Why are page turners only for pianists?
This might be a silly question, but why is it that pianists (sometimes) get a page turner, whereas violinists, cellists etc. turn their pages by themselves? A violinist too can have both hands busy, so what accounts for the difference?
This is particularly noticeable in (though by no means limited to) piano trios: there are four people on the stage - pianist, violinist, cellist, and the pianist's page turner. Why is it that only the pianist needs a page turner, while the others do not?
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A possible contributing factor is that violinist page turners simply aren't needed as much. Piano music is written on two staves, violin on one. Also, most violin scores utilize multirests (combining prolonged periods where the violin doesn't have to play into one measure with a number showing how many measures the violin rests). Because of these things, violin scores are usually less than half (perhaps a third) the size of the accompanying piano score. Not to mention, these multirests make great page turn spots.
In fact, orchestral players often do have a "page turner." The string sections play two people per music stand, and when passages overlap a page turn, the inner player stops for a couple beats to turn the page, while the outer player continues on.
For soloists, it's very rare that they use music.
For small ensembles such as string quartets, you just have to learn to turn quickly, or photocopy a couple of desks & tape the music up until the next measure rest. Or, ideally, switch to an electronic tablet display - once you learn to work with those, they are much better than paper. For one thing, you can choose to view the full quartet score rather than just your own part. (if you haven't seen these: the page turns are achieved via a foot-pedal)
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