Accompanying Yourself

I've been playing the piano for nine years and I've been a member of chorus for seven of those years. Out of those seven years, only once did I combine both chorus and my piano lessons publicly, and it was less than a perfect performance. Granted, I was only in fifth grade at the time, but I've been traumatized by that experience so much that I have little or no desire to ever sing and play the piano in public, at the same time, ever again. That said, in private when practicing the piano I often make up words to the various classical pieces I'm currently playing; I find that making up rhyming words to the tune helps me memorize a piece. Often before a piano concert, instead of nervously reviewing my sheet music, I'll sing the words I've matched to the piece in my head and that helps to me calm down and perform with more ease. I've noticed that when I sing along with my piano at home, my voice changes slightly; it usually becomes higher and more breathy than it normally would be. I also mess up more when I'm trying to accompany myself, for I'm focusing on both the words and the music at the same time, and I've never been great at multitasking. I wouldn't say that I'm worse when I sing alone, but I'm certainly not better unless I'm really into the music and I'm simply belting out the notes. The difference I've found between singing alone and with someone, whether accompanying myself or not, is the level of confidence. Unless I'm really 110% sure of my notes while singing alone, I am not as confident as I would be if I were singing with someone else. In conclusion, I'll probably never accompany myself (or anyone else) in public again, but it's defiantly great practice and it is a much different experience than singing in a chorus in public.