Playing and singing

[RitchS]

I've been playing bass a long time and background harmonies have never been a problem. Well, we got tired of trying to find a singer who wasn't either a narcissist or just plain crazy and I took the lead spot on top of playing bass. In short, does anyone have any tips on doing both at the same time? For some reason, playing rhythm guitar and singing is easy, but playing bass and singing is considerably more difficult.

[mantrabass]

Bumping, and also asking for tips or techniques. I've always been terrible at it, I have a hard time telling my fingers and my mouth to do two different things. ._.

[jgroh]

Originally Posted by mantrabass

Bumping, and also asking for tips or techniques. I've always been terrible at it, I have a hard time telling my fingers and my mouth to do two different things. ._.

Me too...(by the way Im near Reading) I have played for a long time but most of that time was in original bands. We were progressive rock type bands with little need for vocal harmonies. Now that I have been in cover bands for the last 4 years, its been a growing need for me to at least add backups. And, like the OP, it stinks trying to find a good singer without LSD (lead singer disease) and it would be great if I could do it myself.

[roadkill2309]

Hem. Looks like I'm not the only one who has troubs singing and playing bass at the same time. No tips here, unfortunately, but I *will* say that endless practise helps a lot.

[Doctor Dirt]

A lead singer / bassists is certainly a very difficult position to master. I feel the singing must be first and the instrument second however to position the bass as a second in anything is kinda silly. It is essential in live music and you'd like that very important instrument to have the musician playing it to have full attention on it.
That being said if you take the approach that the singer comes first and the bass becomes a supporting part of a song I think that works well. If theres vocals present then everyone is supporting the singer and the song.
As a young musician in my home town everyone needed to lend a hand in the vocal department other than the horn players. They eventually learn to add some vocals or perfect some percussion parts.
Get the bassline down and if you have to "massage it" to be most comfortable singing the tune then do it. For me the vocals comes first. I've been a lead singer (drummer)who can accompany other vocalists singing the one/third/fifth and in years gone by even the 7th hahahaha thats a while ago.
If you want the job go for it whole heartedly. good luck. Doc

[maxgrant]

Well, this is what I do. First off, there is no magic. You have to practice doing it, a lot. I recommend getting your bass chops up to snuff, but you ALSO have to be very confident of what you're singing. There's really no special technique except to adopt a kind of Zen state of mind, and focus on what notes and rhythms you are performing, and try not to consciously direct either/or of fingers and vocal chords/tongue.

My first approach to a song is to just start trying it out, and see what happens. Some songs are much easier than others.

If I run into a tongue-twister (which is what it feels like when the rhythms are really far apart) I try to approach it like a computer approches multi-tasking, which is to say there is no such thing as multi-tasking. Computers "multi" task by interleaving threads, and that's how you sing and play at the same time. If your rhythms are concordant, you can "sing" your bass rhythm, and that's easy. If they are not, you have to syncopate your words with your beats. Just find the slices in between the other slices, and practice the parts that twist your tongue or fingers. I will sit there and do a single run over and over again to get just the right accents in the right places so that my bass doesn't sound interrupted and my vocals don't sound hastily fitted in around the edges.

But as I said after you do this for a long while, you start to realize you can improvise even while you are doing both at once. This is when the Zen thing starts. There are times where I have no real consciousness of what my hands are doing, and I can totally focus on the head-space of the song. My hands really almost seem to be playing by themselves, and I only occasionally need to check in on them and see that they're OK.

Took me a long, long time to get to that state. Practice in front of a mirror. Actually, let me re-emphasize that. PRACTICE A LOT in front of a mirror. It gets your eyes off your neck and facing forward, which gets your head UP, which gets your back straight, which means you can breathe.

Also, it means you have to memorize where your hands go. When you're really feeling frisky, add a fretless into the mix and see if you can do THAT without looking at the neck for long periods of time.

And I can't re-and-over-emphasize this enough from my time in high school choir to my martial arts training: your posture matters hugely. I emphasize the mirror because you can see yourself and you can see how straight you're standing. You will make your life so much easier if your chest is "open", your shoulders straight, etcetera. If you hunch over your bass you'll fight like hell to get your notes out.

But most importantly there is no way to do it but to do it.

[JDJen]

I had to dumb down some of my basslines when I would take over lead vocals on some songs. I'd practice and practice playing and singing but just couldn't play the lines I did when someone else sang, so I went bassic.

[Muttleybass]

I usually get the bass down first, and practice it until I can't get it wrong... Then I'll put the bass down and practice the vocals. I'll get the singing right down, then pick up the bass and work out the parts together, one line at a time if I have to.

Sometimes I'll have to simplify the bass until the vocals are down.

Lots of other great advice here. That's just how I do it.

[JohnMCA72]

There's a big, long sticky thread here somewhere - maybe under "Misc."?

Edit: Found it under "Band Management":

Bassist's Guide to Singing

[guitfiddle0409]

Watch a lot Cream videos with Jack Bruce. Watch how he completely separates singing and playing bass so neither is compromised. Then just say the heck with it and watch Lemmy.

[soulman969]

Originally Posted by RitchS

I've been playing bass a long time and background harmonies have never been a problem. Well, we got tired of trying to find a singer who wasn't either a narcissist or just plain crazy and I took the lead spot on top of playing bass. In short, does anyone have any tips on doing both at the same time? For some reason, playing rhythm guitar and singing is easy, but playing bass and singing is considerably more difficult.

I've been playing for 35+ years and have also been the primary lead vocalist/bassist in virtually every band I've been in since HS and I'd be the first to admit that it's a challenge. Here are some thoughts for you.

1) Simplify your playing but make it fundamentally sound.

2) Watch your tempo. A singer/bassist tends to push.

3) Unless your a true wizard on it don't use a 5 string bass. It adds complications IMO. I had a beatiful Modulus 5 that I truly loved playing but the combination of 5 strings, muting the B, and a longer scale length was distracting to me so I used my Jazz Bass most of the time.

4) Get either your bass lines or the vocals (lyrics/melody/phrasing) to the point where it's automatic. You can really only concentrate on one at a time when you're performing. I tended to spend a lot of time getting my bass lines down pat so I could concentrate on the vocals. The audience listens to what you sing but they're only aware that you're playing.

5) Choose your vocal material wisely. The more synchopated the bass line the harder it is to sing over it. My personal nightmare was "Papa's Was A Rolling Stone" and most anything you could consider straight funk. Straightahead 4/4 Rock, Blues, and Country are fairly easy if you spend some time practicing them.

6) Work your vocals out with guitar first with just basic rhythm chords until you're satisfied. Record the guitar if you can. Then play back the guitar singing and playing bass to it until you've got it down. If you can't record the guitar at least use a metronome or a click track from a drum machine while practicing.

Keep in mind that you'll only ever get it 80% in practice or rehersal with the band. The dynamics of a live performance is where you truly get it down and sometimes you'll be very pleasantly surprised at the results if you've invested the time working for them.

One other note. You don't play a vocal accompaniment instrument so have whatever instrument you do follow melodically very upfront in your monitor mix. For me it was the keyboards but for you it may be the guitarist.

Good Luck.