I like to accompany myself singing tunes, and would like the occasional listener to be able to hear my voice over the piano. Suggestions for how to accomplish this w/o mic'ing myself or using the soft pedal (which doesn't work well)?

Thanks in adv...

Do you know how to project with your voice, and control dynamics in playing?

Yes to both, to an extent. Typical scenario is my wife sitting behind me over right shoulder and able to hear me during quieter parts but not louder parts. It would be tough to turn the piano in our living room so that I could face audience. I could probably work more on both projecting and playing quieter, but it seems that playing something fairly raucous quietly is a big skill to acquire

Another alt is that I have a mic/stand in the room, but then amp'ing through our home stereo (even w/small reverb box) doesn't sound great.

Here' another thought - talk to your piano tuner about installing a felt mute rail. It's simply a felt curtain that drops down in front of the hammers when you pull a lever - it makes the piano super quiet.

A lot of people install these felt curtain mutes if they live in an apartment. They really bring the volume down...

thanks for the idea. is that possible for a grand? i have heard of those for uprights

Spoke to a retired voice teacher about it and it turns out I can overcome it through projecting - which I know how to do, just need to think about it. Though it's enjoyable to play and just sing to myself, I just need to be conscious to sing out to my audience and it's fine.

Thanks, keystring, for getting me on the right track!

You are most welcome. I sing, and unfortunately, project all too well.