Can't play and sing...

ibh

I've started learning the guitar a few weeks ago and i can play about 7 or 8 songs more or less. The problem that i'm having is, I can't sing along while i'm playing. If i do manage to sing a long my strumming just goes to shit and becomes totally random.
I've been making the missus sing the songs while i play along, but she's not into music and doesn't know most of them etc etc so i'm pretty much fcuked.

Is there an easy way of doing it? With some songs like Whiskey in the Jar i can manage to sing along with the chorus but not the verses. Same with some other easy ones.

Is it just a case of learning the guitar bit so well that it becomes automatic and then add in the singing??

My next idea that i'm going to try this evening is the record (on my phone) me singing the songs and then try and play over it???

Any advice or tips would be great.

Zangetsu

Even if you can play a song blindfolded it won't meen you will be able to sing with it (it will help though). Everyone has trouble with it at the start and you will find your own way of doing it eventually. It just takes practice!

Start of slow and try and listen out for accented notes in the vocals and try and match them with accented beats in the strumming. Thats how I do it anyway...

Honestly though, I've been playing guitar for years and only copped the 'go slowly' thing recently... It helps ALOT!

Hope this helps...

Zangetsu

Also try humming the melody, that way you will have less to think about...

Alanstrainor

I know exactly what you mean...and despite playing for 8+ years, still never learned how...not much of a singer though!:pac:

ibh

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I know exactly what you mean...and despite playing for 8+ years, still never learned how...not much of a singer though!:pac:

awww boll0cks, i thought it would be something that would automatically come when i was comfortable with the chords.

Have to just keep banging away at it.

Thanks for all comments..

Rancidmaniac13

I had this same problem. Learning to sing and play is in no way connected to how well you can play or sing.You just need to keep practising.

Try doing it in steps until you're more comfortable with it. Like strum the chords and just hum the melody and then try singing it while thinking about playing it. I found that it was the rhythm that got me. So I tried to work out where the rhythm was different in the guitar part and singing part. Then try tappping them together with each hand. You just gotta get the parts co-ordinated.

That may sound confusing but hope it helps.

Gaspode

It very much is a case of just keep practising, practising, practising. It will come eventually. I'm playing a long time and singing while playing acoustic/electric comes second nature now. (Mind you singing while playing bass is far more difficult, simply because I dont do it that much!)
Its early days for you so dont beat yourself up too much about it - concentrate on getting proficient at playing then bringing in the singing will be a little earlier.

ibh

Yea it sounds like i was jumping the gun a little expecting to be able to do it straight away. I'm going to try some of the tips like humming along. I can manage to sing to some bits, pretty much when the singing rhythm matches the strumming.

I forsee a lot of practice ahead! I also forsee some arguments with the g-friend over the noise pollution in our house!!

Cheers

smellslikeshoes

You really need to know the song on guitar and vocally really really well, so well you could do it asleep.You are basically aiming to know both well enough that zero concentration needs to go into either of them, after that it just takes a little bit of practice getting to sing and play at the same time.

Xavi6

I found it hard at the start too but then I started picking songs I knew all the lyrics to, that had 3 or 4 simple chords, and had the same strum pattern the whole way through. It only got easier from there.

ibh

Got a verse of Whiskey in the Jar last night with singing and playing. Slowly but surely...
I have been using a phone recording of me singing the song, then playing over it with some humming thrown in!!

Thanks all, for the input..

G-izzles

The trick is to slow it down and know both extremely well. Splitting your concentration takes practice but it's well worth it. Check out Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria. There's someone to aspire to, he plays some of the trickiest rhythms and sings at the same time. Hero! The song "Faint Of Hearts" is a good one where the rhythm's a bastard and then he sings too!

A7X

mmm live.... not so much lol my friend was at there gig and he told me he left out LOADS of lyrics

S.I.R

ibh wrote: »

I've started learning the guitar a few weeks ago and i can play about 7 or 8 songs more or less. The problem that i'm having is, I can't sing along while i'm playing. If i do manage to sing a long my strumming just goes to shit and becomes totally random.
I've been making the missus sing the songs while i play along, but she's not into music and doesn't know most of them etc etc so i'm pretty much fcuked.

