Singing and Playing

[Rosstrum]

is it just me or is this hard as hell to learn??? i cant sing barely at all when trying to play, i can if the riff is easy enough or if i know it well enough but i still miss notes and the rythem sometimes gets messed up? any suggestions for learning how to do this?? or just practice practice practice??

[edly]

It's just something you have to get used to. It depends 100% on how comfortable you are with what you're playing and what you're singing. There are always certain melodies I want to sing but can't because the guitar parts are to difficult, or vice versa, but with a little patience it's not to difficult to be comfortable with playing and singing.

i love to watch old jimi hendrix videos because he could sing over just about anything. same with metallica.

[VillageIdiot]

If its chords, try and pair chord changes up with words or rhythms you are singing.

[idealflaw]

This is so unbelievably hard for me too. I play quite complex guitar work, (don't laugh, it's complex to me anyway), and it is so hard to sing at the same time. But i see corgan do it, i see VAST, the tea party and other bands do it. what am I missing? I've been playing a LONG-assed time, so it's not 'Time".

[airfall]

if you want to sing and play, you have to write songs so that you can sing them. everyone's different, but definitely dont be playing 64th notes through your verses :)

[The User]

Originally posted by idealflaw
[B]But i see corgan do it, i see VAST, the tea party and other bands do it. what am I missing? /B]

VAST! Yes! I though everybody had forgotten about them! Their first album is excellent!

and i have no problem singing and playing. Maybe its just practice. Know the guitar parts and the songs in your sleep and then sing.

[scarecrowX52]

Actually, if you watch Metallica play, (like on a home video or something), or even just listen to them, (assuming you know which parts James is playing), you'll notice that his playing and singing go hand in hand.

It could actually help alot to really pay attention to what he does on the guitar in relation to his vocal parts. Notice how most of the cord changes accur between vocal lines so he doesn't really have to do two things at once persay? Did that make any sence?

[hoarski]

i learn the song on guitar backwards, then i learn the words then i put the two together, this works for me, although i'm not too flash at singing

[airfall]

Originally posted by hoarski
i learn the song on guitar backwards, then i learn the words then i put the two together, this works for me, although i'm not too flash at singing
you learn it backwards? wow. never thought of that one
:)

[lumpenprole]

As everybody has said, it's different for everybody. I think if you started out learning to sing and play at the same time, that's just what you're comfortable with.
I'm pretty big on the 'grunt and hum' method. I start by sort of mumbling the words while I learn the part over and over again, then I get louder and clearer each time I play it.
I do notice though, that you tend to write things you're comfortable with. Whenever my bass player writes a song, I have a **** of a time singing over it.

[i_finlayson37]

I've got a few little tips of how to start with this:

This sounds weird but if you try singing along to a song while chatting to someone on MSN or a chatroom it does seem to help your brain do two things at once.

As for actually picking up the guitar No Surprises by Radiohead is a great place to start, then go for Street Spirit if you want something a little harder. The nice flowing arpeggio's really help.

[mustangman]

no surprises by radio is really a great start, but also try some weezer songs, specifically cuomos parts. eg. island in the sun

[lumpenprole]

Actually, I've been meaning to put together a collection of my favorite 2 and 3 chord songs, cuz there's a lot. Here's a few I started with:

Save it for Later (English Beat)
Heroin (Velvet Underground)
Roadrunner (Modern Lovers)

Nice and easy and fun to sing.

[mustangman]

singing and playing simultaneously is just like tapping your foot to a beat and singing. if you check out all the great guitarist/singers, when they play chords or riffs, their wrists are like air strumming constantly even when they're holding a note to keep with the beat and they just need to actually pluck the strings when they need to. the key is to find the beat of the song, and keep moving your arm to it, hitting strings and changing chords accordingly

[Ice age coming]

I cant sing without playing guitar...

[crumb]

I can do both at the same time, but I SUCK at singing, it never comes out right with the music. I really wish I could stay in key, I'm soo bad!!# ARGHH

[NoteBOOM]

You just kinda do, I don't know.

[motorcycle loop]

Heroin (Velvet Underground)

Man, just a couple weeks a go I set out to learn how to sing and play guitar at the same time. I had been watching "The Doors" at the time(learned Light My Fire the same day by watching that movie), and the part where there at Andy Warhol's party reminded me of Heroin(since it's playing in the background) and I figured out how to play and sing at the same time right there. The trick is how you organize your parts. Complex chord switching is to hard for your brain to compel. For Heroin, I use the D chord in bar position, and I only fret two notes of the G chord(low G and low B) and leave the other notes open. Just keep your rythm parts simple, and you'll be okay.

[Bring_back_Alf!]

I hate singing when I play I'm not a good singer at all. Try talking through the vocal lines while you play I sing and play for my church and it works fine for me.

You kinda have to disconnect the two. Sometimes when I'm playing a hard part, I think back to myself, "was I singing through that part" because it seems like I wasn't.

Have you ever been driving and talking at the same time and then next thing you kow your there, and like, wha? Was I paying attention to the road? I must have been. (Okay now I sound like a dangerous driver) It's kinda like that. Get real comfortable with what you're playing, it has to be like second nature.

Or try singing the song, and struming the chord once at the chord changes.

As you sing the song, only stum the chord at the changes. Your ears will get used to this and then filling in the strumming will get a lot easier. Then you can move onto harder things like Picking while you sing and so forth.

It's the same with picking, figure out what overall tone is being sounded, and then hit that note while you sing. Then fill it in with the picking as you get used to it.

Hope this helps.

[AndThenTheresMe]

I practice singing and playing with two songs: "Lithium" by Nirvana and "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead. Learn something down pat and then practice playing the rhythm part and singing.

[METaLLiKka7447]

James Hetfield once said he would sit down and learn exactly what he would play every time he hit a string while he was singing in parts, he probobly doesnt do that anymore considering hes been singing since '81 so he is probobly just natural to him now

[airfall]

i can sing and play "married with children" by oasis and "she hates me" by puddle of crap or whatever their name is. i definitely sound godawful, but i finally have both parts in time! now i need voice lessons. badly

[Bring_back_Alf!]

Originally posted by METaLLiKka7447
James Hetfield once said he would sit down and learn exactly what he would play every time he hit a string while he was singing in parts, he probobly doesnt do that anymore considering hes been singing since '81 so he is probobly just natural to him now

That's exactly what I was trying to say. Works either with chords or single notes.

[patlang12]

I think some people are better at it than others. I guess you can get better if you practice it.