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How many of us sing while playing?

Do you sing and play at the same time?

  • Yeah

    Votes: 144 47.7%

  • Naa

    Votes: 29 9.6%

  • Backing vocals

    Votes: 78 25.8%

  • I used to. Still do, but I used to too.

    Votes: 19 6.3%

  • Not anymore!

    Votes: 8 2.6%

  • With this voice?!

    Votes: 24 7.9%
  • Total voters
    302
#82
pfschim said:
I do sing lead, not much, but I do. I know it does not count in your thread/poll, but I mostly sing backup/harmony these days ... mostly because I'm working with some pretty great vocalists and I'm not needed to sing lead much except to give the regular lead singers a break in the set list.
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Same here. We’ve now have 2 lead vocalists, male and female, so I generally don’t sing lead anymore, but I will if one of them can’t make a gig to give the other one a breather. Otherwise, it’s a lot of backing vocals! (I sometimes use a TC Helicon Critical Mass pedal to fatten my backing vocals too, adding upper and/or lower octaves).
 
#83
I can sing and play rhythm guitar however singing while playing bass is a skill set I’m working on. When I sing backup vocals I’m aware of every bass note I intended to play but missed. However, when I listen to a recording my bass line doesn’t sound as bad as I thought it would. Practice makes perfect so I continue to develop the ability to sing and play bass at the same time.
 
#85
The last couple of bands I played in, if you wrote the song, you typically sang lead on the song. So I found myself singing lead about 50% of the time. I enjoy songwriting and singing, but in the most recent band I found that I was having the most fun when I was just playing my bass and nothing else. So most likely, next band I find myself in, I'll most likely seek to just play bass.
 
#88
I do roughly a 3rd of the night lead and all but 2 songs for backing. We are in the process of bringing on a 2nd front girl which will free me up a bit. I don’t mind the singing duties, but I would much rather do more playing because unfortunately a lot of stuff we do I’m forced to dumb down the bass parts a little.
 
#89
I sing lead vocals along with my guitar player. I honestly start every band saying I’m not gonna sing this time. My voice is mediocre at best. We play skate punk so it doesn’t matter a ton. That being said after every band I’m in I end up singing after dragging my feet for months. Most people can sing better than me but must rock n roll singers are flakes. I’ve actually had singers book shows and than not show up where I end up singing… I would love love love to find a good responsible singer someday so I could just play bass and hide in the shadows.
 
#91
Backing vocals only if I am playing my Lakland 55-02. But when I play my Ibanez SRF705 fretless, no vocals at all for me! I find it too hard to nail the pitch on fretless if I am also singing.
 
#92
upload_2022-10-30_17-14-38.png


I read this thread yesterday and had to laugh whilst i went up the stairs to the Choir Loft this morning! :0
 
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#93
LBS-bass said:
I find the opposite to be true. I have joined many bands since I started playing again five years ago, but when I show how I can sing lead it is usually threatening to whoever the designated singer is, and I am rarely given the opportunity to do it. As a backing singer it adds something, but if you want to sing lead and you are good at it you might find that's a problem unless you're willing to start your own band.
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i could see that if there is one person who does most of the lead. But in the band I recently joined all the other 4 members (3 male, 1 female) share the duties, and they liked some of the songs I did at the audition.
 
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#94
lucyfur said:
i could see that if there is one person who does most of the lead. But in the band I recently joined all the other 4 members (3 male, 1 female) share the duties, and they liked some of the songs I did at the audition.
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Yes, I've had the good fortune to join a couple of bands with excellent singers and couple with questionable vocal talent. One of the questionable situations seems to be ok with me stepping up to fill that need a few times a night as I like, but the other is definitely a situation where the LS doesn't want to be outdone by a side person.

I've had the same situation in the past, and it's one of the things that causes me to move on after a period of time. I want to be in bands that sound good, and that includes vocally. I don't have to do it, but if I am able to help you there and you can't handle that, then it's not going to work.
 

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