How to Practice for a Musical Pit Orchestra

Last Updated: February 22, 2021

Practicing for a pit orchestra can seem daunting or difficult. It takes a lot of listening and learning how your music fits in with the whole musical.

Steps

1
Listen through the musical while looking at your part. Pay attention to how your part fits in with the orchestra and performers on stage. Mark off sections that sound difficult or look hard to play.
2
Sight-read through the musical while listening to a recording. Play along as much as you can. Pause the recording and mark off sections that you will need to go back to practice.
3
Write in any cues from the conductor's score, and study them. Some parts come with cues while others will not. Write in what the actors are saying, especially after long rests or during repetitive parts.
4
Practice hard sections and solos. Take time at home to work out any problems. Pay attention to your rhythm, intonation, tempo, dynamics, articulation etc.
5
After your first rehearsal, practice sections that were difficult or did not go well. Play by yourself and with a recording to fix the problems before the next rehearsal.
6
Learn safeties and repeats well. In these sections, you will need to look up at your conductor, so you should have these few measures committed to memory.