Does any one like me find it hard to play the piano and sing at the same time?...i`m ok playing tunes both reading printed music and by ear,, but soon as i try and sing aswell the playing goes wrong

I see performers like Chris Martin of Coldplay playing elaborate instrumental parts on the piano but soon as he starts to sing he reverts back to block chords

Artists like Elton John are more talented at playing and singing together probably through years of experience but it feels to me like the old mental test of rubbing my tummy and patting my head at the same time, or is it the other way round

I had one young beginner who always sang the words set to her piano pieces.
I was very impressed.

Yes I find it tough to play and sing at the same time. I took a pop keyboard class, and one of the assessements was to play and sing before an internal audience.

It was tough. Firstly I had to remember all the words, then I had to remember all the chords and dynamics etc. And then put them together. It was more difficult than just playing because your playing must be almost automatic, as you have almost no time to think about what to play next, since you have to think of the lyrics.

It is also more difficult to sing when sitting down. I almost always missed the high notes, which I am usually fine with when I sing standing up.

Some of my beginners sing when they are playing. The pieces in Tunes for 10 fingers have words to them (as do most of the beginner tutor books I think) and when they are playing I often sing along with them and quite often they join in. I've noticed that pitching a note for many of the little ones is quite difficult, so I encourage them to sing and play. I hope it'll help them to develop a sense of pitch without even realising it. It'll be useful in years to come when they need to sight sing. It's also enjoyable. If they are struggling with the notes or rhythms of the piece I'll suggest they leave the singing until they know it a bit better, but I love hearing them sing along, however untunefully.

Edit: Of course this is easier on the piano - wouldn't suggest a wind or brass player sings along while they're playing!!!!!

Yes -

can help quite a bit with rhythm in the early stages too.

I find it hard to play and sing at the same time...but then I play the sax!!!

You are asking yourself to do two different tasks at the same time so yes, it is a lot more difficult. You only have half your brain to spend on each activity, so naturally you will not be as good at it as when you just do one activity at a time

I have a suggestion- I'm really interested in musicianship training. I hadn't had a mus.ship class in my life before going to college. There, we had an amazing lecturer, but she used to get us to do cruel things with the Kodaly 2 part exercises ) or any other two part work) which involved singing one line whilst playing the other and swapping. Used to call them 'sing and plays!' Anyhow- just by doing these, my sightreading improved immeasurably. It develops your coordination and exercises your mind for multi tasking-type exercises. Before, I struggled with single line sightreading, but now I can read far4 better, even on piano, and can accompany myself and sing at sight (to a modest level). If someone had told me I would ever be able to do this would have laughed in their face! However, in the early stages, it was very frustrating, I just thought it was impossible, even with some of the most basic exercises, but daily application for 10-5 mins over a few weeks will reap massive benefits for you. Give it a try! If you can't find the Kodaly exercises, see if you can find simple 2 part choral pieces instead, but I would really recommend the Kodaly ones, as they increase in difficulty incrementally and have been painstakingly thought-out. If all else fails, try singing and playing a Bach 2 part invention-but it would be better to start with something easier, as it could be discouraging to start with something that seems so difficult. It's much nicer to see semibreves. Good luck!!

I have an adult "pupil" who is actually a teacher herself but who asks me for help occasionally. She is currently preparing a French music teaching diploma and one of the tasks is to sightread a song accompaniment while sight singing the melody and words of the song. The accompaniments seem to be about Grade 4/5 piano and are pretty independant of the vocal line. I can't do this at all and she finds it difficult. I sit beside her while she tries and I spot the mistakes she misses. She doesn't often make mistakes in the singing but rather in the piano part - and it has accurate for the exam. I think this is a very difficult thing to do.

At the other end of the scale I have young pupils who spontaneously sing the note names while playing - one even making a hilarious effort to sing a note name for each hand. They don't sing the words as I use English tutor books.

Ah, you beat me to it, lilred !

Yes - 'sing and plays' are a mainstay of Kodály musicianship training - sing one line in solfa whilst playing the other. This develops not only co-ordination but reading ahead, rhythmic security and understanding, intonation and polyphonic hearing. You can progress to three and even four-part sing and plays.

And of course singing a melody in solfa and then playing it in canon on the piano is another form of this nice torture activity!