singing while playing guitar

[Jogarman]

Hi, I am a new member of guitar gathering community.

I am doing the following  DVD courses:

Learn and Master guitar (with Bonus sessions), level 11 now.

Learn and Master Fingerstyle guitar. and learn and Master Blues, in these ones I am in the initial levels, as i do them from time to time, dedicating more time to the main course.

I love the courses and are the best I have experienced so far in learning guitar.

My question is, although I am not a very good singer i would like to be able to sing while playing chords and rythms and simple solo melodies. I find it very difficult to dissociate and be able to do the two different things at the same time such as singing and playing the instrument, and i think that is a very good musical education. Any advice on how to progress? Is there any course or tutorial as to how to get better, at least in coordination of singing and playing?

Many thanks and congratulations for the courses, they are great.

[gotto]

Welcome Jogarman. You have advance quite a ways in the LMG course so you have considerable skills under your belt by now, so to speak. Just as you started learning how to strum rhythmically to a metronome, whole notes, half notes, quarter and so on-one- step at a time-so might you consider learning to sing along with your playing. Select a simple 3 or 4 chord song that you know well lyrically (or have the lyrics and chord chart visually close at hand) and go back to square one with your rhythm playing. Keep your strum playing simple, slow down and focus on the melody, hum at first if you need to, use the metronome. As you become more comfortable and familiar with integrating a third task while both hands are working their own actions, you can begin to advance to a more accurate tempo  and advanced strum pattern. There is no fast track, just as there is no quick way to  "learn and master" guitar but dedicate a small part of your practice each day to the task, perhaps at the end of your dedicated practice schedule. That said, I know some very skilled musicians who simply can't sing while playing, and it does become more difficult as the chord progressions become more complex. It is a learned skill however, so don't be discouraged if the challenge appears too daunting at first. Practice and patience is a virtue. Best of luck on this.

Greg

[Jogarman]

Many thanks Greg, took your advice and started as you said.

[Randy120]

Start singing. 

Find songs you like to sing, and just do it. You will improve with practice. There are virtual lessons on the internet like Singing Success, and many others. 

Mostly you just start singing.

https://singingsuccess.com/

 

[Simira]

 

@Jogarman Hi I think this video from Tony Polecastro from Acoustic Life will be a great help to you😊

[Nutty 1]

Hello @Jogarman, I remember my first few goes at singing and playing at the same time. It was really difficult.

The first song I did was "Mull of Kintyre", the chords are really easy for this song and they do not change every bar. I did all downward strums, 1 strum per beat. 

Keep going with your first simple song and it will start to feel natural after a while. After that try some more simple ones, then when you have them down you can try adding your favourite strumming pattern (i.e. a strumming pattern that you can do on auto-pilot).

For the singing a big part of it is picking a song that is in your vocal range, there are plenty of songs that I have started on and realised that there is no way that I can sing them as my voice will not go that high (yet😁). For songs that are too low you can use a capo. I found a great little course on Udemy which I always come back to, it is great as a warm up and the warm up exercises also act as vocal training. https://www.udemy.com/course/bettersinger/

If you want to go deeper then the singing simplified series is good, here is the first one https://www.udemy.com/course/vocal-workouts-1/ but I must admit that being lazy I mostly use the bettersinger course! 

Be sure to record yourself as you practice and then you can identify the areas that you may need to work on. 

Most of all keep at it, you can do it!

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

@Jogarman   I do lots of singing and playing in church (155 songs per year... except this year) ..  styles of playing are open for me but we generally stick to strumg'n'sing as heard in the GG Open mic section.. and some finger style.. no Jimmi Hendrix stuff

so here's my approach

everyone and their brother knows the chorus and usually most of the 1st verse.. BUT 2nd and 3rd verses,, almost nobody knows of any song. so you're going to need the music in front of you.

1st.. Know the chords at least 80%+ to be able to glance at the chord block coming up and know.. OK.. I'm on a C and a G is coming up.. you gotta know what's next.

remember important rule #1.. the strumming had does not stop for you to find the next chord.. you have to be on the next chord when it comes.

as I said in someone else's post here in GG when they asked about rests in the music and if you mute the strings while strumming (I don't think they liked my answer)

a rest in the music doesn't apply to strumming. .a rest in the music is a non-strummed chord , it doesn't mean you have to mute the strings.. the strings continue to ring through the mute/rested notes. remember rule #1.. the strumming hand does not stop. otherwise you'll have a very choppy sound of a song.

