Limelight - singing and playing, am I totally doomed?

Metal Chuck · #1 08-06-2006, 10:56 AM

Okay, I have an average voice (both in terms of ability and in terms of pitch) and I'm a pretty decent bass player, my friend wants me to sing and play Limelight at the same time, will this be really, really hard?

keb · #2 08-06-2006, 11:01 AM

Limelight is relatively easy in the singing-and-playing department. Especially compared to, say, Turn the Page.

Metal Chuck · #3 08-06-2006, 11:27 AM

I'm not really worried about singing and playing, I'm worried about the pitch of Geddy's voice, which is enough to scare me for life.

Alvaro Martín Gómez A. · #4 08-06-2006, 12:13 PM

I don't think that "Limelight" is that scary in terms of vocal pitches. For some scary stuff from Geddy, try "Bastille Day", "Anthem", "The Temples Of Syrinx" or even "Tom Sawyer" and "Freewill".

Metal Chuck · #5 08-06-2006, 12:49 PM

Alright, that's encouraging, I guess.

So this shouldn't be THAT hard, right guys?

Alvaro Martín Gómez A. · #6 08-06-2006, 12:58 PM

The hardest things in "Limelight" IMO are:

- Understanding the meter changes. If you're comfortable with that stuff, then ignore this.

- Emulating Geddy's awesome bass tone (specially during the solo) if you're pursuing that, of course.

And of course, it also depends of your vocal range. Lou Rawls would never be able to sing that song (and of course Geddy wouldn't sing ala Barry White).

smellythe2nd · #7 08-06-2006, 02:37 PM

Nice to see a lot of fellow Rush fans here

agreatheight · #8 08-06-2006, 02:53 PM

I can't do it. Too high in the vocal range. I can only do a select few in the Rush catalogue, and most are more recent and aren't well known (the Pass, Driven, etc). I gave up on doing older Rush a long time ago - I have no interest in becoming a castrati, which is what it would take!

Good luck.

Metal Chuck · #9 08-06-2006, 09:41 PM

Looks like I'll have to have somebody kick me in the balls before the show.

TimBosby · #10 08-06-2006, 09:44 PM

I don't think I could play ANY Rush song. And I definitely could not sing any Rush song.

But that's simply because I suck.

You should be alright as long as you're not me.

Metal Chuck · #11 08-06-2006, 10:11 PM

But I really really suck, so I'm in trouble, right, right?

seanm · #12 08-06-2006, 10:27 PM

Or bring the key down to where you *can* sing it.

Metal Chuck · #13 08-07-2006, 02:18 AM

Gotcha, I will do that.

I got half of the song down (before the solo) but after that (during the solo, the intrelude and the outro) it gets sooooo hard.

dave64o · #14 08-07-2006, 09:31 AM

If I can learn the bass lines to some Rush songs then *anyone* can.

We're working on Overture and Temples of Syrinx now and vocals will be my problem to work out. At least the bass line of Temples of Syrinx isn't that hard, so I should be able to play and sing with a little practice. One thing I've been trying as I've been listening to 2112 in the car this past week is singing an octave below Geddy. That seems to be working so far but something tells me it won't be the same without that high pitched shrieking. We're supposed to get together this weekend so if we do I'll find out then.

If it's not possible to sing it in a lower register, then try changing the key as others have already suggested. Or maybe suggest a different Rush song that you'd have more confidence paying/singing well.