Play Something! Part II

In my last article, I offered some suggestions to beginning players on how to get prepared for the inevitable holiday sing-along. In this article, I will offer some suggestions to more advanced players.

I do a few different things to get ready for Christmas Day, because every year is different in my family. I never know what people will feel like singing. Some years it's straight carols. Some years a relative will have a special thing they want to sing. Some years, the relatives just want to hear the various pianists in the family play solo. Some years, we play CDs.

The first thing I think about is who is going to be there, and I try to guess what they might want to sing. Then I play some of that music at home ahead of time. For instance, this year I know that my mother is participating in a Messiah sing-along, so she might want to sing some of those songs on Christmas. I went out and bought a piano/vocal edition of The Messiah and have read through some of the more popular pieces, such as The Halleluiah Chorus and The Glory of the Lord.

Just in case I get a chance to play solo, I also read through the Grave, the prelude to The Messiah. It's relatively easy, and very beautiful.

In case people want to sing carols, I'll read through my carol book, which is written for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, like a church hymnal.

I also have a Christmas "fake book," with about 100 jazz lead sheets for both carols and popular favorites like Winter Wonderland and The Chipmunk Song. I'll will probably just take that with me.

Now, suppose somebody asks me to play some music I've never seen before. This happens every year without fail. In that case, I get to practice my sight-reading skills. Most likely, they want to sing along, and that makes my task very easy. I probably know the song, too, so that makes my task even easier. All I need to concentrate on is playing the first chord of the measure and whatever other notes I can manage to play, and keep a steady beat. Nobody is going to expect me to be perfect.

A really fun activity I do almost every year is to play duets with my relatives that also play the piano. You can do this with a piece that is not really a duet. One person plays the left hand with their left hand and the other person

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