Why can bands play for hours often utilizing different instruments without ever looking at sheet music, but orchestra musicians always read from sheet music?

Question

I saw a clip where a pianist was playing and someone was turning her pages for her, but they fumbled and dropped the sheet music. The pianist kept on playing, but it got me wondering why have the sheet music if she knows the song anyway. Do they really need it? Why can’t they just learn the songs like all bands do?

In: 5311

Answer 1

Popular musicians are typically playing their own compositions, often compositions that are heavily subject to improvisation and not very complex. They don’t need to be precise. Generally, they just need to remember the chord progression and basic melody.

Orchestra musicians need to be precise, as far as the composition and also the conductor’s instructions which they often note on the sheet music.

You might have noticed that soloists and singular concert pianists often don’t use sheet music. Sheet music is more of a requirement of ensemble playing or just when the musician isn’t as well-practiced on the composition.