Playing and accompanying yourself

[MasonHerb]

That would be 12.70059kg. Mine is around 10kg.

I think yours would be more standard, I had a "custom" (thrown together parts from multiple sources) microphone system that weighed ~3.8lbs (~1.73kg).

 

[Harrytulipan]

I don't believe that they do. To me singing and playing or just playing has become second nature; I've been doing it so long. Interestingly though, if I "talk" vs sing while playing, it does become a bit awkward. (maybe if I talked in rhythm, it might work better. ha ha ! )

Did it take time to learn how to combine singing and playing?
I am thinking if it is worth it for me to learn that skill. Perhaps it takes to my practice.

 

[lmschgo]

(maybe if I talked in rhythm, it might work better. ha ha ! )

Talking in rhythm + playing the accordion = accordion rap

 

[EMan]

Did it take time to learn how to combine singing and playing?
I am thinking if it is worth it for me to learn that skill. Perhaps it takes to my practice.

I started singing in the privacy of my studio, quite young; so I guess it took a while, but nothing excessive.

I'm not privy to your use of your accordion. If you market yourself and play out, I would think it is definitely worth it. There are many more opportunities for someone who sings and plays that for someone who only plays. Even if you're just playing for yourself and your family, being able to sing adds more to your playing.
One caveat: make sure you can carry a tune or it can get pretty dicey !

 

[Harrytulipan]

I started singing in the privacy of my studio, quite young; so I guess it took a while, but nothing excessive.

I'm not privy to your use of your accordion. If you market yourself and play out, I would think it is definitely worth it. There are many more opportunities for someone who sings and plays that for someone who only plays. Even if you're just playing for yourself and your family, being able to sing adds more to your playing.
One caveat: make sure you can carry a tune or it can get pretty dicey !

I have started to play the LH accompaniment and sing the melody.
But I think I focus too much on the accordion playing which takes asay focus from the singing.
I need to focus on becoming very comfortable with the LH, I guess.
But I think I feel a bit stuck when playing the accordion. I was only taught how to sing without playing an instrument.
So it is not about doing many things at once but rather about not having been taught how to sing when playing an instrument

 

[Dingo40]

Here's a guy who plays (early 20th century popular music) and sings at the same time and has a great deal of fun doing it: he's even turned it into an occupation.
Thanks for the tip, Losthobos!
See here:

Another selection:

The moral?
Just go for it!

 

[davidplaysaccordion]

It wasn't clear to me if the original poster is an experienced, intermediate or beginner player but ones playing ability will affect how well you can add singing into the performance.
Although I don't sing much anymore since taking up the accordion I have started to do a few songs and have the following observations.

Knowing your instrument and being able to play it without much thought is key. It's hard to sing when you are concentrating on either reading music or finding your way around the keyboard or bass side. Practice and more practice is really the only answer to that.

Knowing the piece musically. It's hard to sing if you are having to read the music in order to play it. I have noticed that in most performances where the performer is playing and singing, they know the music and the words by heart. Sometimes I'll use a lead sheet or even just chords and improvise the tune over the cords so that even if reading the words, the playing part of my brain has much less to do and is pretty much on automatic mode.

Don't overplay the music part when singing, it just needs to be accompaniment or the basic melody as simple two or three note chords at most or maybe even just the melody notes themselves if that is all the song calls for. You can add the fancy stuff in between phrases or verses.

Find your vocal range. I have almost no range at all but there are some songs that I can sing quite well if I transpose them to fit my range.

Listen to yourself sing. I found I got a lot better at singing (it was hard to get worse!) when I got a microphone and started feeding my voice into the keyboard mix (I was playing keyboards at the time) so that I could actually hear myself through the monitor along with the music.

 

[Harry]

I have been listening to people who sing and accompany themselves at the same time.
I have listened to people like Olle Adolphson and Freddy Kristoffersen.

I have been trying to do this myself on piano and accordion but it is difficult.

I sing less well when doing it. But I am not sure the singer I mentioned sang less well because of it (even if I think they sang better when only focusing on the singing).

It is hard to sing and act at the same time so I know that doing much atcthe same time can be dificult.

I know that many guitarists who really onöy sing if they can play guitar because they do not know what they do with their hands.
I do not have this issue as my main instrument is the voice and have focused a lot on that issue.

For me singing and playing at the same time is a lot about refraining from things you can do when you only thing.
I find that my accordion playing become less good. That is also bad.
Even just playing simple left hand accompaniment and singing can be a it tricky for me.

Have any of you sung and accompanied yourself? What were your experiences?

How did you learn to become good at it?

When should a person try doing this? I think I should refrain from doing it know as it seems difficult.

I can barely play accordion, but a big draw for me to learn is I think it is a great instrument to use to accompany myself solo. I play violin/mandolin and sing with a band. Singing there I can dial down instruments, but there is other stuff I like to do. I'm at the point where I can (sort of) do 2/3 things at at time. Sing and play bass, play both hands, or go REAL slow and maybe do all 3.

I think your accordion playing does not to be that good to back up your singing. For me at this stage, I just try to play some chords & sing, then switch to both hands and shut up.

I get better enough, I'll think about doing all that at once!

 

[Marty S]

I’ve only been squeezing for a few years but so far I find that even with songs I’ve known all my life, I don’t sing as well when accompanying myself and of course don’t play as well as when I’m not singing. Obviously practice is the key but I‘m not to the point of doing either one as well together as separately, especially when the musical passage is involved. The problem is I have several piano arrangements which I really like and I adapted them to the accordion, but they don’t and can’t include the melody. I guess if I were afraid of a challenge I’d never‘ve taken up squeezing in the first place.