Karen Carpenter always described herself as a drummer who learned to sing.
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does playing an instrument (not counting drums) make you a better singer?
- Thread starter bon viesta
- Start date
Wait... you're 15 and you can't think of anything else to do in the shower besides singing?
Playing an instrument will make you more aware of the structure of the song. I’ve experienced singers only that can only sing the song as they learned it. If the band changes the arrangement or just screws up, they are like a deer in the headlights. They’re just not listening or hearing what the band is doing. Everyone should be aware and listening to the song. It’s a group effort.
The Carpenters.... listened to alone with the car windows rolled up, so my friends don't know it's not Styx or Ted Nugent. Wow her voice. Thanks.
As a 2nd Bass, I can appreciate that. There isn’t much call for our kind these days…unless you are in the opera or in a DooWhop act (oddly enough our band does some, but I don’t sing it), maybe some older R&B or southern gospel quartet or playing some temptations (RIP Melvin)…
Most dedicated singers I've worked with are far better singers than I am, and I'm an accomplished instrumentalist and pretty good singer.
My new band has a dedicated singer, and she's awesome... blows me away as a lead singer, and yet I'm lead singer in my own band and I do sing lead in one of the tunes already in the new band too.
What matters most is chord knowledge, even if it's by ear without a lot of theory... hearing triads in various inversions, minor, major, diminished, augmented, and so on. You don't need to know why or how they work, but you do need to be able to jump immediately to an appropriate note, preferably one you can remember to do in that part of each song the same way.
Those last points are at LEAST as important, though, for bg singing in harmony, as they are for lead singing.... and since bg singing tends to often to taken on by instrumentalists in the band, I guess it all just kind of magically works out. doesn't it?
LoL
My new band has a dedicated singer, and she's awesome... blows me away as a lead singer, and yet I'm lead singer in my own band and I do sing lead in one of the tunes already in the new band too.
What matters most is chord knowledge, even if it's by ear without a lot of theory... hearing triads in various inversions, minor, major, diminished, augmented, and so on. You don't need to know why or how they work, but you do need to be able to jump immediately to an appropriate note, preferably one you can remember to do in that part of each song the same way.
Those last points are at LEAST as important, though, for bg singing in harmony, as they are for lead singing.... and since bg singing tends to often to taken on by instrumentalists in the band, I guess it all just kind of magically works out. doesn't it?
LoL
I will add that learning and playing lead guitar made me a better singer than when I was just playing rhythm, and learning and playing bass brought an even bigger improvement.
I'm not sure that playing an instrument makes you a better singer, but singing does make you a better instrumentalist. Personally, I think the two reinforce each other. If I had it all to do over again, I would have pushed myself to sing much earlier than I did.
The biggest challenge to playing and singing live is the ability to do both at the same time, often singing in a cadence that's working against what you're playing. Drummers may actually have an advantage here because their instrument demands the ability to coordinate with 4 different limbs. Adding singing to all that may not be as big a stretch.
Singing is just like playing any instrument or learning any muscle-based skill. You gotta keep at it and keep at it and keep at it to get good at it. It can be humbling. Don't get discouraged, eventually it will come together.
Yes. Without at doubt. 100%. It also works the other way around, too. It has been proven. I can't even begin to count how many clinics I have been to (or given) where singing techniques for instrumentalists have been discussed. As a band director, my kids sing all the time. In fact, they honestly sing better that the choir students who just sing (unless they are also in band, then they are the top singers). All of the choir directors I have ever worked with has wanted band kids to join their choirs because they have better vocal skills.
I dunno but for me the opposite applies. I know that after starting singing lead and playing bass my playing suffered for a while. Now, after a decade of doing this, my playing is not as elaborate, but I am totally a better musician, if that makes any sense. I have learned to listen to others, my voice and bass. My musical timing is completely different and better now.
p.s. Nice question! I am not convinced that a truly tone-deaf person can be that good of a musician. Maybe if classically trained to read and play accurately, but those type have problems with expression.
I played with some tone deaf people that tried to play and it was always a train wreck.
i’m 15, so naturally i find myself singing in the shower because i have nothing else to do with my time in there. but lately i find that my learned ability to find the root note in any given song (on bass) has lent itself well to being able to “”””””sing”””””” in tune with myself and not be totally tone deaf. i’m only like… 30% tone deafhence why i’m not a singer. do you think musicians can naturally battle tone-deafness in singing more easily than someone who doesn’t always try to find what notes go where at what time and when to return to the same notes?
and i mention “not drums” because drums aren’t melodic, hence no effort to find any notes and so the argument/question doesn’t really apply.
Be careful with "tone deaf." Those who are truly tone deaf cannot match a pitch which they hear.
Many more people simply have problems with pitch accuracy. Someone I know sings and plays trumpet. He can do both, sounding okay to himself, and the melody is recognizable but he is out of tune ... this despite working at both. Teachers of nonfretted stringed instruments and wind instruments will tell you that some people just can't hear out-of-tunedness when they play or sing.
Immersion in "tunedness" - hearing and doing - from an early age seems to help in development of good pitch.
All that said, playing music can't hurt your singing and may help it greatly!
personally, I like singing with guitar, because it forces me to try and match the sound of the guitar which I think helps.
It may be possible with piano and fretted instruments, but wind instruments, violins, violas, and cellos? You simply can't play accurately if you can't hear that you're in tune or not.
Playing an instrument will help a person understand that 1) keys are a thing and 2) you can't just daydream and hop back in any old where. Simply knowing that will put you in the top 25% of singers I've worked with.
What's interesting is you don't regard the voice as an instrument which it is, demanding the same discipline and endurance. The better a singer can sight read, improvise, understand harmony - the better they play. Soloing instruments try to emulate the human voice so understanding voice helps you everywhere else. The more instruments you play the more you gather knowledge.
