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Strumming and Singing


rkl312

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I'm having a heck of a time adding vocals to the songs I am practicing.  I get my strumming pattern down and then when I try to add the vocal my strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal, throwing the whole thing off.  Has anyone else experienced and overcame this?

Robert

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I don't have that problem because I can not sing.:D But I do Hum a lot and it don't seem to bother y playing. maybe you can start that way.

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This Video might help you.

 

Edited by Blue Dog
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For me, it depends on the song. Some songs I simply cannot sing and play simultaneously. Others , I play on autopilot. My only advice is to know the strumming parts so well that it is like breathing-you don’t even think about it. Have a metronome or drum part if necessary to hold the rhythmic tempo. Then start to add the vocals .  I would begin with simpler guitar parts that you can feel fluid with. 

Greg

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2 hours ago, rkl312 said:

I'm having a heck of a time adding vocals to the songs I am practicing.  I get my strumming pattern down and then when I try to add the vocal my strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal, throwing the whole thing off.  Has anyone else experienced and overcame this?

Robert

I've been strumming and singing for 7 to 8 years or so.  Not sure exactly what you mean by "strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal." Please elaborate. Are you saying that voice added to strumming seems "robotic?" 

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6 minutes ago, gotto said:

For me, it depends on the song. Some songs I simply cannot sing and play simultaneously. Others , I play on autopilot. My only advice is to know the strumming parts so well that it is like breathing-you don’t even think about it. Have a metronome or drum part if necessary to hold the rhythmic tempo. Then start to add the vocals .  I would begin with simpler guitar parts that you can feel fluid with. 

Greg

Good answer….

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@rkl312 I would recommend not worrying too much about a perfect strumming pattern.  Play what sounds right.  It is OK if the strumming pattern varies throughout the song.

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@rkl312 YES! I know exactly what you mean, I had that exact same problem. I remember saying to my wife that I didn't think I'd ever be able to strum and sing at the same time, it just didn't seem possible.

I did figure it out though, like most things, it just takes time, patience and practice. 

This is how I did it...

1. Choose a song with really simple chords and a really simple strum pattern, but one you really like. 2. Practice playing the whole song, WITHOUT singing, over and over until you can do it with distractions and practically do it in your sleep. 3. Start adding in the vocals. If the vocals throw the strumming pattern then simply stop and get he strumming going again before throwing some vocals back in. Repeat over (and be patient). 

I got there in the end. After that one song, it all became easier, I think you have to overcome a psychological hump more than anything.

Hope that helps.

Ian

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8 hours ago, rkl312 said:

I'm having a heck of a time adding vocals to the songs I am practicing.  I get my strumming pattern down and then when I try to add the vocal my strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal, throwing the whole thing off.  Has anyone else experienced and overcame this?

Robert

Robert, you have started a great thread here.

This is a subject that I am working on at the moment. I have watched a couple of YouTube videos, one of which was the Justin Guitar video that Blue Dog posted. The other is this one

they both were great. I am now going to watch the other video that @Blue Dog posted. 

My progress so far is Mull of Kintyre with 1 down strum per beat but I keep forgetting the middle verse ?. so I must do what they say and write it all out by hand. Learning to be able to play each song while singing it will take a long time for me. You really do have to know both parts separately really well and the strumming has to be automatic before you can put them together. 

Thank you guys. Great thread!??

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6 hours ago, Odie said:

I've been strumming and singing for 7 to 8 years or so.  Not sure exactly what you mean by "strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal." Please elaborate. Are you saying that voice added to strumming seems "robotic?" 

For me I end up strumming to the vocal syllables and so my down up strumming rhythm gets awful.

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I have problems strumming and singing as well. I'm getting better at it with practice though. 

This is a great thread. I'm going to spend some time watching these videos.

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16 hours ago, rkl312 said:

I'm having a heck of a time adding vocals to the songs I am practicing.  I get my strumming pattern down and then when I try to add the vocal my strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal, throwing the whole thing off.  Has anyone else experienced and overcame this?

Robert

HI Robert,

What i do is, get the timing and strumming down and then i just listen to the song over and over and over.....i guess you see my point. You will find over time it will take less time to get both working together. (for most songs) I still have trouble with one song i do at our gigs and i've heard the song a thousand times, it is Pure Prairie League- Amie. 

Danny

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14 hours ago, UncleHammy said:

@rkl312 I would recommend not worrying too much about a perfect strumming pattern.  Play what sounds right.  It is OK if the strumming pattern varies throughout the song.

This is another good point that I almost noted earlier about trying to have a perfect strumming pattern. Thus, instead of being "fluid," you may become mechanical/robotic. There are some things that may or may not be taught in a book. For instance, and I play several of these at a Rest Home, parts where you don't have time to play the entire chord because of the quick chord change along with the tempo. Usually, for me, it's three (3) chord changes within three (3) to five (5) words. And seems like it's usually "G" (open chord) for me. Have seen Steve Kaufman (bluegrass player) do this on a DVD course by playing (not singing) only the three (3) high strings: G, B, & E holding down the third fret to get the ''abbreviated'' G  chord. Also, I can play barre chords but since singing solo is focusing on melody then I just play the "cheater/abbreviated" F chord. Please remember that you are singing melody and not bass to solo. So , , , so what if you miss a few bass notes in a chord? You and the audience are listening to the melody. Now, remember in the LMG course about strumming? You may not play every string but keep strumming. Also, there's a certain freedom in soloing. Relax, focus on singing the melody, and enjoy the freedom. 

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@rkl312 There’s a lot of great advice in this thread already. I don’t have much to add. You are not alone, that’s for sure. After all, we are dealing with two different rhythms. It’s not always easy to combine the strumming and singing rhythms so that they sound seamless. If a song requires a specific strumming pattern and the vocal throws it off for me, I slow down the difficult part and analyze how the two rhythms interact with each other. It helps me sync the two together. Otherwise, I go with the sound and feel rather than specific “patternized” strumming.

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Thanks everyone for the excellent advice and videos.  I look forward to watching them and trying to apply.

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