singing

[andrewjohnsson40]

I am very interested in singing and playing.
Thinking about it it's not a popular thing.
Have you tried singing while playing?
I tried but my accordion was too loud!
One should probably play softer, right?
With Microphones it might be a bit different.
Did you ever peactice singining while playing or just them seperately?
Intonation is a bit different they day when you have more than one note at the same time. I guess we need good ears then.

 

[Geronimo]

I am very interested in singing and playing.
Thinking about it its not a popular thing.

I think its more like people focusing on accordion because they want to play it instead of singing.

Have you tried singing while playing?
I tried but my accordion was too loud!

I started on accordion because my singing became too loud for guitar when I changed to alto.

One should probably play softer, right?

Thats always an option.

With Microphones it might be a bit different.

Not all that much since you want to hear yourself even when recording.

Did you ever peactice singining while playing or just them seperately?
Intonation is a bit different they day when you have more than one note at the same time. I guess we need good ears then.

Solo play and accompaniment are quite different. Separate practice also makes at best moderate sense since bellows technique and breathing are strongly affected. If you want to sing standing up, youll need a light accordion and the bass play is affected.

 

[debra]

My wife and I play in a quintet where we typically play the fourth voice and bass. When practicing I then sing the first voice (by heart) but it's not something I would ever do in public: my accordion play is passable but my singing definitely is not.

 

[TomBR]

Not so many people come to mind singing with self-accompaniment on accordion. More doing it on concertina I think.

In the British Isles folk/trad field John Kirkpatrick has had a long career of singing whilst playing diatonics, Jim Causley is doing some lovely stuff, on PA and CBA.

I learned Sid Kippers Alphabet Song from this clip (song starts 1.50) and have done it in public a couple of times with accordion.
<YOUTUBE id=O1HV0MnYyYE url=></YOUTUBE>
In more serious vein I really like this one,
<YOUTUBE id=3uXX6XSYcso url=></YOUTUBE>


And the Russians can do it well, (no surprise!)
<YOUTUBE id=0m2LXBgrEOg url=>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m2LXBgrEOg</YOUTUBE>

Or did you mean something else?
Tom

 

[jozz]

Have tried but am not good at it

If you can sing, whilst accompanying yourself on accordion, I like it more than guitarists (standard singer/songwriters) especially those of recent years.

It used to be a substantial tradition here in the south, to sit outside a cafe and enjoy a solo accordionist/singer. Most likely he wore a hat. Not so much these years. It's a shame.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

I can (and sometimes do) sing a few simple songs whilst playing, but only the ones I can absolutely "ace" on the accordion. If I have to concentrate too much on my playing, I find it very difficult to sing along.

I would like to sing more, but find it quite impossible with any but a few of my favourite songs.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[TomBR]

It used to be a substantial tradition here in the south, to sit outside a cafe and enjoy a solo accordionist/singer. Most likely he wore a hat. Not so much these years. Its a shame.

You mean, they dont wear hats any more? That is a shame!

More seriously, sounds like a nice tradition.
T

 

[Geronimo]

It used to be a substantial tradition here in the south, to sit outside a cafe and enjoy a solo accordionist/singer. Most likely he wore a hat. Not so much these years. Its a shame.

You mean, they dont wear hats any more? That is a shame!

He probably meant its ashamed. The hat. Of being worn by an accordionist. Clothing can be particular.

 

[TomBR]

It used to be a substantial tradition here in the south, to sit outside a cafe and enjoy a solo accordionist/singer. Most likely he wore a hat. Not so much these years. Its a shame.

You mean, they dont wear hats any more? That is a shame!

He probably meant its ashamed. The hat. Of being worn by an accordionist. Clothing can be particular.

Very funny - I like it!

Perhaps wed better talk about singing while playing accordion so that henrikhank doesnt get annoyed!
Tom

 

[Geronimo]

Have you tried singing while playing?
I tried but my accordion was too loud!

