Stevens Point Area Music Teachers Association

• PROGRAM TOPIC:  Accompanying in 30 minutes:  How to Help Students with this Useful Skill (Art?) and how to introduce students to collaborative performance
• GUEST SPEAKER:  Joyce Grill, NCTM, Alfred Publishing Company

About the November speaker:  Joyce Grill is on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse teaching piano and accompanying. She accompanies area faculty recitals as well as recitals for touring professionals besides doing solo work. She is active as a clinician giving many clinics and workshops to piano teacher groups as well as high school and college students. She is active in MTNA and holds the Master Teacher Certificate. Publications include Accompanying Basics and Character Pieces, Preludes. She holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with advanced work at the School of Fine Arts, Fontainebleau, France.

Quote from Sheet Music Plus--"Joyce Grill knows whereof she speaks. She is a fine accompanist and consequently in great demand. In this little book she recounts some of her experiences on the bench. Its tone is light-hearted, but there are messages. She tells about playing one concert when the Middle C was missing from the piano. It wasn't a case of not working -- there was a hole where the key should have been! She also tells of rehearsing with a trombonist for his college jury during the break of his gig at a jazz club, the only time they could get together. "

Session preview: What is so appealing about sports? Why do our piano students eagerly forego piano practice or lessons or quit piano study because of soccer or baseball or some other sport? Young students like the idea of "team", of camaraderie. But except for the occasional duet, piano students practice alone and go to their lesson alone. The vocalist or the instrumentalist gets to sing in a choir or play in a band or orchestra, but the piano student goes on alone, never getting to know the joy of making music with others.

Many students do start accompanying in junior high school. Their teachers often complain that it detracts from solo work and so the pianists learn by trial and error, often quitting lessons so they can just accompany. Yet accompanying is the one lifelong skill that a pianist is most called upon to use. How many calls do pianists get to accompany a soloist, a church choir, a community chorus, a musical, or to play chamber music, or be the pianist in a jazz band versus "we need a piano soloist?"

Accompanying skills need to be taught from the beginning, after all, it is the same instrument, the same notes and rhythms, dynamics, phrasing, musicianship. It simply requires an additional thought process to provide another positive, meaningful musical experience. It doesn't diminish the quality or expectations of the level of learning achievement. Some students will become proficient more easily, but every student should be taught the skills.

All SPAMTA meetings are FREE and open to the public.  We hope you'll join us!