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[David Summers]

A lot of “counterpoint” is actually arpeggio’d, broken or other form of “chord of the moment”, or its extension. you need to vary it, and keep it sparse. Flat chords have their place, but can feel heavy. It’s so easy to eg gently roll them, or bring in one note slightly late, or early. Trust your ears, and gut

In selecting “which” bit of chord, favour the colour notes, eg 3rd and 7th. Tonic does very little beyond resolving everything. 5th is a harmonic of tonic, with similar effect?

Exception is rt handing tonic + 5, the so called Power chord. Usage? The clue is in the name

Woah, 3rd and 7th! You need singers that know what they are doing for that. Singers need to know major/minor - and not all do. Whereas tonic and 5th (3/2 resonance) and easier to gets ones interval from that ...

[AnnC]

Do you play the melody?
Do you play a second voice?
Do you play chords/arpeggios?
Do you just mime and hope no one notices?

All of those 

  ditto ... and take as many melodeons as possible...our singer uses different keys for different songs depending on the range of the tune so I usually look like a small Sherpa carting Bb/Eb, C/F, D/G, and a concertina (plus OH's Cittern)  Lots of practices and keep an eye on the singer so that you're ready to match the music to their breathing/phrasing and know when they're going to start   

[Peadar]

The other possibility is that if you give the singer the line they will follow your pitch.

I believe this is how church organists accompany congregations.

[Sebastian]

The other possibility is that if you give the singer the line they will follow your pitch.

I believe this is how church organists accompany congregations.

As a church organist you try to choose a key so that the melody fits within the normal vocal range. Whatever key you choose, there will be people who complain to you afterwards that the tune was played much too high and much to low.

[Eshed]

As a church organist you try to choose a key so that the melody fits within the normal vocal range. Whatever key you choose, there will be people who complain to you afterwards that the tune was played much too high and much to low.

As a bass, they're right. The tune was played much too high! 

[Peadar]

As a church organist you try to choose a key so that the melody fits within the normal vocal range. Whatever key you choose, there will be people who complain to you afterwards that the tune was played much too high and much to low.

As a bass, they're right. The tune was played much too high! 

If ever I get to arrange a piece of music for a choir the basses will get the melody line, while the sapronas will get nothing but bar long rests

[Chris Ryall]

Another tip - from a 3 day problem solving apprenticeship with Patrick Rebaud* in Grenoble

As a general rule keep all your chords as close together in the musical "spectrum" as you can.   That means that some chords get folded, or inverted to avoid large shifts of top note in particular. The watchword is to "keep it flat"

 I sing in C quite a lot, suits my voice and offer a bass tonic or drone, both diections. 😀 I personally have a (very 🙂) useful F/F in my accs row. So generally I'll voice my chords (rt end) …

 C as  EGC pull    (2nd invesion)
 Am as EAC pull, (1st)  flattening a finger onto pull G for Am7 😉
 G7 as  GBD push for a gentle transient, FGBD for dominant  / turnaround
       To emphasis turnaround dominance I'll use F an octave up
 F as FAC pull, adding my pull D for Dm7 (3rd inversion)

Nearly all this lies within the E…D octave range, but most chords are inverted in some way. Common cadances often no more than a single finger move, or a bellows flick. 🙂

Another great source of tension against song is a sus chord. On DG basis this works well singing in G, D or C. Simply lay rt middle finger across GA pull, yes both rows!  And hold that. Vary the bass. eg A>D>C depending on the cadence you want, or whether tension is to rise or fall.  Adding my pull D gives this a real boost, and is alsi available on a club layout.

In D, play the GAD as a push on rt end, again vary the bass. Drop your index finger frim G to  middle row F# for "resolution" 😎

===

"Anatole" is also fun for cadence. The bass of each chord is the 5th (hinting dominance) of the next.  eg Falling leaves  ">" is to indicate cadence.

| Dm7 > G | > C  (bass > A) =Am7 | F > Bm  | >  Em  > Am7 |

Classic stuff, but there opportunities for short stretches of this in many songs. In effect you are preceding each dominant cadence by its own dominant, or a version of that

*Patrick plays CBA and does fantastic, cool chanson stuff with singer Anne Calas

[Peadar]

When accompanying a singer (might be yourself) with a box, what do you do?
Do you play the melody?
Do you play a second voice?
Do you play chords/arpeggios?
Do you just mime and hope no one notices?

I mostly ask about the case when the box is the only instrument playing, but if you have interesting insights about other cases, feel free to share!

Play the melody. Badly.

https://youtu.be/U6CVAYlpTFc

Sine Bhàn: Chorus and verse played once then I start singing.....in this recording 2 verses only. I am still learning this song and  only played through the tune before singing because neither melody nor vocals are secure.

