Why would a singer learn piano?

Why would a singer spend hours learning piano?

I’m not a singer but I had singers come to me to improve their piano skills. One of them, Lise, started practicing her jazz chords and improvisation skills with the intent of accompanying herself on the piano and eventually getting music gigs. Well one day, she announces to me that she got a contract on a cruise ship to sing and play! I think it was a 3-month contract. Not bad!

I would give her special assignments for her to practice but the basics stay the same.

There’s a few exercises a singer can do while practicing piano:

• Sing the improvisation patterns as you practice them on the piano. This point could be hard at first, but if started really, really step-by-step, the skill improves quickly.
• Sing the scales while you do them. I wouldn’t recommend a singer to always practice her/his scales only with the piano. A think a singer should mostly practice scales ‘a capella’ since her voice is her instrument but could spend some time doing it with the piano.
• Sing the chord progression while practicing II-V-I, for example. (note: II-V-I is just a sequence of 3 different chords)

The goal of music is communication and the combination of both singing and piano solo is a beautiful way of communicating. But of course each singer’s goals are different. For a singer who wants to improve her/his chance to get different kinds of gigs, I would totally recommend spending one intense year practicing piano.

Patrick
lapianolessons.com

piano lessons · singer