Keyboard Books for Willy Wonka

The question you're answering.
October 25, 2010
Login to flag as inappropriate
Can anyone tell me what is covered in which piano/keyboard books. The website is rather vaugue and I was wondering if I really needed Keyboard 1 & 2 books or if the keyboard 1 book mostly doubles the Piano/Conductor score. If I don't need a 2nd keyboard player I will just save the $$ to hire a string player.
3 Answers

Staff Answer
October 26, 2010
Derek, The Piano-Conductor Score is simply a piano reduction of the entire orchestration, and is meant to be used for rehearsal purposes or conducting the show. Unlike some other PC Scores, this one is not really designed to be played as a member of the orchestra pit. You could probably get away if that if needed, but youd have to do a little extra detective work to determine what should be played, what should be left to the other instruments, etc. Bottom line, this book was not meant to be played for performances. The Keyboard 1 and Keyboard 2 books, however, are intended to BOTH be played as members of the orchestra. They each have unique elements, and should really both be used to get the sound the orchestrator intended. To reiterate, even if you use both Keyboard 1 and Keyboard 2 books in your performances, this should still only amount to two (2) musicians playing keyboards in your pit since the Piano/Conductor Score was not meant to be played in performance. Hope that helps. -Jason

October 26, 2010
Thanks Jason for the quick response!

October 26, 2010
Also if I had to choose between hiring a cello or a violin for the show, which do you recommend? I will probably only be able to choose one or the other with my budget.