How to Accompany a Musician

Musicians come with such a huge variety of talent and egos, so it can be difficult for you to decide if and when to accompany one. You will hear the horror stories of fights and arguments from your musician friends about new musicians trying to accompany them and really messing up a gig. You need finesse and certain required skills to successfully accompany musicians.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Know your limits. If you can play an instrument very well by ear and do not read music, you are usually welcome to accompany another musician who doesn't want to take the time to teach you a tune. If, however, you interrupt the music to ask what chord is being played or what key a song is in, then you should probably sit out until you can learn the song.

2. Start out quietly. You don't want to overpower the musician who is the main attraction or who is the leader of the band. Only play a solo when you are asked to by the other musician. Wait for a nod, which you will surely get if you are playing well.

3. Practice with a friend before stepping into a professional arena or jam session. Ask your friend for truthful feedback about your abilities to accompany a musician.

4. Keep your instrument in tune to "C", so you can easily compensate when the musician is tuned to a different key. If you stay in "C," you should know how far to tune the rest of your stringed instrument to align your accompaniment.

5. Ask the musician what key she is playing in, if you play a horn instrument or keyboard or you sing. When you know the key and avoid experimenting to find it, you can easily accompany a musician without messing up the overall flow of the music.