How to Accompany a Singer on Piano

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Practice with a singer on piano -- much as it is often done on guitar like strumming.

   So, you will follow the singer's lead and not:
   Play the notes of the "melody" while the singer is voicing them, Or set the "tempo" as the soloist may have slow and fast parts for emphasis, etc.
   
   Or decide the "rhythm" if the singer has an interpretation, So, you do not decide the "style"...
   
   Don't do the singer's job.
   
   Talk about it with your soloist! Most soloists want you to follow them, but others may need you to keep a steady beat (a little like a drum might do) so that they have something to keep them on track.
   
   Everyone is different as to what they need, so simply ask.
   
   A trained soloist may be able to tell you what works best for him or her.
   
   Generally, you play "accompagnato"
   -- following everything that they do (tempo, and overall style) of the soloist's interpretation of the song.
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   Step 2: Play non-obnoxiously (not too loudly) as the basic technique.

   Think about accompanying in a group with a guitar player who can lightly strum chords while the drummer may use brushes or soft drumming style, etc. but of course some singers, as an alternative, may have a style where the instruments are pretty loud... , Using the piano for accompanying will often involve both hands for turn around parts, left hand or right hand chording variations, ideas like the Circle of Fifths, and adapting to what your soloist does by recognizing the style and responding to the tempo, rhythm and style by ear.
   
   You probably (but not necessarily) need to do an introduction with both hands and do an ending.
   
   Once you get more advanced and start using both hands, it is okay to not play chords as arpeggios and instead play all the keys at once.
   
   However, playing an entire song without arpeggios can get repetitive to listeners.
   
   Try to vary your playing; analyse the song and figure out where you should aim for arpeggio playing and where you should not.
   
   If you are a beginner and plan to only use one hand, arpeggios are to recommend. , Sure there is more to learn to be a good piano accompanist.
   
   See chords in "Tips" below.
   
   It's not just playing chords with one hand lightly
   -- mostly using 3 tones called triad chords (see Chords, and Picturing the "Shapes of Chords" On Your Fingers and Hands
   -- in the "Tips" section below) , You don't make the chords as clumping sounds. ,,, You will see a pattern in the key signatures as they progress by every fifth lettered key/note in the "circle of fifths".
   
   So, each key is in a musical interval (spacing) referred to as fifth from its neighboring key (just counting, not fractions).
   
   In the key signatures that contain flats, the name of the key is "the flat to the left of the last flat." A key signature with four flats, B, E, A, D, for example, is the key of A flat. , There is a studio-professional way to do that using Nashville lead sheet notations.
   
   It is for a rhythm section (usually consisting of piano, guitar, drums and bass).
   
   The musicians practice to be able to improvise to present the chord in a blend with other instruments.
   
   That numbered method of notation allows musicians who are familiar with keys and chords to play the same song in any key that one knows without written sheet music., This is not an amateur trick: there is a free downloadable software created by Harvey Mudd College computer programming department for this kind of notational work for orchestras to use, etc.. , So you hit individual notes of the chord as mentioned using a form of arpeggio (also called broken chords).
   
   That's the technique in short, as the essence of the idea.
   
   See the pattern of the "Circle of Fifths" is based on counting every 5th note.
   
   In any part of "A" through "G"
   -- then notes can be thought of as starting over forming a circle.
   
   After G, think of a, b, c, D, and so look at the circle and "G and "D" are fifths because there are 3 notes between them (counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) backward or forward.
   
   So you can count five in the musical alphabet: ignoring the three notes between the 1st and the 5th one.
   
   Then look at the circle and see "D and A are fifths":
   D, e, f, g, A.
   
   That is how the key signature pattern works, and that shows how the circle got its name. , Once you get comfortable playing chords with your right hand, you can start using your left hand.
   
   Most commonly you will play the keynote of the chord (so you will only play one note with the left hand, do NOT play entire chords) one or several octaves below your right hand playing the chords.
   
   The keynote in a chord is always the same note as the chord's name.
   
   So for instance, in the C chord the keynote is C, in the F chord it is F.
   
   So when playing a C chord in the right hand, play a C (only the note, not the chord) with your left hand one or more octaves to the left of your right hand.
   
   Sometimes chords will not have the keynote as the bass note, this is notated via the chord's name, a slash, and then the note that should be the bass note.
   
   For example:
   C/E means that you are to play a C chord with your right hand, but play the key E with your left as a bass note. (Note that E is the third in the C chord, and you should avoid doubling thirds, so when you play a chord with the third in the bass, you may leave out the third in the chord that you play with your right hand.) When starting out, you can simply play and hold the keynote with your left hand every chord change or at the start of each measure, while your right hand plays chords normally.
   
   If you're more advanced you can let the left hand have it's own rhythm and even create your own bass line.
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   Step 3: Break up the chords (arpeggio like strumming

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   Step 4: harping) so that it is not like "clump

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   Step 5: clump..." and lighten up as a piano accompanist

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   Step 6: and even just use one hand to play the rhythm -- explained in more detail below.

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   Step 7: Use one hand to accompany on the piano.

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   Step 8: Practice rolling the notes by rocking or swaying your hand and fingers: going through each chord to play the notes separately.

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   Step 9: Think of a mental picture of the fingers as forming the same "shape" of each three note chord like a 3 pronged fork or tripod and a four note chord (7th) as a four pronged fork.

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    Step 10: Experiment playing "near" middle C

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    Step 11: and down an octave (or maybe up) from there to fit your chording to the singer(s).

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    Step 12: Learn to get the chord from the key signatures.

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    Step 13: Write the chord changes above the words on a written or printed page like it is done for guitar.

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    Step 14: Interpret various piano styles by ear

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    Step 15: and so you change tempo and the chord like for changing the key up or down as necessary.

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    Step 16: Leave the melody for the singer to do

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    Step 17: and so you chord cleverly and rhythmically during the vocals (something like strumming

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    Step 18: playing rhythm).

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    Step 19: Play bass notes with your left hand.

Detailed Guide

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