Is there an easy way of doing it? With some songs like Whiskey in the Jar i can manage to sing along with the chorus but not the verses. Same with some other easy ones.

Is it just a case of learning the guitar bit so well that it becomes automatic and then add in the singing??

My next idea that i'm going to try this evening is the record (on my phone) me singing the songs and then try and play over it???

Any advice or tips would be great.

Dont hold back, put your own style/rythem into a song on untill you get comfortable performing, then go pack to playing the original... i.e play whiskey in the jar but use your 5th finger to add in a last high pitch note at the end of the hook sections, comming into the chous and such... or sometihng along them lines... its a very easy song to mix up.

got me a 96% on honors music so yeah... Works a treat.

OK-Cancel-Apply

I suppose it can feel like rubbing your stomach and patting your head! I'm not much of a singer myself, but I know what you mean OP. I suppose it's like learning to drive or learning the left hand on the piano. Just one of those things.

ibh

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

I suppose it can feel like rubbing your stomach and patting your head! I'm not much of a singer myself, but I know what you mean OP. I suppose it's like learning to drive or learning the left hand on the piano. Just one of those things.

Learning to drive was much easier than this sh't!!!:pac:

Still practising. Gonna take a long time, but i enjoy playing so it's not a chore.

seamus

I remember what started me out all those years ago was a fairly simple book which basically wrote out the lyrics and then inserted the basic chord changes (i.e. no tabs or musical notation) above the word where they more-or-less took place. This made it easy enough to sing the words out and see the chord changes when they were required. Then you can kind of memorise it and eventually it just becomes second nature.

Once you get used to playing and singing a few songs, you'll find it a doddle to do the same for new songs. Becoming fancier with it then is just a matter of doing what S.I.R describes - once you're very comfortable with the song, start adding in extra notes and even short riffs while you sing, and eventually doing that becomes second nature too.

madden1

seamus wrote: »

I remember what started me out all those years ago was a fairly simple book which basically wrote out the lyrics and then inserted the basic chord changes (i.e. no tabs or musical notation) above the word where they more-or-less took place. This made it easy enough to sing the words out and see the chord changes when they were required. Then you can kind of memorise it and eventually it just becomes second nature.

Seamus How long did you take before you felt comfortable playing and singing for friends and family.

seamus

madden1 wrote: »

Seamus How long did you take before you felt comfortable playing and singing for friends and family.

I still don't feel comfortable.
I was pretty good for it when I first started, I was playing and singing after about six months and was nervous enough but played for friends and the like. I was playing very simple stuff (Oasis and the like), so I knew the words and there were no complex or frequent chord changes, so it really was just a matter of memorising the chord changes and banging it out.

Then I didn't play in public for a couple of years and I kind of "lost it", and would be shaking so bad that I couldn't play anything but simple stuff, particularly in front of family moreso than friends.

I've gotten better now again though. Life's too short to be nervous!

Dord

seamus wrote: »

Then I didn't play in public for a couple of years and I kind of "lost it", and would be shaking so bad that I couldn't play anything but simple stuff, particularly in front of family moreso than friends.

Same thing happened to me, I stopped playing guitar for a space of about 5 years. Only started back in the last year or so... still haven't regained my ability to play and sing but it's getting better.

SysEx

First thing is try it without the guitar for a while, get your right hand (unless you're left-handed ) to keep a pattern going on the table-top while you hum along.

Second is bring the fretting hand in and tap every two or four beats of your strummer - or eight, possibly.

This gives some independence to your hands, and if you're still humming the tune, it should be a simple matter of putting the guitar on your lap and getting on with it.

Third thing you could try if this doesn't work is tune your guitar to an open chord and play using only one fretting finger as a barre across the strings. Pick a simple blues or trad song in a major key. Or make up your own song and see how your strumming pattern follows the emphasised words you're making up.

Finally, throw in a few extra beats with your strumming hand that your voice doesn't know about.

Now, try playing bass while you sing - that's a real bitch to learn!