2nd you're reading the lyrics and glancing up at the chord blocks, so you know ok.. at the end of this bar I'm going to the next chord but you're continuing to read the lyrics. 

number 2 gets tricky if you've got multiple verse lines stacked under them.. I have a few songs that there are 7+ verses.. and jumping to line 4 quickly in each measure is.. .. .. tricky.

did I say know the chords of the song 80%+?

some songs.. like Taking Care of Business.. I can sing without looking at the lyrics ,  but my church songs.. nope.. I gotta read the lyrics, play the chords.

many of my songs will have a chord a beat as well. so that's lots of chords per song.

 

Notice.. when your favorite guitar hero is playing.. they are not doing fancy note runs while singing.. 99% of them are doing chords as a "comp" for them to sing.. their playing is not 'up-staging' the singing.. 

if there is a solo part within the song.. it's not during vocals, so learn to just chord the solo section while not singing so you can get the singing/playing part down.. then work on adding the solo after you get the song sounding good.

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Eracer_Team-DougH

[Popeye]

Let's think about this for a minute.........

1st- you are learning to play a new instrument and you are already taxing your capabilities and feel overloaded.

2nd-You have your brain thinking about the LMG video you have been playing.

3rd- your trying to remember what Steve said on the weekly video and your foot is trying to tap to the beat of the song.

4th- Your left hand is trying to play chords or melody on the fretboard and your right hand is strumming, arpeggiating picking or your finger picking.

5th- You may be trying to read music notation.

6th- Your trying to read the music sheet word (lyrics).

7th- And then you want to sing it out loud on key and in pitch in time......and you want it to sound good?

 It is great to have a goals.

OK- I think you see a pattern here......in order to do this many things at the same time, you have to get pretty good at all of these things independently and then put them all together with technique, soul, rhythm and singing from your heart. Learn to crawl, walk, skip and then run!

So-

(1) take one song and learn it by heart....all the words and the beat and the rhythm of the song before you even try and play it on guitar. You don't have to read it, you don't have to see it, you just know the song by heart! ROTE RECALL!

(2) Left hand- Know all the chords, melody, riffs! you can play them without thinking about it. ROTE RECALL! 

(3) Right hand- know the picking, strumming! ROTE RECALL!

Practice doing all three of these at one time until it is all done by ROTE RECALL!  

You have attained the ability to play a song and your feeling confident

Play it in your room for several weeks and then ask your wife if she will listen to a song. If she stays through the whole song and your get that beautiful smile at the end, you might consider that you have succeeded. Feel free to play it in public, OH and  then you will have to add nerves, jumping knee and twitchy fingers to get through the song. Oh- did I mention that you have to remind yourself to breath while you are doing all of this!

NO PROBLEM!

I love learning to play guitar. It is so much fun! Back to my music room! Enjoy and don't give up!

 

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

@Popeye I respectfully disagree with your must know it all by rote recall. every "all the words and the beat and the rhythm" + "Know all the chords, melody, riffs" 

If this was the case I would never be able to play 1 song let alone 155 songs we do every year in choir. . we have to read the chord blocks ahead and we have to sing on beat. and the songs change per church season.

yes I needed to come close to this when I'm leading/directing the choir, where I'm watching the timing of the priest, listing to where 10+ kids are in the lyrics, listing to where my 16yr old piano player is in her melody line, and listing to any other musician playing with me , plus my own playing.. and yes we're reading the lyrics and watching the chord blocks and/or melody.

@Jogarman said he's in Session 11 which is a 'very high level' of LMG to be in. 

but he also said "I would like to be able to sing while playing chords and rhythms and simple solo melodies" 

he didn't say he was going to be on stage trying to recreate a multi-layered track with no music in front of him .. 

he wants to have "keys / hints" to do a simple strum n sing.

this is what some people refer to as a "camp fire" playing.. you strum and sing and everyone else sings along.

singing "in key" comes from hearing your voice along with playing, and comparing how badly you're not in tune with the guitar.. but you have to have sound come out of your mouth first

 

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Eracer_Team-DougH

[Popeye]

 Respectively Doug-

Every time I post on the forum, it is always with a point of view and a prospective of my experience and lessons learned. It comes from the heart to help others. There are hundreds of ways to skin a cat, or sing a song. The journey to get to higher levels is through PPP. 

Please look for the positive and good in a post. 

Look for the good in all that you seek to learn from and you will find different paths to follow.

Enjoy your journey and have fun making music, at whatever level you are in your journey. Help others and you will learn more about yourself!

Take care.

Mike

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Popeye