I'm a singer, primarily, who in the past 9 months has gone from singing mostly for myself and mostly unaccompanied with occasional forays into banjo and concertina accompaniment (having abandoned guitar), to being a member of a 5-person band that performs for actual audiences.

Obviously, it's time for some serious thought about song accompaniment! The recent thread on unaccompanied song and the one on voice quality touch on this.

In one of those someone said, "good accompanists are born, not made." Though that may be true of the best of them, I'd hope that there's plenty that people can learn to improve their accompaniment!

This thread seems to be the most comprehensive one on accompaniment issues. It surprises me that there aren't other comparable threads. The subject often comes up, but usually in the context of discussions of unaccompanied singing.

Here's a listing of what I see are some song accompaniment topics / approaches / issues I'd like to see some more discussion on. I'm particularly interested in your own experiences and in recorded examples you can cite.

Different techniques:
- unison with melody
- harmony line in parallel or counterpoint to melody
- chordal accompaniment
Do some of these techniques fit some traditions better than others?
What are notable exceptions to your answer to the question above?

How to deal with different song rhythms:
- rhythmic
- free rhythm

How to build the accompaniment?
- start with the song, then add pieces?
- varying instrumentation within or between songs
- the continuum from unaccompanied voice thru sparse to lush

Melodic bits aside from the song itself
- tags for breath and/or ornamentation between lines or verses
- instrumental introductions, breaks, closers

Parallels in approaches to the non-vocal music
- unison
- harmony
- counterpoint or compatible counter-melody
- chordal

Vocal teamwork:
- unison as a valid option
- harmony (2 voices, more voices)
- counterpoint

How to learn it?
- listening to others' examples - like who?
- experimentation
- practice, practice, practice in working together

I'll contribute some examples, ideas, or specific questions I can think of in separate posts.

~ Becky in Tucson