Piano for Singers

If you are a singer, you already have an advantage. You have been using your ear to learn songs as opposed to reading the notes. This has given you training in hearing music which is what it is all about! Also, singers use breath to create musical lines and phrases. And when you play the piano, this awareness of breath and flow and connection is very important.

Consider yourself one step ahead of the rest!

I have been teaching two classes for 12 years now at lots of different Adult Education Centers and Community colleges in Massachusetts and I'm going strong. It's so much fun and very inspiring for me to help people develop their talent.

I've got two "Piano for Singers" classes coming up. See

Classes

I realized about a year ago that there was a lot of carry-over between the classes I teach. People who take my "Shower Singing in Public" class want to be able to play the piano to accompany themselves singing. They want to understand music more, the theory of it, the chords, the harmony and how this all fits together with the melody.

People who take the "Instant Piano for Hopelessly Busy People" class, want to play songs that they like that they can sing to. They want to know how to choose appropriate songs, how to strengthen their voices and how to separate the singing from the piano playing so that they can do both at the same time.

The integration of singing and piano brings up interesting topics and issues:

*How to transpose a song into your key

*How to choose a song that you can play and sing

*How to play a song differently if you are singing along with it as opposed to playing the song solo (big topic)

*Proper vocal technique while you are playing

*How to get started playing piano in this method if you are a singer with no piano background

Let's explore how you would interpret a song from a fake book. (yes they are called this, but don't worry, you are not cheating or "faking" in any way!)

If you are playing a song that you intend to sing to, you don't need to play the melody. This really frees up the right hand to do other things - mainly playing chords in different positions and rhythmic patterns.

And instead of the left hand playing chords, the left hand would play either a voicing of the chord or the bass note of the chord. All kinds of rhythmic patterns can be played without having the cumbersome job of playing the melody with the right hand. To learn lots more about these techniques, check out

"Playing with Style - Easy Tricks and Fun Techniques for Playing Piano in 12 Different Styles"

Playing with Style

If you find a song that you really want to play, but it is not in your key (it goes too high or too low), then consider transposing the song. It's not difficult to do once you know the process and here it is!

I also teach a class called "Piano for Singers". If you go to the Schedule page, you can see when and where I am teaching this class next.

Transposing a Song

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