(POLL) Do you sing and play bass?

[LBS-bass]

The recent thread about singing and playing bass has me curious about how many of us sing. Do you sing and play? If so, what kind of singing do you do?

 

[AGCurry]

I've been singing and playing bass for almost 50 years ... lead and harmonies in Soul, Blues, Bluegrass, Swing, Jazz, Country & Western. For the last couple of decades I've been singing Hebrew while playing. Now THAT's fun!

 

[Kro]

I've been playing and doing passable backing vocals/harmonies pretty much for as long as I've been performing bass.

Sometimes I have my own standalone passages, but they're pretty infrequent.

 

[juggahnaught]

I don't sing at all....yet.

The current band I'm in wants me to do backing vocals (and I want to do them too; it's part of why I signed up) but we haven't done it outside of practice yet because I didn't want to present an unfinished product to an audience. I'm playing an existing repertoire of their originals and we're starting to write new stuff this year, so I think there will be more of an opportunity to begin working this in as something that isn't just a side thought. Additionally, it'll give us a chance to actually practice vocal harmonies, figure out the monitoring situation, and figure out an effects bus (lead singer uses some effects, it might make sense for backup vocals to go through the same chain).

 

[LBS-bass]

I've been singing and playing bass for almost 50 years ... lead and harmonies in Soul, Blues, Bluegrass, Swing, Jazz, Country & Western. For the last couple of decades I've been singing Hebrew while playing. Now THAT's fun!

Probably helpful if you know Hebrew

I've also been singing and playing for a long time. Over 40 years at this point, though I took a bit of time off there in the middle.

I'm interested in hearing from those who don't sing. Do you not sing at all? Do you just find singing while playing bass challenging? Do you sing when playing other instruments?

 

[Malcolm35]

No one wants to hear me sing. Really it is that bad, however, I do recite the lyrics, under my breath, with the vocalist so I can keep up with where we are in the song.

 

[Thum5b]

I can't and don't sing although even if I did sing I don't think I could sing and play at least not without simplifying my bass parts.

 

[Humbled]

Yes. My dad sang barbershop, his sisters sang like the Andrews Sisters. I started playing in bands at 14, sang second tenor in all-state Chorus in High School, and could sing pretty much any part except bass in-pitch and loud. I sang a lot of lead and first tenor with bands as a twenty and thirty-something. Lead was always thrown to me when it needed to belt/blast. I like to sing baritone most now, because it was the most difficult for me, not range-wise (it's really a lazy part), but internalizing the intervals intuitively took a while. Playing bass while singing was never difficult for me until the bass and vocal syncopation diverges a lot, then it takes some practice. At 61, I really can't really sing tenor anymore, as I damaged my voice a fair amount with excess and abuse. I'm still really loud.

Edit to re-state my last comment in my original posting: I'd like to urge all the young vocalists out there to do warm-ups, avoid as many vices as you can, take care of yourselves and your instrument.

 

[And I]

Playing guitar and singing is very comfortable for me. Bass and singing is very difficult for me. I pretty much just sing karaoke these days.

 

[Stevorebob]

For your safety and mine, no.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I used to do some lead singing, but not to a level where I thought it was worth it. But I have a good range - I can sing harmonies above Steve Perry and Pat Benetar vocal lines.

 

[mapleglo]

I consider myself better at singing backup harmonies than lead, but i can do both, and have been for over 50 years. Yikes.

 

[kjp360]

I have only played bass seriously for about 5 of my 40 years as a musician...yep guitar player. At this point I can get off some harmony during a reasonably straight bass line. Frankly, even on guitar there are things I can't do while singing lead that I could nail if I wasn't singing. Probably the same reasons that I can't play drums (it dies as soon as the 4th appendage enters the picture) and I could never be a real organ or (worse yet piano) player. Across the board I am not at my best when multitasking. I have always appreciated watching pros like Hendrix, Orr, Russell, Stevie, Sting, yada yada that seem to sing and play with virtuosity seamlessly and like it is one simple act.

 

[kjp360]

I would add that I find singing and playing bass specifically more difficult than rhythm guitar because in rhythm guitar there is a bunch of 2 and 4, which often leaves a beat to get my act together I think lol

 

[socialleper]

Trying to sing while playing bass messes up my playing.
Plus, I can't sing a tune to save my life.

 

[interp]

Although I don’t consider myself a “singer’s singer” I have done a lot of background/harmony singing and some lead vocals for over 50 years.

 

[grillman]

Proudly covering about Motörhead on bass while singing lead and backing vocals.

 

[delta7fred]

I've sung backing almost as long as I've been playing bass (50+ years).

About 20 years I started singing lead and have got to say I enjoy it and don't know why I didn't start earlier!

 

[MasterG]

If you cant sing lead I sure dont want you attempting to sing harmony.

 

[LBS-bass]

If you cant sing lead I sure dont want you attempting to sing harmony.

They're two different skills. Assuming you have an ear for harmony, you might not have the strongest level of projection but you might be able to blend well with other singers. There are many singers in choirs who will never be asked to solo. I evaluate based on what someone is bringing to the table.

Edited to add: Also, lots of lead singers don't know how to attenuate their voices to fit in with a harmonic blend, and many, many lead singers can't hear a harmony to save their soul. So I'd say that's the last criterion on my list.