I started on accordion because my singing became too loud for guitar when I changed to alto.

One should probably play softer, right?

Thats always an option.

With Microphones it might be a bit different.

Not all that much since you want to hear yourself even when recording.

Here I append a quick recording (with an old picture of the stage persona singing it, though with an accordion different from that of the recording).
<YOUTUBE id=IvzYGQ9lLRg url=>[media]</YOUTUBE>
The mics are actually on the floor, so they have a better view of the accordion than of the singer. Obviously, playing softly here is part of the balance. The actual stage accordion that would get used is quite smaller than the one in the recording.

 

[george garside]

some can sing and even chat whilst playing a box, others can't!.. If I even attempt to speak whislt playing everything goes pear shaped and has done for the past 60 years despite efforts to rectify the situation. On the other hand a mate of mine can lead a dance band whilst chatting about where he's going on his holidays or anything else. He must have a sort of bifurcated version of autopilot!

george

 

[andrewjohnsson40]

A stage accordion? What's that?
I've yet to see a guy in a cowboy hat with an accordion singing and playing. Most singers just wanna strum on a guitar.

Kerry Christensen is an artist who both sings and plays accordion.

What I hate about accordion music is that it's mostly instrumental. Of course we have the famous zydeco players like Clifton Chenier and Buchwheat Zydeco.

the main problems with the accordion could be the loudness and the fact that you have to wear it and problably the sound in itself.
You never see a vocal coach teaching singing with the accordion although it would be cool)

 

[jozz]

with an old picture of the stage persona singing it

holy shit :lol:

 

[Geronimo]

A stage accordion? Whats that?

Something that you are comfortable wearing and playing on a show. For playback folksy do you think we have time for a soundcheck and the chance to go wrong on a live show for dozens of groups? shows, this may mean a Morino without reed blocks inside for weight reasons.

For me, it meant the lady-size 3-reed 120-bass piano accordion on the picture and now means a 2-reed 80-bass button model (a step back in sound I am afraid), either in pearl white. For weight reasons.

 

[Keymn]

When I started the accordion, I always sang along while playing the melody. Until my ear was trained, I was able to improvise while playing the accordion. I would suggest play and sing the melody notes together of simple songs. Then the improvision will come naturally. Yes, a heavy accordion while standing does affect your singing power! That is why I did not consider 8x. At 65 plus we start to loose the ambient voice...think vocal cords become less resilient...
<YOUTUBE id=eOyDahi-gNw url=></YOUTUBE>

 

[jozz]

I just had my first singing lesson but all we did was massage our throats and moo like a cow. Apparantly this trains the chords. I think i will stick to {} but I would listen to you with beer in hand :ch

 

[Geronimo]

At 65 plus we start to loose the ambient voice...think vocal cords become less resilient...

Well, the scandal about Johannes Heesters performing in the Netherlands in 2008 wasnt about his singing voice, and he was 105 years at that time.

 

[Mr Mark]

I struggled to play guitar and sing at the same time - I've played guitar for close to 30 years and started singing along probably about 15 years ago. Then I started to play the accordion and have for about two years now - lo and behold I found it almost natural and easy to sing along with. So much so I have stopped playing guitar.

In an effort to quickly learn the basics of accordion (piano) I decided to transcribe a number of songs from the classic rock vein that were relatively simple and go from there. One of the issues with guitar and my voice is that I am a baritone which meant tuning my guitar down substantially to match or using a capo and altering fingerings. I found this very cumbersome and was delighted to find the bass button arrangement on the accordion a much simpler way to tune a song to my voice so to speak. The bass buttons effectively are my capo so obviously changing keys is a breeze - no alternate fingerings required.

Example: CCR - Have You Seen The Rain - the verses are basically between C and G. His voice is too high for me to sing though so I transcribed it down to Aflat and Eflat and voila, easy on my voice which this translates to a much better sounding song as I am no longer straining to hit the note in any way. You can do this with any song, and you don't have to sing either - try starting with just speaking the words.

