Scott Bailey has short brown hair, brown eyes under his glasses, and always looks professional in a button-up shirt and khakis. Scott started playing piano when he was about seven. Growing up in North Adams, Massachusetts, Scott tried lots of other instruments, trombone, saxophone, baritone horn, guitar, and bass, but piano always came naturally.
In college at the Crane School of Music, during his sophomore year, Scott met Paul Wyse, an amazing teacher who inspired him and helped him advance to a higher level of piano study. Paul pushed Scott to switch from the music business to piano performance after a recital that was performed phenomenally well. Scott gained a reputation in his college years as the pianist people called when their original accompanists couldn’t manage the music.
Later, Scott went on to earn his master’s degree in collaborative piano at UMass Amherst and started adjunct professor roles at UMass Amherst, Westfield State University, and Bay Path University, all simultaneously. Scott became a full-time collaborative pianist for Westfield State University in 2009.
Scott has one of the most uncommon jobs in music education. He’s a full-time collaborative pianist. Most colleges only hire pianists for single events or part-time work, or hire their students to play for other students, or just use recording tracks. On the contrary, Scott’s role at Westfield State University is a full-time job as a collaborative pianist, which is something he knows, and everyone in music education knows, is rare.
“You don’t really find this job outside of big schools,” he said. “I kind of lucked out.”
Scott Bailey today barely gets a break at WSU; his days are packed. He plays for vocal lessons, choirs, studio classes, student recitals, and tons of rehearsals. He also schedules students weekly for mini-lessons, practices new music, prints scores, and deals with last-minute changes. Scott says the hardest part of the job is scheduling and trying to balance everything.
Even with his busy job, which exceeds a 40 to 50-hour work week, Scott loves working with students. “The most satisfying thing is seeing someone go from not really knowing how to do something to suddenly doing amazing things,” Scott said.
Students at WSU echo Scott’s notion: “He’s so knowledgeable and an amazing teacher; even though he’s not our official professor, he teaches me half of the stuff I know. He’s so encouraging and understanding of everyone’s journey to becoming the best musician they can be,” said Savannah Sweeney, Music Therapy Major, Class of ‘26.
Scott wants students to understand that as a collaborative pianist, he’s more than just background music. “I’m not a karaoke machine,” he said. “We’re creating something together.”
“A collaborative pianist listens, reacts, breathes with the performer. It’s like a conversation, not a backing track,” said Scott.
Present and past students of WSU recognize how valuable it is to have Scott Bailey in the music department. “My experience at WSU would not have been the career-shaping experience it was without Scott Bailey! The ability to rehearse with a professional pianist and collaborator regularly prepares students for ‘real-world’ performance opportunities that they’ll be pursuing after graduation,” said Elizabeth Blais-Bennett, Music Education Major, Alumni from the Class of ‘25.
He hopes that students leave his studio knowing how to bring music to life, to make it come alive. In more musical terms, Scott hopes students can think about phrasing, interpretation, and expression on their own after their time with him.
For Scott, collaboration is the key to everything. As he puts it, “It’s not the soloist and the pianist behind them. We’re doing it together.”
New WSU students voice how they adore Scott Bailey: “I always describe him as being like someone’s favorite uncle; he’ll be firm and give it to you honestly, but he does it out of love, and you can always tell how much he cares. Because of all of this, Scott is likely the staff member at Westfield who has made me comfortable not just in the music department, but in myself and my own abilities!” said Shauna Sabin, a Music Education Major and recent transfer student, Class of ‘28.
Shuana also said that at her old school, the University of Maine, they did have a collaborative pianist, who would quickly run through pieces with students before performances. “I also had to pay her to play at my jury (a performative singing final) unless I wanted to seek someone else out on my own. While I did not mind, as I saw this as the norm, Scott adopts this as part of his role without asking for anything extra. He advertises himself as available for practice throughout the semester, not just for a last-minute practice session,” said Shauna.
Scott says the best part of his job is simple: “If I can help students, that’s what matters. I just want to quietly do what I do and make a difference.”
