I didn’t originally plan to respond to this topic (a good topic though), since I have in the past, as iit is a topic that comes up from time to time. However, several recent posts on the thread are things I can truly relate to and so I am chiming in after all.
First, @MTTwinsinCA posts #11 #13 are ones I can really relate to on the topic of piano. With my MT performer, there was no “plan” to take piano for a MT career! However, both my kids, took piano for ten years starting at age 7, just as an activity. Both also studied a second instrument and were in concert band and jazz band for years. My MT kid took piano lessons for 10 years (up to starting college) and took flute for five years (starting at age 8) and then took guitar for her three years of high school. She never took a class in Music Theory. However, her private piano teacher was very heavy on including music theory in lessons and homework. In fact, when D got to NYU/Tisch’s MT program, where there was a two year Music Theory course requirement, and she placed out of it. But she never took piano due to her MT interests. It just was one of many activities my kids were exposed to, including learning a second instrument.
However, as I have written on this forum in the past, I can’t begin to tell you how beneficial it has turned out for my D to be a pianist and a musician in general in terms of her career in MT. Like @MTTwinsinCA 's sons, my D has had “survival jobs” post college as a vocal coach in a BFA program, as an accompanist for BFA Vocal Performance classes, as a musical director for college and professional productions, as a musical director in youth theater programs, and so on (though she hasn’t done any survival jobs in the past 3 years since she is booked solid with other career work).
But beyond those types of survival jobs, her ability to play instruments has been handy in her casting as a MT performer in musicals. In fact, she is on stage right now Off Broadway, in a show where she not only wrote all the music and lyrics for the production, but she sings all the songs, plus plays piano and accordion on stage. In fact, the previous two professional productions she has been in and the next one she is cast in after her current show, ALL require her to play an instrument on stage, besides singing/acting/dancing. A few years ago, she was cast in an Off Broadway production that required her to play accordion, an instrument she had never played. She had one month to learn how to play it, but that was possible, in part, because she was so adept at playing musical instruments, having done so her entire life. In fact, she loved the accordion so much after learning to play it for that role, that she bought an accordion and has used it in two subsequent professional productions and the next one she is cast in. She also plays it, besides piano, in all her concerts. As well, in a recent workshop of yet another musical, she also had to play an instrument. And she got very far in final callbacks for the lead in two Broadway musicals/tours which required the lead to play piano (even though she wasn’t cast). She knew how hard it was to be cast, but at least the audition pool was cut in size to who could play piano competently.
I also think the fact that she understood music so well from her years growing up playing instruments, that she not only could sight read music (very helpful for a MT singer and in auditions), but she became a composer/lyricist of musicals and a singer/songwriter, even though she did not train in that area formally in college. She now has careers going in both those areas, in addition to being a MT singer/actor/dancer. Again, there was no big plan to do this for her career when growing up. No different than her years of figure skating or ski racing lessons! (the last two, she doesn’t use now)
Back to the original topic…My D’s training/background prior to starting college (which she did at 16) was:
She grew up in rural Vermont.
She was in multiple MT productions starting with a professional one at age 4 1/2. These were either school shows, adult community theater productions (no youth theater where we lived), regional productions (a couple that were professional), summer theater camp productions, and an out of state professional gig that lasted two years periodically ages 11 to 13. In school shows, she was typically the lead.
She took piano for ten years, flute for five years, guitar for three years. She was in concert band through 8th grade on flute. She was in jazz band in 7th to 11th grade (graduated after 11th) on piano and vocals.
She was always in school chorus and also took part in All States.
Voice lessons starting at age 12.
Dance classes from age 3 to high school graduation, at a dance studio…In high school, this was about 13 hours/week…she studied ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and hip hop. Throughout high school, she was in a selective teen jazz dance repertory troupe and same with a tap troupe (our studio did not participate in competitions).
In 10th and 11th grades, she created, produced, directed, musically directed, choreographed, and performed in a student run musical theater review, something never done at our high school. Actually, back in 3rd and 4th grades, she had an independent study at our elementary school in lieu of attending spelling classes, and it was to write original musicals (but she didn’t use music notation).
Eight summers of theater camp, ages 9 to 16 at Stagedoor Manor, which includes training in all the disciplines, putting on musicals, and in her case, also performing in a select musical theater cabaret troupe. Those 8 summers were quite a significant part of her youth.
Our high school (or community) had no drama classes. My D had no acting training, other than being in shows (which is not truly training, but it is experience), and whatever classes she had at summer camp.
Five months of monologue audition lessons with acting instructor in her college audition year.
Various awards in the high school years, like State Scholarship winner in Voice and in Jazz and NFAA Young Arts Merit Award.
