{"id":1234,"date":"2010-12-10T00:31:15","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T08:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/piano-blog\/?p=1234"},"modified":"2010-12-10T00:31:15","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T08:31:15","slug":"accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here on DoctorKeys.com, you can learn to use chords to accompany your own singing. To show you how approachable and fun this can be, here&#8217;s 8-year-old Ali to demonstrate. (I couldn&#8217;t bear to edit out the opening moments of this video, and I think you&#8217;ll understand why when you see it.)<\/p>\n<p><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/Cn_iv4HfrLQ?hl=en&amp;fs=1\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/Cn_iv4HfrLQ?hl=en&amp;fs=1\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/embed><\/object><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Notice that Ali is playing a genuine <a href=\"http:\/\/www.doctorkeys.com\/chord-piano-lessons\/progressions_charts_accompany-p2.html\">accompaniment<\/a>, rather than merely duplicating the melody. It&#8217;s musically effective because what she&#8217;s singing and what she&#8217;s playing are completely independent of each other.<\/p>\n<p>Since her hand is still small, Ali is playing only two notes at a time in the right hand, as opposed to the 3-note chords an adult would be playing.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the all-important fun\/motivation factor, there are powerful reasons for learning to play and sing arrangements like these. For starters:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 They&#8217;re great for teaching chords. And when you have a handle on chords, you can memorize faster and more securely, <a href=\"http:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/piano-blog\/2010\/11\/two-secrets-to-becoming-a-better-sightreader\/\">sight-read more easily<\/a>, and be more creative.<br \/>\n\u2022 Since Ali learned this arrangement by ear (and thus never had to read from the page), she&#8217;s been able to put all her attention on technique, rhythmic flow, and singing. (Notice how strong she is in all three areas.)<br \/>\n\u2022 When you sing, you develop your most important musical asset\u2014your ear.<\/p>\n<p>Teachers: don&#8217;t expect to find arrangements like this in books. But you just might begin to enjoy the process of custom-tailoring them yourself, which includes finding a key to suit your student&#8217;s vocal range, and making adjustments to the piano part based on hand size and level of ability.<\/p>\n<p>Ali and her mom, by the way, are a great learning team, and you can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brucesiegel.com\/mainpp\/piano-students-2010.html#learningteam\">read about that part of the story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n[12.14.10 update: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=smwfy4cZRH4\">here&#8217;s Ali playing and singing Imagine<\/a>, with its more complex accompaniment. ]\n<p>And on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brucesiegel.com\/mainpp\/studmp3s2005.html\">this page<\/a>, you can hear other examples of students playing and singing piano\/vocals\u2014some are harder, some easier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here on DoctorKeys.com, you can learn to use chords to accompany your own singing. To show you how approachable and fun this can be, here&#8217;s 8-year-old Ali to demonstrate. (I couldn&#8217;t bear to edit out the opening moments of this video, and I think you&#8217;ll understand why when you see it.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accompaniment","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle - Doctor Keys Piano-Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle - Doctor Keys Piano-Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here on DoctorKeys.com, you can learn to use chords to accompany your own singing. To show you how approachable and fun this can be, here&#8217;s 8-year-old Ali to demonstrate. (I couldn&#8217;t bear to edit out the opening moments of this video, and I think you&#8217;ll understand why when you see it.)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doctor Keys Piano-Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-10T08:31:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bruce Siegel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bruce Siegel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/\",\"name\":\"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle - Doctor Keys Piano-Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-10T08:31:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-10T08:31:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#\/schema\/person\/4987e53279793be5c986a4703f5dc61d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/\",\"name\":\"Doctor Keys Piano-Blog\",\"description\":\"Online Piano Tutorials\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#\/schema\/person\/4987e53279793be5c986a4703f5dc61d\",\"name\":\"Bruce Siegel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9546dc3d5b2f6fca91d098a6f5f2fb7c9db41a728acb4af87769fe499d6328b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9546dc3d5b2f6fca91d098a6f5f2fb7c9db41a728acb4af87769fe499d6328b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bruce Siegel\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/author\/bruce-siegel\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle - Doctor Keys Piano-Blog","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle - Doctor Keys Piano-Blog","og_description":"Here on DoctorKeys.com, you can learn to use chords to accompany your own singing. To show you how approachable and fun this can be, here&#8217;s 8-year-old Ali to demonstrate. (I couldn&#8217;t bear to edit out the opening moments of this video, and I think you&#8217;ll understand why when you see it.)","og_url":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/","og_site_name":"Doctor Keys Piano-Blog","article_published_time":"2010-12-10T08:31:15+00:00","author":"Bruce Siegel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bruce Siegel","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/","url":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/","name":"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle - Doctor Keys Piano-Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-12-10T08:31:15+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-10T08:31:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#\/schema\/person\/4987e53279793be5c986a4703f5dc61d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/2010\/12\/accompanying-yourself-its-a-giggle\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Accompanying yourself: it\u2019s a giggle"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/","name":"Doctor Keys Piano-Blog","description":"Online Piano Tutorials","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#\/schema\/person\/4987e53279793be5c986a4703f5dc61d","name":"Bruce Siegel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9546dc3d5b2f6fca91d098a6f5f2fb7c9db41a728acb4af87769fe499d6328b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9546dc3d5b2f6fca91d098a6f5f2fb7c9db41a728acb4af87769fe499d6328b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bruce Siegel"},"url":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/author\/bruce-siegel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorkeys.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}