Course on Accompanying Singers

Vocal Accompaniment
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Hey all,

I’ve received many requests for a course on accompanying singers.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make this work and was just chatting to @natasha0412 over email about it and here’s where we’re at:

Find someone who can sing and play the piano

  • the only other way would be to have a piano player and a singer which from a logistical standpoint would be tricky to film, organise, sync, and edit the lesson.

  • I use a singing grade microphone (Rode NT1) for my voice on PianoGroove lessons, and so I already have the setup and equipment

  • This way the tutor could sing, accompany him/herself and then explain why he/she chose the voicings, chose to add fills etc…

  • It would also keep the lesson layout and format intact, giving the same viewing experience - I think it would work beautifully!


What does everyone think of this idea?

I’m actively looking for new tutors and I think a Singer/Pianist would be a great skill set to add to PianoGroove tutorials as they could really give you the low-down on how to accompany.

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I love this idea, I’m a piano/ singer myself and I would like to expand my accompaniment abilities.

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Awesome Michael, I’m glad you like the idea.

I’m receiving requests for this more and more and I’ve been thinking a lot into how it could be delivered.

It clicked a few days ago that someone who sings and plays would be able to give ‘both sides of the story’.

Not to rule out future lessons with both a singer and a pianist, but this approach will be much easier for me to deliver quickly and effectively.

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I think this would be extremely valuable! Thanks for this!!!

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Great stuff,

I’ll keep everyone updated on progress in this thread Christine :slight_smile:

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This would be one of the most important steps in our development as a musician, most of our work is comping either vocal or lead instrumentalist. Please proceed with this great initiative.

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this is exciting addition to our journey on learning on PianoGroove. One suggestion I have for a teacher would be to use existing songs (e.g., Misty) in an accompaniment format to complement songs where we learned to play the melody.

I’m really looking forward to this addition

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Yes I agree Neil, comping is an art in itself. I have been working on my comping but with a focus on the jazz trio setting. Listening is, of course, the first place to start. And I then find the iRealPro app to be an invaluable aid.

A tutorial from a musician who both sings and plays would give great insight into the intricacies, decisions, and choices that go into a creating an accompaniment behind a singer.

I think that’s a brilliant idea Joel. Virtually all of the jazz standards we have covered have lyrics and the universally popular tunes like Misty would be a great place to start!

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Great news everyone, the course on “How To Accompanying Singers” is underway.

Here’s a sneak peek into the upcoming course with Lyndol:


Lyndol is an accomplished singer, pianist, educator, and composer.

Her first course is dedicated to the art of vocal accompaniment and moving forwards, she has the experience and expertise to teach jazz harmony, improvisation, composition and much more.

I’m very excited to have Lyndol onboard with us as a new tutor and her first course will be available around the end of this month.

Let us know what you think :slight_smile:

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This is what I’ve been looking for. I’ll be very interested to watch this course develop.
Cheers,
Scott

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Great to hear that Scott.

I’d estimate the course will be available by the end of next week.

I’ll post updates in this thread.

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This looks really useful - looking forward to this too :ok_hand:

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Yes me too James.

Lyndol can give insight from both perspectives - the jazz pianist, and also the jazz singer - which I think is very unique.

Her course will be beneficial for students who want to learn how to accompany themselves, and also for students who want to learn to accompany other people.

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I’m really looking forward to this lesson.

Thanks,
Don

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That’s great to hear Don.

It’s a full course, not just a lesson, all 7 lessons will be published at once.

The lessons in the course by Lyndol are:

  1. Working With Singers - Goals & Expectations

  2. How To Accompany Singers - Melody, Harmony & Bass (“Autumn Leaves” in G Minor)

  3. Adding Fills, Taking Solos & Ending The Tune (“Autumn Leaves” in G Minor)

  4. Uptempo Accompaniment (“Summertime” in D Minor)

  5. Easy Transposition: How To Transpose Songs Quickly

  6. Ballad Accompaniment (“Body & Soul” in Db Major)

  7. Singing & Playing: Tips For Singing Pianists


I’ve been working closely with our new teachers to plan and record the lessons.

Moving forwards, we’ll be publishing entire courses at once. Both this course, and Matt’s Minor Blues Course will be ready around the first week of March.

Both courses will be published with 7 lessons, and the teachers can add more to the courses in future if applicable/necessary.

I’m very excited for both courses and the value and insight that they will add to PianoGroove.

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I agree, it would be fantastic. Thank you Hayden :):smile:

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Hey Everyone,

To thank you all for your input and feedback in this thread, I’ve decided to ‘soft launch’ the first 4 lessons in this course to you guys who are most interested in the content.

Please check out the lessons below which all focus on the tune “Autumn Leaves”. I’d love to hear any additional feedback, ideas or suggestions you may have.

We now have a very solid ‘template’ for accompaniment jazz standard tutorials and Lyndol has done a brilliant job planning and recording the lessons.

The course page has not been published yet, but you can find the first 4 lessons below with full PianoGroove video functionality.

You can also download the chord changes with lyrics here:

Autumn_Leaves_Lyrics.pdf (494.0 KB)

Lesson 1: Working With Singers - Goals & Expectations

Lesson 2: Accompanying Singers: Melody, Harmony & Bass

Lesson 3: Piano Accompaniment Techniques: Adding Fills

Lesson 4: Improvised Solos & Common Jazz Endings

The full course of 7 or 8 lessons will be completed before the end of the month and I will then send the course out to all students via email.

Whilst the course will be launched with 7 lessons, we can also add to the course with more jazz standards in the future :slightly_smiling_face:

Cheers,
Hayden

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Congratulations Hayden !: This course looks fantastic :grinning:

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Hi Hayden,
Just had a look at the first three and I am very impressed. Now I would like to know how best to comp this song in a trio setting
Cheers,
Neil

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LOVE her !!! Your tutors (including yourself) need a bio page with photos and a couple clips of video performances so we can meet the person and musician