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bass and vocals?

V

vkiing

Feb 27, 2011
35
0
Rotterdam
www.youtube.com
#1
So my band has a lead guitarists, rythm guitarists and a drummer and a bassist (me). we miss a vocalist, so i thought maybe i could do the vocals. But its much harder to sing and play bass at the same time then i thought. I often go off beat, or play too much notes, or too little. Any tips on singing + playing? i know practising it over and over again helps, but some general tips would help too. we could also look for a vocalist, but then the band will be focused only on the singer, which i dislike. james hetfield and mustaine make it seem so easy :hmm: so an tips? can you sing and play bass at the same time?
 
#3
i couldn't do it when I first tried either. I sang and played for a long time... then took a two year break from singing. It was hard to pick back up but it was like riding a bike.

Just keep practicing, you'll either get it or you won't. You can cheat a little and skip the vocals on hard to play parts or off time rhythms until you get better. It really helps if you are super solid on your bass parts. If you're trying to concentrate on playing and singing it'll be a lot harder to do both.
 
#5
I'm a lead vocalist/bassist, I also play double bass with lead vocals. I remember once reading a Guitar Player article in which Sting said he practiced the bass parts over and over and over and over (etc, etc) so they were automatic, then he could concentrate on the singing. I never did this myself, but I would think it's the best advice you can get. I guess I'm lucky in that I seem to be able to concentrate on both, especially keeping my double bass intonation right.
I think you would benefit from using a drum machine (rather than a metronome) and practice singing and playing to that. One of the secrets I think is to get the 4 bar, 8 bar, 12 bar feeling internalised, and using a drum machine will help here, as well as strengthening your bass playing. Basically there are no shortcuts, it's just practice, practice, practice, but you need at least a metronome, preferably the drum machine. If you want to discuss it any further, PM me.
Good luck, Marty.
 
#6
+1 for marty, except for the metronome part. i'm kind of in the jeff berlin "metronomes don't give you good time" camp. but the sting quote is absolutely right on. i don't often have trouble singing and playing, but when i do, that's exactly what i do.
 
#11
JimmyM said:
+1 for marty, except for the metronome part. i'm kind of in the jeff berlin "metronomes don't give you good time" camp. but the sting quote is absolutely right on. i don't often have trouble singing and playing, but when i do, that's exactly what i do.
Click to expand...

I agree with you and Jeff, but I think the drum machine will be an aid in this particular situation as the brain has to concentrate on two completely different functions. The DM will enable the bass playing to become more automatic IMO.
 
#14
I learned to sing and play at the same time and have been doing it for 41 years; so, it is second nature for me to sing lead and harmonies while playing. However, I normally learn the bass parts first when learning a song I will be singing on and memorize and lock them in. Then, I do the vocal parts second. I sing lead on some songs where I have to use the split brain technique because the vocal lines do not follow the bass lines at all but that comes with time and practice. Another thing that would be good for you starting is take some songs that the bass parts are relatively simple or songs you already know well and work on singing those before moving on to songs with more compplcated bass lines while singing.
 
#15
Marty Forrer said:
I agree with you and Jeff, but I think the drum machine will be an aid in this particular situation as the brain has to concentrate on two completely different functions. The DM will enable the bass playing to become more automatic IMO.
Click to expand...
ya, from a performance aspect, i suppose that's true. but if it were me, i wouldn't want that kind of pressure to sing well, play bass well, AND be in time until i was ready for it. so i'd probably recommend making it the last thing you do after you're pretty confident you're nailing it, then use the metronome to fine tune. but yeah, after your explanation, i totally get using the metronome now.
 
#16
i'm kind of in the jeff berlin "metronomes don't give you good time" camp
Click to expand...

Depends on how you use a metronome.

Play on a tune with a BPM of 160, set the metronome at 40, let each 'click' fall on the '4' of the measure.

Bend the time all you want or play it as straight as possible, just nail the '4' each time.

This is one of many useful ways to use a metronome.

Berlin is probably lamenting his violin playing days with a metronome.

Try the above method with a drone while playing a fretless. You WILL improve your time and intonation.
 
#17
Stick_Player said:
Depends on how you use a metronome.

Play on a tune with a BPM of 160, set the metronome at 40, let each 'click' fall on the '4' of the measure.

Bend the time all you want or play it as straight as possible, just nail the '4' each time.

This is one of many useful ways to use a metronome.

Berlin is probably lamenting his violin playing days with a metronome.

Try the above method with a drone while playing a fretless. You WILL improve your time and intonation.
Click to expand...
you'll improve your time while playing to a click, but you still have to contend with drummers pushing and pulling, which they all do no matter how good they are, unless they're playing to a click.
 
#19
sorry, but i play both bass and guitar and i don't agree. it might be easier to strum a few chords and sing, but play like john mayer or brad paisley and sing, and all of a sudden playing the bass and singing actually seems easy ;)
 

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