[george garside]

I find a simple melody line  works fine for a single singer or 2 or 3 of them .  I think its important to keep in mind that ,generally speaking, the singer is the artist anad the box player is simply the accompanyist, unless of course the singer and  box player regularly perform as  a duo

george

[boxer]

my limited experience was in a band context, usually doing cover versions of other people's stuff.  Box parts were restricted to a middle 8 or a riff that punctuated the song.  If there was a really well known version then I tried to copy that particular original as closely as possible.  It seemed to get the best audience response.  Not exactly high art, but it paid for the beer...

[Barlow]

The other possibility is that if you give the singer the line they will follow your pitch.

I believe this is how church organists accompany congregations.

At our session the audience are encouraged to sing a song or two. Unfortunately the guy who gets them going plays only a D whistle. That is not necessarily a problem except he ALWAYS says "you start off and we''ll join in". This makes a lot of work for the guitars, but who are always ready with a capo. Of course the D whistle 95% of the time tries to join in but after many attempts gives up. The fiddles are great and can usually throw something in, even if the singer started somewhere between keys.

[Dick Rees]

Addressing the initial post, I'll agree with Lester.  IME, it depends on the singer.  If they're strong and can hold it together, you'll have more room to stretch out.  If they're less experienced or a bit shy I'll stick very close to the melody.

Anecdote:

Playing in a pub band, the mayor of the city would have a few pints of Guiness, then come on stage to sing a number.  He was well known for his ability to change key mid-stream and anyone who could stay with him to the end deserved a medal.

[Barlow]

Could I ask if that change of key was a full on intended modulating step up a tone for the last verse, or was it a Guinness™ fuelled wondering off to a random key?
If the first then the shortcoming is in the session, although a nifty key change from G to A can be effective for a bit of musical milking of the moment.

[Ellison]

I've played for a few singers over the years and had to adapt to the genre, the singer, the song, the sentiments therein. Sometimes the melody is all that's needed, sometimes a more thoughtful and considered approach is necessary. I can't see any hard and fast rules except empathy.

Here's a track I recorded with guitarist/singer Ed McGurk - I listened to the song, the words, Ed's approach to the song over and over again before I tried to add anything, I would do this for each individual song I recorded with him. Perhaps there is a rule after all - it's as important for the accompanist to know the song as intimately as the singer does.

Martin

https://soundcloud.com/martin-ellison/the-summer-before-the-war

[Janneke Slagter]

The balance between singer and instrument. I have 2 examples. 1is right and 1is wrong My sister sings after I play the music and I sent a file to her by Dropbox. And she send the songfile back to me and after that I do the mix. I think you will agree, the last one is the wrong one. There is not a good balance between vocals and instruments.
Killing me softy https://youtu.be/7nBzOSZKn3g
I believe in you  https://youtu.be/yMMgB3K79VQ

[Chris Ryall]

Did some playing for others in the mid Pennine session en route to Whitby 

what worked best was … very sparse. Basically just carry the rhythm and lay out the chord run. The singer is boss and it's musically hazardous to forget that.

[Jozz]

"When accompanying a singer (might be yourself) with a box, what do you do?"

I do this with a choir and the answers are as follows:

Do you play the melody?: yes, sometimes it is right the play along as one of the voices. I tend to play in an octave that is weakest in the choir.
Do you play a second voice?: yes, only if I had time to prepare for this, I don't improv.
Do you play chords/arpeggios?: yes, this I can easily improv. So no two performances will be the same.
Do you just mime and hope no one notices? no.

One important thing that I do is give an intro/lead-in so that everybody starts in tune easier, and has the right tempo. (Hopefully)

[Chris Ryall]

Good point. Starting properly can be a challenge

And remarkably, finishing cleanly … even more difficult!

[David Summers]

If ever I get to arrange a piece of music for a choir the basses will get the melody line, while the sapronas will get nothing but bar long rests

This made me smile.

Reminds me of one song, where as a low voice,  I sing for ages on a D, cos the key is D major and for ages the tune is based on the tonic chord in its various inversions - and the one note you can't loose in an inversion is the D .... but just why the low voices have to do it is beyond me.

Another song cycle through the notes CFE for several pages, only for the lows to come in with the wrong timing, because thats what the sodding music says ...

[Chris Ryall]

If ever I get to arrange a piece of music for a choir the basses will get the melody line, while the sapronas will get nothing but bar long rests

I get the joke. It has some musical validity too, but the lowest note heard is very influental to our brains in setting the context of other notes in and harmony. To demo … play some random little phrase against a bass drone of eg D,G or C push, or E, D or C pull. 

Quite a different feel?  Yes, in theory the tonality note could be one of the higher ones, but in practice, or by convention we hear the bass as that.  Perhaps better is to drone a pull G agaist the various basses.

… which is why every jazz trio has bass player