What is Accompaniment?
An '''accompaniment''' in [[music]] is music that '''accompanies''' (goes with) something else. A piece of music may have a [[melody]] (tune) and an accompaniment underneath. The music may be played on the [[piano]] with the right hand playing the tune and the left hand playing the accompaniment. The accompaniment might also be played on a different [[musical instrument|instrument]]. Music does not have to be a tune with accompaniment, although it often is. The accompaniment does not always have to be lower than the tune. To play the piano, the [[pianist]] has to learn to play a tune in the right hand and accompaniment in the left hand, or the tune might be passed from one hand to the other. The tune should usually be played a little louder than the accompaniment. The accompaniment must not ‘drown’ the tune. An accompaniment might be single notes, or chords, or any other pattern. The accompaniments help us to feel the [[harmony]]. An accompaniment might be another tune (this is called [[counterpoint]]). Tunes can be played or sung without accompaniment. [[Folk song]]s are traditionally sung unaccompanied. If one instrument accompanies another, the person who plays the accompaniment is an ''accompanist''. The piano is the most popular instrument for accompanying in Western music. A good pianist can accompany a [[violin]], [[cello]], [[oboe]], [[trumpet]], [[singer]] or [[choir (music)|choir]]. They have to listen carefully to the instrument(s) they are accompanying, and play with the same kind of feeling. When a soloist plays a [[concerto]] the [[orchestra]] are accompanying the soloist. An [[Organ (music)|organist]] playing a [[hymn]] is accompanying the [[congregation]]. A [[percussion]] player in a [[rock and roll|rock]] [[band]] is accompanying the lead instrument. [[Guitar]]s and [[electric keyboard]]s are often used for accompaniment. In Elizabethan times the [[lute]] was popular. People sang songs and often accompanied themselves on the lute or [[harp]]. In the Baroque period the accom