Tips for Musical Accompanists
An exclusive excerpt from Musical Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy
Written by Michael Pollock
Following the success of Musical Improv Comedy: Creating Songs in the Moment, the first book to ever delve into this niche field, author Michael Pollock now turns his sights on helping the underassisted musical accompanist with Musical Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy. As with Creating Songs, the new book is "accompanied" by an invaluable CD featuring musical examples to help any musician learn the art of underscoring and making musical offers in scenes. The following is an exclusive excerpt from Musical Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy, available for purchase in the YESand.com bookstore.
Introduction: Welcome to the club
Whether your background consists of playing in bands, piano bars, orchestras, for cabaret artists or musical theatre productions, there's an improv group that needs you. Perhaps you've always played keyboard for pleasure and working with comedy sounds appealing ? great, you're in!
All over the world, there are far more actors than musicians involved with this genre of entertainment. Many troupes would love to have living, breathing musical accompaniment, and do not.
Why? It isn't usually for lack of pianists or keyboard players in their towns. A group may have no musician aboard simply because they can't find anyone who feels qualified for the job. Actors and directors would like to instruct them, but most don't know the actual nuts and bolts of musical procedure.
You, of course, need clear methodology. This book will teach you the language of improv and sketch comedy while showing you how to collaborate like an expert. Leading these amazing performers down a musical path requires familiarity with their art from your tuneful perspective.
Chapter 6: Kiss Her, You Fool. The aggressive musical presence.
To accompany means to "be with" or to "come along," and you can't go wrong with that approach to the majority of your scenic accompaniment.
Your basic job is to support a scene and let it guide you. However, when you get really good at following the actors wherever they lead, it will be time to toy with musical offers that purposely ignite and alter the action.
For example, you could intensify an argument by progressing from punctuation to emotional underscore that has tempo, picks up speed, and grows gradually louder.
For a scene of reconciliation, you could enter with simple, sweet chords, then create a surge of poignant, heartfelt outpour that seems to encourage emotional surrender and an embrace.
This is yes and with an extra side of "and," now expanded to include you as a truly equal player, eligible to be dangerous in a good way. Who gives you permission to move in this direction? Everyone, once you've proven that you can accept offers with the best of them. That ability earns you the right and the confidence to play more boldly.
There is friendly competition that goes on between excellent improvisers in a scene. At the same time that they agree upon and contribute to common realities, they freely interrupt, surprise and shock each other. You can enter into this storm of cause-and-effect with your musical voice. Here's a useful learning game:
I Want to be Loved
Originally, I created this exercise as a means for actors to explore their potential responses to a musical offer. We can also use it for you to practice two-way communication with an actor.
- An actor states "I want to be loved,"in a neutral, relaxed way with no particular environment or character portrayal in mind.
- After a moment of silence, you make a musical-underscore offer that can definitely be described with an adjective: dark, eerie, sweet, jazzy, quirky, dreamy...
- The actor begins a monologue that somehow accepts the musical offer. A connection between the monologue and the music will be obvious, if one exists.
- Now, see if you can smoothly interact, trading offers. Let the monologue and the music suggest adjustments to each other... tempo changes, starts and stops, or changes of musical mood. It's a two-way street, ending when the actor shows us the conclusion of the monologue.
Approach this process patiently ? the point is to see what happens (something will) and have fun doing so. If it doesn't go beautifully right away, relax; that's fine. Keep doing it regularly, and discuss the results.
Try this exercise with other opening statements, like "This is my life," or "Who am I?" Make some up. Practice trading more pointed, unexpected offers between actor and musician.
Listen to two examples on tracks 51 (Shulie) and 52 (Mark).
Progress to doing a version of this exercise with short scenes that feature two actors.
Once you begin to find your musical way as a mover and shaker of events onstage, use this power artistically ? only in ways that your heart tells you the scene wants to go. Flirt with the dynamics of a scene; you want to seduce, not bulldoze.
The music in a scene (including selective silence) is very much like weather ? always there, affecting life. If the scene is a boat on the water, you and your music are the calm, the breeze, the gale, the sunshine, the overcast, the occasional Act of God.
Michael Pollock is musical director of The Second City LA. He has accompanied artists from Chuck Berry to Kitty Carlisle Hart and his credits include "The Drew Carey Show" and "The Tonight Show." He lives in Hollywood, and conducts national musical improv workshops.