballet saw my byline on the posters and hunted me down. I shot 3 calendars, dress rehearsals and promotional pix for them.

Ballet dancers are mostly young ladies, I was always careful to be in the company of the Artistic Director or his wife so no false aspersions would be cast. Lowlife, hillbilly rock and roll ( the FUN stuff!!! ) was not allowed in those situations so I couldn't tell you much except I suspect they would have preferred Brittney Spears or Christina Aguilera, maybe Boyz 2 Men or something. I am sort of glad to remain ignorant.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Here are a few examples of the more classical-based ballet class music that might be used. Like I said, it doesn't have to be particularly complicated.

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

[pinkfloydcramer]

The single biggest thing will be that you absolutely must have rock-solid timing.

 

No problem, I'll have that after I peruse the "How to Improve Tempo Stability" thread.

 

I mean not just general tempo stability within a longer piece of music, but every note in a measure. Things like accidentally rushing a quarter note or an eighth note can throw us (dancers) off, even if your measure-to-measure tempo is fine.

 

Seriously, thanks for the input! Very cool to also BE a dancer..what better way to know exactly what dancers want from a musician! Remains to be seen whether or not my timing can cut the mustard, I thinks it's pretty decent for a run of the mill working musician but it's something I have to work at. Not a natural like some.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Ballet dancers are mostly young ladies, I was always careful to be in the company of the Artistic Director or his wife so no false aspersions would be cast.

 

This is important (emphasis mine).

 

I actually was offered the opportunity to do exactly what pinkfloydcramer was asking about at the beginning of the thread, accompany dancers on piano. I ended up moving before things were finalized unfortunately, so I didn't get to. But I wouldn't turn it down if given the opportunity again. Depending on the job, you might be playing 3-4 hours straight too for the intensive classes.

 

Just be respectful, clean, professional, have steady timing, and above all else, don't be a creep (see the above comment for one tip). Or you will be hunted down by some very well-built athletic men.

[pinkfloydcramer]

[video:youtube]

[El Lobo]

A long time ago, I had a woman neighbor who played piano bar at night and for dance class during the day. The thing is, she couldn't read music. If she knew the song, she could improvise a pretty good arrangement. I think this is what she did for dance class, including some classical pieces. I tried to show her how to play "Angel Eyes." I showed her chords, played the melody -- she couldn't play it because she didn't know the song. She had to hear the song, then she could play. She didn't know chords or anything about music theory or structure of what she was doing on the piano. She just played the music that she heard and she didn't know how she did it or what she was doing. She just played, like some kind of automatic machine. Apparently, they really liked her playing at dance class. She played what she knew and played it the same way every time. I was fascinated by her ability and her lack of knowledge about what she was doing and about music. She just played piano. I heard her a few times at the piano bar. The customers loved her. They would name a song and she would start playing a full arrangement -- arpeggios, runs, left hand bass line, chords and melody -- if she knew the song. If she didn't, she'd just say nicely "I'm sorry I don't know that one" and move on to something she did know. I'm still amazed, thinking about her. I've never known another player like that.

[Mighty Motif Max]

A long time ago, I had a woman neighbor who played piano bar at night and for dance class during the day. The thing is, she couldn't read music. If she knew the song, she could improvise a pretty good arrangement. I think this is what she did for dance class, including some classical pieces. I tried to show her how to play "Angel Eyes." I showed her chords, played the melody -- she couldn't play it because she didn't know the song. She had to hear the song, then she could play. She didn't know chords or anything about music theory or structure of what she was doing on the piano. She just played the music that she heard and she didn't know how she did it or what she was doing. She just played, like some kind of automatic machine. Apparently, they really liked her playing at dance class. She played what she knew and played it the same way every time. I was fascinated by her ability and her lack of knowledge about what she was doing and about music. She just played piano. I heard her a few times at the piano bar. The customers loved her. They would name a song and she would start playing a full arrangement -- arpeggios, runs, left hand bass line, chords and melody -- if she knew the song. If she didn't, she'd just say nicely "I'm sorry I don't know that one" and move on to something she did know. I'm still amazed, thinking about her. I've never known another player like that.

 

I grew up with something similar to that ability, actually. It's essentially a very, very strong ear that can be subconsciously translated onto keyboard instruments and other instruments. I however have taken plenty of lessons and things to add to that ability, which obviously helps greatly in areas that the above skill does not really cover, and has helped me understand a lot more of what I'm actually doing, and expanded on what I can do by a huge margin. But yeah, that's how I was when I started gigging as a kid. I didn't know chords - I had taken some basic lessons, but they did not help with chords at all. If I heard the song two or three times, I could play it (I still can). At the time it was not necessarily in the same key as the original, but I'm better at that now. Almost all of those songs have stayed with me too - I had a repertoire of over 200 songs I could play at a given second, with only 5-10 of them learned from music. Most I had never seen music or chords for, and I had just picked them up from recordings. I know all too well the feeling of not being able to explain the technical details of what I just played for someone.

