Singing While Playing (HELP!)

[crios]

Singing while playing the bass is a hard task! I practice, practice and practice some more and yes I progress but at a real snails pace. Can you guys tell me of any exercises, or give me some tips, that can bring me some better results sooner? Thanks!

 

[Stumbo]

Maybe @Joe Nerve might chime in. From what I remember he had to slow it way down and go note by note for the bass and vocals till he got it.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Truth be told, I hate singing and playing and don't do it much as all. Its hard .

But I was determined with that song, because I wanted to play it live. What I had to do was go ridiculously slow, in some parts a syllable at a time until the coordination came. For some people it seems to come easy, and I guess as with anything else gets easier the more you do it. My recommendation is to take anything you're super stuck on, break it down, and work a beat or syllable at a time. Over and over until you get it. Then start speeding up.

If it's simpler stuff, just practicing over and over at slow speed works for me. Time, patience, practice are the keys.

Wish I could offer more, but that's all I've got .

 

[LBS-bass]

This silly song cured me of any problems singing and playing. I had to do this in a Rockabilly band I was in back in the 80's. I was harmonizing on the chorus. Seems simple, but it's fast and it's syncopated against the bass part and it was incredibly hard for me.

I must have sung and played that chorus a hundred times, trying to get it right. And then, by some weird miracle, everything fell into place. It was like I could actually feel the neural pathways open up in my brain that would allow fingers and words to happen independently.

It's like anything else, practice is the key. Start slow and speed up as you feel ready. Once your brain gets the coordination that allows you to do two different things together, you won't lose it, though you might have to dust it off if you get away from it for a time.

Anyway, here's that silly song. I don't recommend it as an exercise. Just practice whatever it is you're practicing and it will come to you.

 

[crios]

Thanks for your input.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

What helped me. I learned to sing the lyrics under my breath - so I know where in the progression everyone is. With out following the lyrics I loose track of the chord changes. So singing under my breath with the vocals is just part of what I do.

On songs I like I just increase the volume. Try singing under your breath as a way to get started.

I'll never be the lead vocalist so I sing backup. Now most guys have a problem with singing backup - they just naturally sing lead. This may be something you will need help with from a voice coach.

 

[mambo4]

I view the challenge of singing while playing as a rythm problem:
You are playing one rhythm while singing another.
You need to become confortable executing both rhytms at the same time
You can actually pratcice this without any instrument in hand
By vocalizing one rhythm while clapping/tapping the other.

Start by singing the bass rhythm and tapping the vocal rhythm (slowly)
Pay attention to which attacks line up and which don't.
Once you get comfortable with how that feels, swap the rhythms around.

 

[Boundary Effect]

Back in my music undergraduate daze, music theory class included daily exercises from the book, Music for Sight Singing. It was excruciating. Play some arcane melody on a piano while singing another and patting out a crazy rhythm on your knee. But it trained one in compound rhythm and melody. I'm still sufficiently new to electric bass and avoid singing. I sing a lot when on keys. I agree. Maintaining a bass melody and rhythm while also pulling off a vocal line, be it lead/melody or harmony, is very difficult.

 

[crios]

What helped me. I learned to sing the lyrics under my breath - so I know where in the progression everyone is. With out following the lyrics I loose track of the chord changes. So singing under my breath with the vocals is just part of what I do.

On songs I like I just increase the volume. Try singing under your breath as a way to get started.

I'll never be the lead vocalist so I sing backup. Now most guys have a problem with singing backup - they just naturally sing lead. This may be something you will need help with from a voice coach.

Being able to sing backup increases your chances in landing a job...I would think.

Great advice here! Thanks!

Here is a real easy line to sing over (LOL)...

 

[saabfender]

Being able to sing backup increases your chances in landing a job...I would think.

Without a doubt. There's been a couple over the years where I played much better than the other guy but he got the gig because he could also sing.

I can't even talk and play at the same time. Like "Hey, how 'bout them Bears?" It just sounds like I'm having a stroke. That's a ways from being able to play and sing. Paradoxically, I can sing and play the drums at the same time. And yes, talk too.

 

[Max Bogosity]

I struggle with this. I've even gone so far as to write out both the vocal and bass parts, at least the rhythm. It's tedious but helps identify exactly which word lines up with exactly which bass note.

 

[Russell L]

I've had it go like LBS-bass said above before, when for some reason it just fell into place suddenly. Normally, it's terribly difficult for me to sing while playing bass. Of course, it depends on the song and what the bass part is like. Some things are easy while others are impossible, or nearly so.

I forget what song it was, but one night I was trying to sing along with the guys on a song that would typically give me trouble when all of a sudden it was like the veil was pulled back and there I was doing it just right...and without practicing doing it beforehand. Lol, it felt like I had just evolved to another level of intelligence (seriously LOL, but that's what it felt like). Or maybe like the stream had been cleared of branches so it could flow. I dunno, it was a surprise, though.

I've thought about that a lot lately and about how that was possible so suddenly. It certainly wasn't a gain in intelligence because I still have trouble. It was an anomaly. But how, or why? Can it be repeated? Maybe.

It may be similar to how I can strum a guitar and sing. I can forget about the strumming and just sing for some reason. But when I play bass, not so. I have to work it out. Normally. But I think that it might be related to which end I'm looking from. Normally I'm looking from the bass part end with the bass part being my foundation. I THINK maybe the night I had no trouble just MIGHT have been the opposite. Somehow I was looking from the vocal end and letting it be my foundation. Then the bass part just came along naturally.

I can't say for sure. Just try it it and see what ya'll think.