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Piano and Vocal Music Essentials

The piano is a common instrument in many genres of music such as pop, rock, jazz, and folk due to its versatility and wide range. It is often used for accompaniment since it can play chords and melodies simultaneously. Due to its use of hands and feet, piano playing can be done while singing. Professional and serious amateur musicians are generally expected to have basic piano skills.

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Tom Hart
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49 views1 page

Piano and Vocal Music Essentials

The piano is a common instrument in many genres of music such as pop, rock, jazz, and folk due to its versatility and wide range. It is often used for accompaniment since it can play chords and melodies simultaneously. Due to its use of hands and feet, piano playing can be done while singing. Professional and serious amateur musicians are generally expected to have basic piano skills.

Uploaded by

Tom Hart
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The piano is a mainstay in pop, rock jazz and folk music, owing to its diversity and range.

In
fact, there is strength to the argument that it is more common for a modern ensemble to
contain a piano than not.

Another key function of the piano is accompaniment. Its dual chordal and melodic nature
mean that it can be used both as a stand-alone accompaniment instrument, and as a substitute
for a larger ensemble in rehearsals or performance. As playing requires only the hands and
feet, singing and piano playing can be, and often is, done simultaneously.

It tends to be expected that all professional musicians (and the vast majority of serious
amateurs) have at least rudimentary skills at the piano.

The Organ

Aerophone Keyboards
Historic Keyboards
Singers
Today, singers are the focal point of any musical ensemble. Indeed, it is rare to see in the
charts any purely instrumental music, as lyrics are now seen as the focal point for the modern
listener.

In a score, a singer may be denoted by voice, vocals, range, character or any indication that
whose meaning is clear. It is almost always stated as to whether the voice is solo or in a group.

Common Voice Ranges


Voice ranges are divided into male and female, although there is significant overlap. Exact
ranges depend on the voice of the performer and vary considerably, and even the commonly
agreed subdivisions have varying definitions. When composing or arranging, it is usually
wise to limit vocal ranges to two octaves or less. Below is a rough guide to the main vocal
ranges used in broad-scale classical music.

Soprano
The soprano is the highest female voice. A typical soprano range is two octaves beginning at
middle C. Sopranos will always be written in the treble clef, regardless if as a soloist or in a
choir. Historically, sopranos were written in the soprano clef, i.e. a C (alto) clef with the
specified C being the bottom line of the stave. This will only be encountered in autograph
scores from before the 20th century.

Alto
The alto (or contralto) is a low range for a female voice. A typical range is a fifth lower than
that of a soprano (from F3 to F5). Modern alto parts are always written in treble clef, though
historically (as with sopranos), they were written in alto clef.

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