I'm going to be a piano accompanist for these. How much is appropriate fees?
1. for a chorus group
- once a week rehearsal
- 1~2 hour performances
2. for a vocal workshop
- once a week
- 1 hour

Location is New York City

How good/advanced/experienced are you?

I mean, I personally still wouldn't be able to give you great answers but I think it would help us to know about all those things.

I think I'm intermediate.

Thank you

If you can do the job with competence, then I don't think that what a teacher would normally charge in your area, would be out of order.

However, it would all depend on the available finances of the groups concerned.

when you say "I'm going to be an accompanist for these" does that mean you've already accepted? In that case you may not have alot of room to negotiate with out being viewed in a bad light, unless you accepted with the idea that you would let them know how much you'll charge.

Do they know you're intermediate?

Did they approach you? I've had some groups ask me to "play for us" but had no intentions of paying because they figured my love of music was enough and that my intermediate level meant I just use this as a growing experience.

Just saying be wary of these kinds of groups.


*** Side note, is a chococo a bird from a game or a chocolate? Or am I thinking of a Chocobo?

Actually, I already started this job. I'm not going to negotiate. It is long story but in short, I wanted to know in general. I know it depends on the situation.

Thank you for all comments

In NYC, I would think any professional gig would start around $50/hour. Of course, it's a market economy, so pay is based on a combination of what someone can afford to offer and what someone is willing to accept.


Also to be considered is the fact that money isn't the only thing you get. I used to take jobs for cheap because they gave me experience and connections. For example, if you take a church gig at $10/hour but end up meeting people in the congregation and recruit 5 students who pay $100/month for lessons, then the $10/month is totally worth it.

I did the opposite once, too. I took a job at a community music school for $15/hour (slave wages!) but I ended up meeting a music director at a church who hired me to work one hour on Wednesdays and 1 hour on Sundays for $75/week.

I think it would probably be somewhat less than that for this kind of work -- in part perhaps because of what Kreisler noted about the good purposes that such gigs serve for us. In a way we're "using" them for performance experience and connections.

But as you said (and as the rest of us also said, in different ways), it depends.

As a general guide, where I am the usual hourly fee for a proficient accompanist is around the same as a teacher's hourly rate. My fees now are towards the higher end but when I was starting out many years ago I did some gigs for little or nothing. It was worth it in the long run, for the experience. You have to weigh this up yourself for the particular case. Good luck