How to play & sing simultaneously?

[abarson]

I need to be able to competently play bass and sing (lead or harmony) at the same time. What is a good practice method to get good at this?
I seem to sometimes get conflicted since the melody and the bass line may be quite different. How do I avoid this?

[pointbass]

This questions pops up a fair amount here, so a search will give you some more info.

In my case, I only recently started singing (over the past 5 years or so) and I have found that it really helps me to know either the singing part or the bass part very well 1st, and then add in the other. In most cases, I try to have the bass lines down completely, then I start to sing. I've found that if I have to really concentrate on both the words and bass line at the same time, it's usually a disaster

After you do it for a while it gets a whole lot easier. I'm to the point now where I can usually work out both the bass line and vocals at the same time, unless one of them is particularly difficult .....

[eedre]

Singing while playing the bass.

Any Bassists/Lead Singers out there?

Singing and playing.....

I can't sing while playing, talk while playing, do anything while playing :(

[MammaryVest]

Learn the bass part so well that you could play it in your sleep. Learn all the words so you can think of them on the spot. Then try to listen and figure out some helpful reference point, like what words go with what notes. After you practice that a lot with songs that you know, you will be better able to do it on the fly. But doing it with no preparation is pretty tough unless you REALLY know the song.