Incorporating singing into your piano or guitar playing can be intimidating! Focusing on one might make you lose focus on the other, so how do we bring the two into alignment?

The best way I’ve found is to split a practice session into three parts:

1. The instrumental part

2. The melody

3. Both together super slowly.

If you find that you get stuck on part three, try these tips!

• Use the YouTube Playback Speed button. Practice with the original version of the song you're learning, but way slower than you're used to hearing it. I like to start at .5 or .75. Once you feel comfortable at that speed, bring it up gradually until you've reached the original tempo. I find that playing along with the track helps to make the vocals and instrumental a bit more mindless, so you can focus more intentionally on the whole. This is the exact method I use when learning a song with a metronome, too!

• Write out the pattern. You can use sheet music, tabs, or any other method that works for you. I personally like to write left/right letters like “RLRLLR” on the piano or up/down like "DDUUDU" or with arrows for strumming patterns on the guitar. Whatever helps you follow along! Once you've written out the strumming or finger pattern, write the lyrics under the individual beats. This will give you a clear visual cue that you can practice along with.

• Practice one measure at a time. This is hardly groundbreaking advice, but it works! Instead of trying to play through the entire page right away, break it into tiny chunks and you'll find that the song is much more manageable than you originally thought.

• Use a simple phrase to mimic the progression. Find a simple phrase with stressed syllables in the same places as the upbeats in your progression. For a "Down down up up down up" strumming pattern on the guitar, I use “I like waaatermelon”. Now you can focus on singing this phrase to match the strumming pattern without having to worry about two separate rhythms simultaneously. Once you feel comfortable, try missing a syllable “I ___ wa___mel___”. Now try adding extra syllables! This will help your brain to connect the act of singing to the act of playing.

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, consider subscribing!