There is no direct evidence that Adémar performed as a singer at either the abbey of Saint Cybard or Saint Martial. Nevertheless, as in the case for identifying him as a composer, there is strong circumstantial evidence that he regularly sang the liturgy and perhaps even performed as a soloist. That evidence comes from a variety of sources, some pertinent to Adémar's status as a Benedictine monk and as a music scribe, others, from the literary and musical sources he himself left behind, more specific to Adémar as an individual. The picture that emerges is of a skilled musician who enjoyed intimate familiarity with the musical repertories practised at Saint Martial and Saint Cybard, who knew both the chants and the music theory that helped to organize them in the minds of those who sang them; in short, someone who had at least some claim to be both musicus and cantor.

The surest and quickest way for someone in Adémar's position to obtain the level of musical knowledge he evinces would be through singing in the liturgy, first as a choir monk and then perhaps as a soloist. A non-singer who observed the liturgy and participated to the extent he was able could absorb a certain amount about the repertories, and could certainly read some of the available treatises in music theory that explain the underlying principles.