A note about playing and singing..,,

[Geri O]

….especially singing lead and playing bass…

I play for a country music artist that was popular in the early 2000s and still enjoys some popularity. With his blessings and support, the band has decided to start our own cover band project to work when he isn’t as well as be his opening band when the situation allows. Talk about a win-win….

We’ve decided to split up the vocals between me and the two guitar players. I’ve been doing BGVs forever, but I’ve not sang lead vocals. And since I do a lot of BGVs in this situation, the guys have encouraged me to sing a few tunes, so I had to do some extra work and practice on my own to get it together.

I see posts from players looking for tips and suggestions on playing and singing and I’ve learned one thing from the last several weeks of working at this….

KEEP AT IT.

Repetition is key to getting the playing and singing down pat and feeling like second nature. I’m not speaking to the quality of my singing and playing, I’ll leave that to my band mates to be honest and tell it if it’s passable or not. But at least it’s getting easier to do. Just keep working on the two together. And record yourself playing and singing if possible. I definitely learned a lot about phrasing and pitch from recording myself. Singing as I drive has been helpful as well.

And my respect for guys like Mark King, Peter Cetera, and the other player/singers has grown substantially, if that’s even possible!

 

[Groove Doctor]

I can sing & play bass. Unfortunately I have a “Tom Waits with a head cold” type of voice.

 

[Gustopher]

As a lead singing bass player, I definitely agree. I wasn't able to do it a couple of years ago and after much repetition and even more repetition I can do most of our setlist now. I still have trouble with "busy" bass lines like That Smell by Skynyrd but I can get by now. A trick I use on some challenging songs is to simplify the part a little if it doesn't take away from the feel, at least until I can do it properly.
If anyone is doubting that they have the ability to sing and play, just sing while you practice at home. Even "sing talking" helps as long as you can keep playing while you do it. It's a matter of training yourself to disconnect the two activities and let your muscle memory take over a little... at least that is the case for me.

 

[swagbotbilly]

As someone who likes the idea of singing/playing but really struggles with the execution, I appreciate this post!

 

[Wannabebass]

I think you all may appreciate this, from Susie Vinnik. She obviously plays guitar and sings, I wonder if it was a different process at all for her to do bass and singing? Regardless it’s awesome and inspiring. Bass and vocals starts at about 19:45
Enjoy

 

[Malcolm35]

Save yourself some time. Take some voice lessons. There is more to this than you may be aware of and a few lessons from a voice instructor would be money well spent.