After considerable experience I would say there is no other musician of whom so much is expected as the pianist. The evangelistic pianist must be a versatile person, being able to play hymns exceptionally well and with a certain amount of vivacity, but also able to distinguish clearly between the popular swing style of playing and that of just playing with animation. There are too few of the right kind of pianists to supply all the evangelists, but there are many who might be the right kind, with a little encouragement from someone who can help them, and with a lot of practice on the part of those who are interested in learning.
A pianist must first be able to play solos, although she does not necessarily have to be a concert artist. It is also a help to the music director if she has a few choruses stored away in her repertoire to be played from memory as he chooses. She must have a good (not especially professional) knowledge of the instrument she plays, and a fair knowledge of other instruments which she may have to accompany, as well as a casual acquaintance with the art of singing—and I might add, the singer!
It is not unusual to have a vocalist unexpectedly appear during an evangelistic campaign, and have the music director welcome him with open arms as another means of variation in his program. This is all well enough, but of how much worth is the vocalist without an adequate accompanist? Without any preliminary practice, or even warning, the director may hand over to the pianist the music which he has taken months to learn, and expect her to read it at sight! She does her best, but if she makes even one mistake, she feels quite humiliated, because the audience has not the slightest idea that she has never seen the piece before.
To be a competent accompanist one must transpose readily, and this is not all a gift, as some are led to suppose. Much of this ability is acquired through extensive practice and hard work. In fact, most good pianists became efficient through long tedious hours of practice, and that is why I say there are many who can become better pianists if they are willing to pay the price.
Transposition is not as hard as it sounds, although at first it may seem the most complicated thing you ever tried to do. I remember very well the first time my husband, who has one of those inconveniently low voices, asked me to transpose a piece of music for him. I had a week to learn it, but was sure it would take a month. I struggled along with it, all the while wishing his voice could at least be average. Somehow I finally mastered that piece, but asked him to kindly refrain from ever expecting me to do it again. Like most husbands, he-did not take me too seriously, and the next time he wanted a piece transposed it was for a duet at a workers' meeting. I worked away at the piano all during the dinner hour, and had it learned by the time the duettists were to sing it at the next service.
Now, after seven years of practice, transposing comes so natural to me that I find myself transposing when it is not even necessary ! In fact, it has become second nature to read in a transposed key while I am looking at the original. I have even done the unthinkable thing of transposing at sight while on the air. This I do not recommend. But the point I want to emphasize in relating this personal experience is that the art of transposition is not entirely a gift. It took years of real patience and perseverance to accomplish this feat. A friend of mine who is a very fine pianist told me that she has accomplished wonders at transposition by taking each hymn and putting it in every key. This is really an accomplishment. If you don't think so, just try it !
A good ear for music helps tremendously in making hymns interesting. Variations can be added without too much show but with enough originality to give the individual touch. Most pianists have so much of their own personality in their playing that they are easily recognized within hearing distance. A good ear is the only part of piano playing that is a real gift. But there are great possibilities in cultivating the ear toward music appreciation if there is a willingness on the part of a pianist. Some teachers give a special course in hymn playing, which is very beneficial. However, it is apt to make a copyist out of the student unless he is very carefully instructed in originality.
To learn to be a good sight reader, you must spend as much time as you can spare just going through the pages of the hymnbook. Play each hymn the best you can, but if you do not do it well the first time, do not linger on it. Go on to the next one—it may be easier. This familiarizes you with the different keys and tempos, as well as imparting a faint memory of the hymn next time you hear it. A good pianist must know the majority of songs in the hook, and be able to read all the rest at sight. This sounds like a large order, and it is, but it can be done.
There are some trying things in a pianist's life that I hesitate to mention here. For instance, the unpredictable director who springs unheard-of gestures on his audience. It leaves the pianist as well as the audience, and perhaps a choir, all "hanging out on a limb," but the pianist suffers the most embarrassment, because she is supposed to be able to anticipate every mood and follow along. Many times when the director himself is at fault he will give the pianist that you-are-toblame look, and the pianist feels all eyes have focused the same look upon her. About this time she feels like humbly crawling off the platform on her hands and knees.
With apologies to all evangelists, directors, announcers, and any others who are connected with the music side of evangelistic campaigns, I wish to come to the defense of the young woman at the piano bench. She has had years of practice, and in many cases years of study, involving hundreds of dollars, but how much appreciation is bestowed upon this versatile individual who is always on the job, rain or shine ? Has she received due recognition for her untiring labors ? How do you treat your pianist? Have you ever thanked her publicly for doing a good job ? Or do you just take her for granted, like the air you breathe, because she is always there? The soloist is introduced with fanfare on many occasions and thanked profusely, when he would have been an utter failure without a proficient accompanist. It is not at all uncommon to find that the pianist is a far better musician than the soloist.
Our talents are given to glorify God and not to receive praise unto ourselves. Very few pianists have the latter motive uppermost in their minds, but I have heard some say that a thank you along with the mention of one's name does give one a "lift." And this should not be considered as praise. A pianist undergoes a great deal of nerve strain, and much of this is caused through anxiety as to whether her work is satisfactory.
One evangelist with whom we worked for a number of years, through a number of campaigns, impressed me greatly because of his public expressions of appreciation for his music helpers. He never failed to mention the pianist along with all the others. This is as it should be. It may be that this has been an oversight on the part of the well-meaning men in charge of the music, but someone within the realm of pianists must bring it to their attention, hence the article.
To all who are interested in learning to become evangelistic pianists, I would offer this word of advice : Do not expect gratitude for everything you do—no one else gets his share either. And always work with the one aim in view of winning souls. Your work can do much in bringing people to the meetings or in keeping them away. A piano teacher in one of our colleges recently told me that when she was engaged in evangelistic playing, more than once there were those who told her they would never have come to the meetings if the music had been cheap, and the pianist had copied some of the popular styles of our day in evangelistic playing. Our music must be in keeping with our message—plain and simple, yet filled with enthusiasm ignited by a spark of fire from off the altar.