 

Even to this day, often I can record myself playing something on the piano that kind of just flows out of me if I know the song/tune, but once I transcribe it out, it is significantly more difficult than I realized and it is above my music-reading comfort level. I'm working on that. It makes it real interesting when I want to transcribe an arrangement I have made up.

 

Long story short, it doesn't go away at all, but one can massively build upon it with technical training, and really should as it makes things much more useful. I still use it routinely - the majority of my gigs are request-based to this day, as I can just take requests, and if I don't know them, I simply do what that lady did..."I'm sorry, I don't know that one. Is there something else you would like me to play?".

[Mighty Motif Max]

To expand on what I was saying above (instead of constantly editing it lol), it's like thinking in musical notes. I never needed to memorize anything. Once the song was in my head from listening to it, I could play it, or some version of it instantly, at any given moment. Those songs have definitely stayed in my head, 12+ years later. I can still do it now, but I know more actual music theory and technical things. Even still, if I'm working on a difficult piece, it becomes 5x easier if I can listen to a recording of it. I'm trying to avoid doing that as I feel like it's cheating and it does not help me grow in my technical music-reading skill. It's one of the most difficult things to explain, as it is just like it's an intrinsic part of me, like someone else may speak a language without thinking.

 

If anyone actually has any questions about what and how this does/feels for a person, feel free to ask lol. I'm not sure I can entirely explain it all as it's been with me since I was 2 years old, but I can try for the curious.

[pinkfloydcramer]

@MightyMotifMax, thanks for the examples! Nicely played and written but not intimidating in their complexity, as you said. Minor quibble, the very 1st one lost the classical vibe a little, for me, with it's "Floydisms" (whole step hammer-ons)...an odd complaint coming from someone with my screen name, I know. I particularly liked the more uptempo, ragtime-y ones. My friend said that Scott Joplin pieces came in handy, that's good because I have played and memorized several.

 

No worries about my behavior as I am pretty good at not being a creep. In my younger days I might have had to fight the involuntary "swivel head" reflex, but now females less than 30 years old look like babies.

[pinkfloydcramer]

the majority of my gigs are request-based to this day, as I can just take requests, and if I don't know them, I simply do what that lady did..."I'm sorry, I don't know that one. Is there something else you would like me to play?".

 

I like to do the usual "could you hum a few bars?" And then see if I can reproduce what they hum or sing. Works better with one line at a time, of course.

 

I had a funny experience a few years ago- a man requested "That's All". So I kicked off the Phil Collins (Genesis?) song, the one with the bouncy Tony Banks organ part, and he stopped me. He wanted the Nat King Cole, Mel Torme lounge hit of the same name, instead.

[Mighty Motif Max]

the majority of my gigs are request-based to this day, as I can just take requests, and if I don't know them, I simply do what that lady did..."I'm sorry, I don't know that one. Is there something else you would like me to play?".

 

What I like to do, if I don't know the request, is to ask them to sing the beginning of it to jog my memory. Then I play back what they sing to me, as well as I can, and ask them to sing the next part and I play that back also. Repeat as necessary. People are impressed if you can nail it or even just get close.

 

The worst is when they stick a phone in my ear- I have a hearing disability and with my hearing aids the music on their phone usually sounds like static. So I have to take a break and listen on my own phone, using my assistive device.

 

Thanks for the tip. In my case, I play a lot of music from before the '60s at gigs, and some of the requests I've gotten are so obscure that Google can't even find them. For newer music, it all depends...I'm pretty much worthless for anything between 1955 and 1980, and for most of the 1990s/early 2000s. So I'm not sure how much it would jog my memory for some of the tunes.

 

Do you improvise chords then, or just play back the melody they sang?

 

The phone thing...ugh. It's bad enough without hearing aids - they'll usually turn it up to the max on a tinny phone speaker...ouch.

[Mighty Motif Max]

I had a funny experience a few years ago- a man requested "That's All". So I kicked off the Phil Collins (Genesis?) song, the one with the bouncy Tony Banks organ part, and he stopped me. He wanted the Nat King Cole, Mel Torme lounge hit of the same name, instead.

 

Ah, I didn't catch the edit. I've had that kind of experience too...it's kind of uncomfortable for a bit there lol! Particularly when I've never heard of the other song!