I used to always sing loudly - I think product of a metal/rock background and then increasingly because the hand drummers I have jammed with are way too loud (impossible for campfire guitar kind of loud - to this end it is nice I can not only keep up in volume with an accordion but also command their attention as they sometimes get stuck in a zone). Increasingly I am working on reducing volume both for the accordion and voice and am finding a lot of success with that. This is really hard to do on a beater accordion with voicing issues though. Also harder to do with a heavier box - I tend to play standing up so prefer an 80 or 96. Lately I have been playing percussion with my feet so am sitting more so who knows, maybe the 120s would work again for me. At any rate I find it usually fairly simple to prattle on about anything whilst the bass hand keeps a simple melody/rythm. Almost automatic, never could do anything like this on guitar.

I recommend playing softly, standing not far from a wall in front of you and adjusting to taste - acoustics and reverb are large factors. I like to play my accordion outside but then I have to sing and play louder to be heard. I have found the soft approach to practicing has afforded me much more control when I am in those situations that require a little more volume to counter the lack of reverb in an open space.

There is a ton of classic rock/folk/country out there that is really easy to transcribe to accordion from guitar (mostly in the 1-4-5 progression) - The nice thing is that there is so much guitar tab out there to work with as well as song reference material on youtube not to mention the familiarity of the songs I already know. Not that I aspire to be a cover act but it has been a huge help to further my accordion and vocal abilities at the same time. I picked up the accordion as a result of some folk artists I listen to that sing and play at the same time as opposed to what is the more traditional approach to playing accordions - as someone referenced mostly instrumental stuff (to each their own! I wish I was as good as the instrumentalists I have seen out there!)

I recommend Wendy McNeill, Geoff Berner or Scott Dunbar as some good examples of players who sing at the same time (or Jack Garton who sings standing with a fully loaded 120 often times with a trumpet at the same time!). The accordion has unlocked my voice - so much so I am able to counter melody myself with the keyboard for the most part. With some of the comments here I can't help but think a lot of it has been my background with other instruments and this one came along at the right time - so I also recommend plinking other instruments too if you can as I think that helps exponentiate the learning process of music overall, but mostly helps with the voice...hard to explain.


Sorry long post :mrgreen:

 

[Geronimo]

In an effort to quickly learn the basics of accordion (piano) I decided to transcribe a number of songs from the classic rock vein that were relatively simple and go from there. One of the issues with guitar and my voice is that I am a baritone which meant tuning my guitar down substantially to match or using a capo and altering fingerings. I found this very cumbersome and was delighted to find the bass button arrangement on the accordion a much simpler way to tune a song to my voice so to speak. The bass buttons effectively are my capo so obviously changing keys is a breeze - no alternate fingerings required.

Example: CCR - Have You Seen The Rain - the verses are basically between C and G. His voice is too high for me to sing though so I transcribed it down to Aflat and Eflat and voila, easy on my voice which this translates to a much better sounding song as I am no longer straining to hit the note in any way.

This is a minor third or a major sixth. I find it worth pointing out that this transposition interval is as trivial in the right hand on a CBA as it is on the left hand: move one button to the right (for going up a minor third) or three buttons to the left (for going down a major sixth). So if you are accompanying your singing with more than the left hand, a CBA will still give you a hand at brainless transposition in magnitudes of minor thirds.

Actually, I find it reasonably doable to transform by other amounts as well even though I am not using a five-row usually (and tend to stick to the third three rows mainly even when transposing).

Certainly less of a chore than on a piano accordion.

 

[Keymn]

What does the public want to hear? A virtuoso accordion player doing fancy runs up and down the keys or a simpleton playing basic chords, melodies and singing. I guess both? As a working musician my clients expect me to sing and play.
(Yes throw in a fast rendition of Tico Tico in between).
You have to be a great accordion player to entertain a hour show without singing. And there are many out there!