Singing while playing is like patting your head and rubbing your tummy: each is easy on its own, but together everything gets tangled at first. That happens to everyone. The trick: one thing must run on autopilot before you add the second – and that’s almost always the accompaniment.
Five steps
- Accompaniment on autopilot: play the song until you can change chords without looking. At first one downstroke per beat is enough.
- Speak the lyrics: keep playing and speak the lyrics in rhythm, without the tune – like a rap.
- Hum: now hum the melody. Humming is easier than singing because you don’t have to think about the words.
- Sing with fewer strokes: sing the lyrics and strum only once per bar, on beat one. Then twice, then on every beat.
- Mark the changes: notice on which syllable the chord changes. It’s often a stressed word. These syllables are your signposts.
The right key for your voice
If a song is uncomfortably high or rumbly low, it’s not you – it’s the key. Move the song until you can sing comfortably. Children’s voices are usually higher than adults’. In the app, the ★ suggestion shows a key that combines easy grips with a good singing range. How changing keys works is explained in Transposing.
How the app helps
In the song player every chord sits right above the syllable where it changes. In “Waits for me” mode the backing stops at each change until you’re ready. For songs with a melody you can have the tune played along and hum with it first. Good to start with: Zum Geburtstag viel Glück and Hänschen klein.
Play songs