<p>Actually Lorelei...it would depend. This OP is not planning to major in music. Where DS goes to school, there is a very fine piano studio with extremely talented music majors. THEY fill any piano spots in the ensembles and accompany the soloists for recitals, juries, and auditions. A non-major could put up a sign and advertise for business, but the music majors at this university would fill the spots in the ensembles...and would work with most of the students in the department needing accompanists. The orchestras and wind ensembles don't even always need keyboard players. NOW...if this person can play a church organ, they would be able to find a job almost every weekend!!!</p>
<p>How difficult is it for a pianist who has access to a great organ and lessons to come up to speed as an organist? Is this something different from what you mean by church organ? (money isn't really the object, in any case)</p>
<p>The difference is that MOST pianists do not want to do the accompanying, and they do it because they are required for their major, or it is part of their scholarship. I can guarantee that if your pianist hangs out with the music kids and expresses interest in accompanying, there will be lots of opportunities. This supposes that the pianist is a good sight reader/or prepares conscientiously, and that the pianist has a good sense of idiomatic style. Piano faculty would much prefer that their majors concentrate on solo literature. Some places do offer degrees in collaborative piano, and those pianists are eager for experience, but it is not so likely that this is the case where your pianist is applying. Some of the best college pianists may not be very good at accompanying, and lots of them have very little experience. The literature and range of styles is vast, and it takes real practice, effort and a good ear to be helpful. I am very optimistic that your pianist CAN find opportunities anywhere, if he/she has this kind of interest and skill.</p>
<p>To our merry prankster: If you want to accompany hymns and play a bit of service music, a good pianist can become a mediocre organist relatively quickly. If you want to play serious solo music and be able to use that great instrument to best effect, it will take a good bit longer. </p>
<p>You need to learn about registration, pedal technique, the various types of expression available and when it is appropriate to use each of them, getting used to switching stops on the fly, using couplers, setting up pistons and toe studs, playing with hands separated not only horizontally but also vertically, and it also helps to know a bit about organ construction and maintenance so you can retune a few pipes when needed or do the odd emergency repair when the instrument gets a cipher. If the organ happens to have tracker action, the touch on the keys affects the instrument's sound in different ways than it does on a piano and that takes some getting used to. Then you need to know a bit about the design of the particular organ you are playing so that you understand how any unification and/or duplexing of stops will limit your registration options. Improvisation is a highly prized skill among organists and, if you haven't done much of it on piano, that is another area to work on. Then there is the whole business of getting used to reading three and sometimes more staves simultaneously rather than two. The list of differences goes on and on...</p>
<p>That was a helpful response. You are one of the first to recognize the prankster reference. I didn't think it would be easy. A relative of mine had a bit of sucess as an organist, supporting himself while attending Curtis when he was young, but he was much more talented.</p>
<p>Another question: Do colleges have a course like "harpsichord for pianists"? Or is that something you just do on your own?</p>
<p>I don't know of any classes billed as "harpsichord for pianists", but almost any school with a decent early music program should have a harpsichord teacher. Given the relative availability of harpsichords vs. that of pianos, I would guess that the harpsichord student who has previously studied piano is the norm rather than the exception.</p>
<p>There's probably no one answer to this, but is likely to be music theory class suitable for non-majors? In othe words, is there likely to a class more serious than "Intro to music listening" or "Music appreciation" on the one hand and a very serious two-year, hard core sequence?</p>
<p>While there is entrance placement testing, the assumption is that incoming major will place into freshman theory. Those same tests would be required of non-major, with identical criteria, and enrollment would be limited if a crunch to accommodate music majors. The sequence is crucial. Even enrollment in an intro to music course does not sequence into actual music major music theory courses. Some of the ivies and LAC have music courses which approach the whole thing from a different angle (Princeton has a "Laptop orchestra course"....do not know what prerequisites there might be. </p>
<p>Music appreciation courses are generalist music history courses, with instruction given to make sure general music skills are known. During the course of music curriculum, majors start with general culturally parallel music history courses, covering the major eras, mediums, and structures, spanning 2-4 semesters. After that, majors take period courses, genre courses, composer specific courses, whatever the curriculum makes available.</p>
<p>So the answer is No, there would rarely be anything in between music appreciation and music theory and/or history for majors. The exception would be if there was an interdisciplinary course or sequence with the other arts or from another angle.</p>
<p>A student could certainly take the first semester or year of hard core theory or literature, and it would count toward degree as humanities credit (some curriculums might allow it as math course). Does this answer your question?</p>
<p>Catch 22 is most pianists good enough to be accompanyists think it is below them. At least until they found out they have no future as a soloist. </p>
<p>But yes there is a huge vacumn that needs to be filled by pianists that are willing to go into that area. Many areas need to use computer generated or recorded music for accompanyment because no qualified and willing can be found.</p>
<p>Big difference between the level of player that is able to accompany and any old piano player that can play church organ.</p>