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Easy Songs to Sing While Playing Bass

#3
Yes, early Police songs have simple, yet catchy bass lines. But only a very few male singers can sing them. Sting routinely hit the high C note with his chest voice. One could transpose them down but the killer bass lines would be screwed up.
 
#5
As strange as it may sound....i have an easier time singing songs with walking bass lines than i do with a steady 4/4 note grind type songs....example being that i can sing Second Solution by The Living End while playing bass no problem but cant for the life of me pull off a Bloodhound Gang song that gets 4 hits per note with a standard 4 chord song. might be worth a try....just gotta memorize the walking lines first. always helps to hum along before trying to sing that actual words too.
 
#7
Chrisk-K said:
Yes, early Police songs have simple, yet catchy bass lines. But only a very few male singers can sing them. Sting routinely hit the high C note with his chest voice. One could transpose them down but the killer bass lines would be screwed up.
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Good point. Singing them an octave lower won't necessarily cut it, either.

I believe there was a string on TB very recently listing bassists who are also lead singers, might be worth searching for that and see if there's any you like and might work out for you in terms of material and register.

Good luck, the only thing I know that tougher to do than sing and play bass at the same time is to sing and play drums..... But obviously it can be done, and done well. Ask Levon Helm and Don Henley ;)
 
#10
If you want and really want the full blown rock n roll spot light to shine on you with that mic stand in front of you it's easy.

If you really want to sing and play bass it will happen, it will happen because you want it and you want it bad. You will figure out how to get there.

It's not about what's easy.
 
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#15
Not knowing your style, chops, band instrumentation or range, here are a few possibilities:


Johnny Cash
Weezer
Bowling for Soup
ZZ Top
U2
Some Bluegrass (Rockytop etc)
Some Swing (Zoot Suit Riot, Only the Good Die Young)
Some Shuffles (Pride and Joy)
Folk Music (Byrds, Bob Dylan)
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Willie Nelson
Tom Petty
John Mellencamp
 
#19
John Wentzien said:
Any song with straight 8th notes.
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Even this can potentially be hard, if the vocal melody doesn't match up to those straight eighth notes. To me, that's the hardest part; keeping two separate rhythmic lines coordinated. The easiest songs to sing and play are the ones where the vocal line and bass line coincide, regardless of whether each is regular and even or offbeat.

A couple that I found pretty easy to do are All Star and Walking on the Sun, by Smashmouth, and End of the World as We Know It, by REM. The REM is a mouthful but once you learn it, it actually lines up pretty neatly with the bass.
 
#20
newwavefrank said:
Tell us what style you are doing to help narrow it down. Ive been singing and playing forever and there are a lot of easy songs.
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Yes, I should have mentioned this.

In terms of covers, we normally do classic rock, rocked-out blues, newer rock and alt stuff, some motown, a few punk songs, some rocked-out country songs, some rocked out reggae songs. They're pretty open-minded about material, as am I.

Whatever I bring to the table always ends up turining into rock or blues song after the guitarists work it up.
 
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