I want to sing and play the piano! How to use auto-accompaniment features and melody sheets with chord symbols
For those who want to perform and sing while playing their favorite piano, I’d like to propose a way of performing that makes use of auto-accompaniment features in apps and keyboards.
RADWIMPSand "Zenzenzen-se"Gen HoshinoI actually tried out the “Love” myself, so I hope that can also serve as a helpful reference.
With a keyboard, you can accompany yourself just by holding down the chords!
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When it comes to singing while playing a keyboard, the standard image tends to be a piano and ballad-style songs.
This is because, while the melody can be handled by the singing in a sing-and-play performance, you still have to express the bass, rhythm, and harmony all at once on the keyboard.
These are parts that other members handle within the band.
Of course, you can create a sense of rhythm using only the piano, but it would be difficult for beginners.
So, what I recommend is using a keyboard.
All kinds of keyboards
The term “keyboard” literally means a set of keys, so a piano is technically one type of keyboard. However, in the context of this article, “keyboard” refers to keyboards used in bands, such as synthesizers with keyboards, or portable keyboards.
Various sounds can be played to add rhythm, orMIDIIt can play sources such as data.digital pianoElectronic organs (such as Yamaha Electone, Kawai Dreamatone, and Roland Atelier) are also recommended.
On keyboards like these, you just select a rhythm style and hold down the chords, and the keyboard will automatically add accompaniment that matches that rhythm style.
Even if you can’t play difficult backing styles—even as a beginner—you can create cool accompaniment with the automatic accompaniment feature.
Some Roland digital pianos (LX-17, LX-7, HP605, HP603, F140R, FP-30, and KIYOLA KF-10) can connect wirelessly via Bluetooth to the free iPhone app “Piano Partner 2,” and they support ensemble performance using the auto-accompaniment function.
Let's make the most of iPad and iPhone apps!
If you don’t have a keyboard with an auto-accompaniment feature, I recommend the iPhone/iPad app “iReal Pro.”
In iReal Pro, if you enter the chords of a song you like, you can get a PDF chord chart andMusicXMLIt can also be converted to audio data such as WAV, AAC, and MIDI.
If you select and play your preferred style, rhythm, and tempo, accompaniment with drums, bass, and piano (guitar) will play.
With this data, you can enjoy playing music just by holding down chords or by playing set riffs.
You can leave the accompaniment to iReal Pro and focus on the vocals.
Of course, I also recommend it for other instruments like the guitar.
If you’re an intermediate pianist or someone who wants to create your own arrangement, you can open the accompaniment data and use the backing rhythms and chord voicings as a reference.
The iPhone app Songtive, which lets you add accompaniment by entering chords and choosing a style, is quite usable even for free.
This app lets you share chord progressions that others have added, so it’s useful not only for practice but also for arranging.
Challenge two popular songs!
The songs I tried this time are two popular tracks: RADWIMPS’s “Zenzenzense” and Gen Hoshino’s “Koi,” but in this video,Almost everything besides the vocals and guitar is handled by iReal Pro.I am doing (it).
The bass line being a bit odd is also because it’s auto accompaniment.
"iReal Pro" isJazzThere are many patterns, but it's a bit disappointing that there are few rock-style ones.
“Zenzenzense” is the theme song of the film “Your Name.” and “Koi” is the theme song of the drama “We Married as a Job,” and many people seem to want to play them on piano. However, their tempos are quite fast—190 for “Zenzenzense” and 158 for “Koi”—so it’s quite difficult for beginners to play them stylishly.
If it’s just chord changes, an intro, and an ending, even beginners will be fine.
Zenzenzense (RADWIMPS)
Except for the intro and ending, the guitar only plays chords, and the keyboard is just holding down chords as well.
Koi (Gen Hoshino)
Here, the guitar plays only chords throughout, and the keyboard focuses on the intro and ending.
Also, by using chord charts, you can quickly arrange it to give it a slightly different feel.
If you make “Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu” a bit more of a ballad, wouldn’t that convey the feeling of ‘Nigehaji loss’?
If you play the chords on the piano and add vocals, it becomes a sing-and-play version; using the same setup to add the melody makes it a solo piano version.
Code plucking is helpful!!
By all means, give it a try.
I've discussed how to do chord changes in a previous article, but for the chords used in this piece, I've posted a video on YouTube showing them on a MIDI keyboard, so please use it as a reference.
Reference:For piano beginners: an easy-to-understand way to practice chord changes
My Past Life, Many Lifetimes Ago
love
There is also a melody score with chord symbols.
I’ve included a chord chart arranged so you can play it in the key of G with a capo, as well as tabs for the intro and ending of “Zenzenzense,” so I’d be happy if you find them useful.
Zenzenzense (MOVIE VER.) chorded melody score (RADWIMPS) / DLmarket