The dueling pianos phenomenon was first invented in the Victorian era. At the end of the nineteenth century, two pianists would compete against each other to see who could play not only with more skill and dexterity, but with more speed.
Today's performances are substantially different than their ancestral concerts from the 1890s. The modern version of this form of entertainment is much more collaborative, as the two players help each other boost the crowd's spirits, and create a lively and upbeat mood. They not only work together, they even sometimes invite the audience to join them by singing along.
The style of playing in a dueling situation is very showy, with more flourishes than you'd see in a traditional recital. The performers will sometimes throw in impromptu banter, prepared jokes or funny lyrics. Sometimes the performers will work in regular teams, like a comedy duo, and other times they will be strangers or nearly strangers and will figure out their act on the fly, based on whatever their chemistry turns out to be like.
One of the features of this kind of show is that the patrons can usually ask the musicians to play specific songs. That means the pianists must be familiar with and able to play a greater number of pop and rock music pieces than it is likely for them to be able to memorize completely, even though most of the songs are popular and familiar tunes.
Most of the time, sheet music is required to pull off the request. Piano players who work in this field usually carry a songbook with them, which includes the music for hits that they think are likely to be requested, and will have practiced enough to be able to play well, but will not have memorized the way they would for a pre-planned concert program.
If you ask for a particular song, it is considered standard etiquette to tip the performers. There is usually an obvious tip jar in which to leave money for the artists. Request procedures vary from place to place, and can include anything from a formal system that has a list where you sign up to have a song played, to a casual situation where you write the song title on a napkin, or even just shout it out directly at the performer. Different kinds of piano bars will have different rules about how to make your song suggestion, but you can assume that tipping is universally expected.
A dueling piano performance lets pianists from a variety of backgrounds, whether classical or rock and roll, use their skills to entertain patrons in a lively setting, and provide a fun night for the crowd. With more than a hundred years of history, it's not likely that this kind of performance will vanish in the near future.
dueling pianos
Today's performances are substantially different than their ancestral concerts from the 1890s. The modern version of this form of entertainment is much more collaborative, as the two players help each other boost the crowd's spirits, and create a lively and upbeat mood. They not only work together, they even sometimes invite the audience to join them by singing along.
The style of playing in a dueling situation is very showy, with more flourishes than you'd see in a traditional recital. The performers will sometimes throw in impromptu banter, prepared jokes or funny lyrics. Sometimes the performers will work in regular teams, like a comedy duo, and other times they will be strangers or nearly strangers and will figure out their act on the fly, based on whatever their chemistry turns out to be like.
One of the features of this kind of show is that the patrons can usually ask the musicians to play specific songs. That means the pianists must be familiar with and able to play a greater number of pop and rock music pieces than it is likely for them to be able to memorize completely, even though most of the songs are popular and familiar tunes.
Most of the time, sheet music is required to pull off the request. Piano players who work in this field usually carry a songbook with them, which includes the music for hits that they think are likely to be requested, and will have practiced enough to be able to play well, but will not have memorized the way they would for a pre-planned concert program.
If you ask for a particular song, it is considered standard etiquette to tip the performers. There is usually an obvious tip jar in which to leave money for the artists. Request procedures vary from place to place, and can include anything from a formal system that has a list where you sign up to have a song played, to a casual situation where you write the song title on a napkin, or even just shout it out directly at the performer. Different kinds of piano bars will have different rules about how to make your song suggestion, but you can assume that tipping is universally expected.
A dueling piano performance lets pianists from a variety of backgrounds, whether classical or rock and roll, use their skills to entertain patrons in a lively setting, and provide a fun night for the crowd. With more than a hundred years of history, it's not likely that this kind of performance will vanish in the near future.
dueling pianos
