Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Ask the Readers: How to Divide a Staff Accompanist Position Between Vocal and Instrumental Duties?

piano by antony griffiths on Flickr
A reader recently sent in a question for the readership of the blog, which is copied below with identity and location redacted:
Hi there! I am wondering if there is a way to ask a question to you and the collaborative piano community (as it relates to this blog) as a whole. I am a full time "staff accompanist" at a University in ___________, and lately have come under a bit of fire because some of my colleagues have questions about the fact that the vocal students in my department seem to get so much more of my time than the instrumental students. I'm basically trying to gather information from other pianists that do what I do - and see if they do, in fact, give the lion's share of their time to vocalists. Of course, when I worked as a freelancer, this was the way my clients preferred it, but I'm having trouble convincing my instrumental faculty colleagues of the vocal students inherent need for more time with their pianists in their regular weekly preparation for their lessons etc. So to propose a clear question for the blog, how do other university staff pianists divide up their time between vocal and instrumentalists and how is that time coordinated: by the pianists themselves, by the students, or by the students' teachers. 
I hope this wasn't too convoluted! I do look forward to hearing from you and any help you, or any one from the site, could offer would be so appreciated. I have reached out to a few colleagues of mine who do the same type of work at other universities, but a wider pool of opinions is always better.

Clearly this pianist should not have to come under fire personally for a lack of foresight by a music department. How should this person address the situation? Should they take charge and negotiate a clearer division of hours between departments? Or should they ask the department for the leadership they should have provided in the first place and clearly assign the allotment/division of hours for their staff accompanist position?

Your comments are welcome, as always. You're welcome to comment anonymously on the blog if you would rather not divulge your identity when offering your opinion!


7 comments:

  1. I am in a similar position. I am fortunate that my supervisor and dean are strong in how my time is allotted. There are 5 voice studios and I play for 2 in each studio. (Sometimes if one studio feels they haven't got a singer that can benefit from my coaching, that spot goes to another, fuller studio.) So between lessons and a weekly half hour coaching (an hour is sometimes given if a full recital is in the works that semester), I spend 10-15 hours with singers. The rest of my availability is to instrumentalists, which generally comes in around 10-15 per semester. It's on a first come, first serve basis - the earlier you get me music, the greater the likelihood I'll say yes. I also say yes when it's rep I already know. The former dean that established my position also had the foresight and graciousness to include practice time as part of my 40 hour week. I am very lucky to have such a position and supervisors who support what I do and how I do it. Many staff accompanists are adjunct and overworked.

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    1. Thanks for the great comment, Anon! Yes, I too am concerned that staff accompanists are so low on the totem pole that they aren't even included on a department's org chart. Having hours properly allocated will greatly increase the value of a staff accompanist position to all stakeholders within the department.

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    2. Anonymous9:46 PM

      Great and detailed feedback! So you spend 10-15 hours per week with singers and then the 10-15 hours for instrumentalists total for all instrumentalists, or 10-15 hours per instrumentalists per semester? Sounds like you've got some good autonomy in your job to be able to say no - I like the idea of the first come, first served basis. And already knowing the rep is a big plus! How many of your weekly hours are allocated for practice? Thanks for your response!

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  2. Set your limits as to what is going to be accomplished in rehearsals with singers. Unfortunately, singers often need more help than instrumentalists. I make it clear that I will not teach notes. I may record the vocal line once, as well as speak the text on a recording, but that's the limit. It is then up to the singer to learn the vocal line and text. Of course, I coach the text and work on style once the basics have been learned. The process between pianist/coach and singer is a different one than between an instrumentalist and pianist. Instrumentalists rarely, if ever, need assistance in learning their part, and, by and large, arrive well prepared as to what is to be accomplished with ensemble and style. In my experience the relationship between pianist and instrumentalist is a more equal one than between pianist and singer. Pianists do not teach parts and technique with instrumentalists the way we do with singers, where the coach/accompanist relationship is more a teacher/student relationship. The time spent outside of rehearsals in learning the instrumental repertoire for pianists is immense. As pianists we would not dare not know our part in the first rehearsal. Why should it be different for a singer then? I am a singer as well as a pianist, and I stress to my singers I work with that they need to be as well prepared as possible for each and every rehearsal. Perhaps you should document the actual hours, with a breakdown reflecting a detailed process of your work with singers which would support the fact that more time is spent with singers than with instrumentalists.

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    1. Fantastic comment, Anon! Documentation of hours will be a significant help in both setting the allocation strategy for a staff position and tracking activities over time so that the next academic year can be even more effective.

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  3. Anonymous2:34 PM

    For vocalists I attend all of their weekly lessons. Advanced vocalists who are preparing solo recitals may meet with me for additional coaching as needed.

    For instrumentalists, most of our collaborative work takes place outside of their lessons. I attend instrumentalists' lessons only for the final stage of polishing for each piece. At my university the instrumentalists are generally more advanced than the vocalists, so their repertoire requires more independent practice on my part.

    I'm paid hourly, and the music department has a budget for my services for the academic year. My supervisor allows me to allocate my hours between students as I see fit. I do keep a record of my time in a spreadsheet with student, instrument, type of meeting (lesson, coaching, rehearsal, performance), and repertoire, so my supervisor and I can justify my existence if my position (adjunct) is ever challenged.

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    1. Thanks for the info! I'm all in favor of time tracking for a position. If you and the department know all the facts about hours, instruments, activities, and studios, a better framework will be laid for making wise decisions (hopefully!).

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