Good luck...to this day, after 35 years of playing singing and playing is something that escapes me. I can probably harmonize ok if I don't play, but throw playing into the mix and it all falls apart. Not to mention Im extremely self conscious about the act of singing. I'd no doubt have tons of other playing opportunities available to me had I been able to get the singing side together.
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Singing and playing...HELP!
- Thread starter Swampish
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Good luck...to this day, after 35 years of playing singing and playing is something that escapes me. I can probably harmonize ok if I don't play, but throw playing into the mix and it all falls apart. Not to mention Im extremely self conscious about the act of singing. I'd no doubt have tons of other playing opportunities available to me had I been able to get the singing side together.
I can’t stress the importance this enough....SLOW IT DOWN! Slowly slowly. Give your brain all the help it can get. As a soul/funk bassist from way back, this is the way to learn syncopated vocals and bass lines together. I’ve been doing it for years and believe me, it works. Analyse where the parts fall in relation to each other. You can do it and you will get better. Perseverance is what takes. In time you will wonder what all the fuss was about.
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I sing lead and backing vocals in my band. The key is to see how the bass line and vocals play off each other...and practice, practice, practice. THEN try it out at rehearsal.
My guitarist always says he has no idea how I can do both at the same time and always do a good job. It's really all about putting in the time and knowing what to do BEFORE you get to a rehearsal or gig.
My guitarist always says he has no idea how I can do both at the same time and always do a good job. It's really all about putting in the time and knowing what to do BEFORE you get to a rehearsal or gig.
I play bass and sing lead, but as for singing and playing here's what helped me out. First, if you don't know the words, learn that before playing and singing. Second, if you know the words and not the bass line, go learn that. Never do both at once if you can't do either by themselves. Other times, I know what to do and how to do it, but can't make it happen. In these cases, just practice. In my case since I sing lead, backing vocals are usually easier for me, but as was said, metal and hard rock(what I play), doesn't have many vocal harmonies, so I have never really dealt with that.
I’m guessing those songs are tailored to have the vocal parts work intuitively with the bass lines.
I don’t know a lot about the Police, but did sting write the songs on his own and then bring them to practice, or would the three of them come up with stuff together? One thing I noticed is that singing and playing simultaneously became much easier when I stopped writing my songs on guitar and decided to just start with it on bass instead. The translation between the two instruments didn’t always work from a rhythmic perspective.
On the slow ballads I often hit the root and then nothing else till the next root change. This has a tendency of calling attention to the lyric message. In slow ballads the message is the reason you are playing the song.
So yes one thing does not work for everything. Understand when I do this the drummer is keeping the beat. If no drummer, best that we take on the role of beat master.
Yep, that's been my default for a while, though I like the idea of dumbing down initially, then building up once the dumbed down part is solid with the vocals.
It's funny, you're right, for me, it seems to be more a right than left hand issue. Maybe the left side of the brain is responsible for the singing and since it's also responsible for the right hand...bah, I'm not a neuroscientist, I don't know what I'm talking about, but it is really the right hand. Like you and other have said, that slowing down is something I have to be more patient with and use more often.
Trust me, that would be my first choice, but since it's backing, not lead, I want to be able to contribute more on that front to make some of our songs fuller. I've begun playing with some of the techniques mentioned here and it will take time for me, but I think it's a skill worth trying to tackle. I'm a pretty solid bassist and an OK backing vocalist (when not playing), so I really want to continue trying to marry the two.
While I am going to try many of the techniques suggested, it's good to know that I'm not alone! And I don't mean that facetiously at all! I seriously wonder why I have so much trouble with it, so it's good to know it's not just me.
My right hand was also the problem. Having the bass line down pat was fine, but my right fingers all of a sudden would go stupid when the singing was added at first. I always found it funny that most people do use their dominant hand do the "simpler" part and their "clumsy" hand to do the more complicated fretwork; shouldn't it be the other way around???!
The other nice part about practicing songs as a whole enough to get the timing right is that my issue with remembering all the lyrics went away! They're pretty ingrained by then, no more cheat sheet necessary! Now the words are just a series of notes like everything else, and we're all good at playing a series of notes or we probably wouldn't be here.
The other nice part about practicing songs as a whole enough to get the timing right is that my issue with remembering all the lyrics went away! They're pretty ingrained by then, no more cheat sheet necessary! Now the words are just a series of notes like everything else, and we're all good at playing a series of notes or we probably wouldn't be here.
It doesn't seem at all strange to me. Assuming a right-handed player, articulation, rhythm, syncopation, dynamics, et al. are much more in the right hand than the left.
That's true, I guess I hadn't thought about all it does. And probably not having to think about something that complex is the very reason it seems more natural. Thanky.
I must confess, I'd be no where without my Amazing SlowDowner. As in learning Bass lines, looping and such. I will treat the vocal side of it much the same as if I was transcribing BLs. Finding the right pitch has become obviously the first thing I need to get right, kinda vowel over the lyrics played on the track, add actual lyrics later...turns out to be double the work(at least).
I have found sometimes that using a pick is easier than fingers while singing harmonies. Don’t have to worry about finger selection while crossing strings (which is subconscious at this point anyway) but it’s the strumming motion which is easy.
