Hello,

I'll be in a class covering Accompanying this coming semester taught by Dr. Eugene Alcalay.

Is there any way I can prepare myself for the curriculum?

DaWF :

First, if you can, find out what the repertoire will be. If not, do a lot of sight-reading between now and then of as much accompaniments of different genres as you can get your hands on! You might even try doing some transposing at sight of some vocal accompaniments; that should be fun!

Regards,

What Bruce said. Also, if you haven't done any accompanying, try and do a bit before then. This should quickly alert you to what some of the issues are!
And look forward to it! Accompanying is one of the great joys of life, both for the partnership and for the repertoire.

I love accompanying, but when I first starting doing it in high school (my dad was a singer and would make me play with him :p ), it was very hard. I wasn't used to listening to someone else and following their tempo, and I think this is a common problem for beginner accompanists. If you can't find anyone to accompany, you can always try play along with a CD, that will simulate this aspect of accompanying. Also sight reading is a part of it, and transposing is too, but I've never been in a situation where I had to do that on the spot.

singing while playing helps.. most pianists focus on their notes.. and not the notes the singers or other instruments play.

also be VERY comfortable working with metronomes. other instrumentalists seem to have an uncanny sense of rhythm.

That's pretty good advice. I'd also recommend that you read the text if you are accompanying a singer - try to anticipate where they may take a breath (commas are possible spots to make a bit of a lift).

Besides sightreading (and perhaps transposing) learning how to 'breathe' with a vocal or instrumental soloist is one of the biggest secrets to success.