Topic: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

I just can't do it. It seems like I can't mutlitask with this yet. One will trail off. It's like I focus too hard. There isn't a nice flow like there is supposed to be. Any advice? It seems like my voice isn't as accurate when I play the guitar too. I think I'm having some...kinda stupid difficulties lol.

Guitar: Jay Turser "Statue of Liberty" guitar
I've decided to name it (drum roll please) Liberty.
I'm a noob guitarist but I have the love of a pro.
I want to learn everything I can.

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

It's a phase like everything else and will pass. We've all been there and with practice it will all fall into place. Practice the guitar part untill you can play it without thinking and then play with the song going a few times, add a few words here and there when you feel comfortable with it and after awhile you'll be singing all the way through it. Pick the song that you know best and stick with it! In a few weeks you'll wonder what the big deal was in the first place smile Best of luck! -Pix

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

I find when I concentrate more on singing the melody than I do strumming the chords, I tend to do better.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

keep trying!!!!!!!

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Hey - I suck at singing and playing individually AND at the same time. As long as I'm having fun, that's all that matters.

Seriously, try playing around with a capo. It sounds like you might be having an issue finding your natural vocal key.

Now...where the heck did I put my keys? It's the key of a dog howlling WHOOOOOOO. smile

Rule No. 1 - If it sounds good - it is good!

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Thanks for the advice...what's a capo?

Guitar: Jay Turser "Statue of Liberty" guitar
I've decided to name it (drum roll please) Liberty.
I'm a noob guitarist but I have the love of a pro.
I want to learn everything I can.

7 (edited by cytania 2009-07-02 08:20:47)

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

A capo is a little bit of metal and rubber that clamps over the guitar neck and raises the pitch to whatever fret you're at. This is very useful if you find yourself playing a song but singing too low (or too high). You try the capo on various frets till you find one where your singing is natural and unstrained.

As regards playing and singing. Pick easy songs and work out if the chords and singing change at the same time or not. In country songs you often deliver a line in one chord then make a change then change back to deliver the next line. In folk songs the chord often changes before you sing the line of that note (allowing you to feel the note in your chest and sing to it). Blues and pop songs often change and sing at once.

The good news is that as you practice a song it gets ingrained just like the way your fingers remember chords. Once you master how a lyric goes you won't have so much trouble with it. Keep singing and your voice will lose it's rough edges and you'll get more able to judge if you are out of your natural range (use the capo). Every night I start singing with an easy belter to clear my pipes and open things up. Then I move down my songs towards the hard ones like 'Arthur McBride' (the edge of what I can do at present).

'The sound of the city seems to disappear'

8 (edited by crowellb 2009-07-02 21:55:58)

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

I'll ditto the capo advice as well. Getting a song into a key that you are more comfortable with will certainly help and you'll be able to sing more confidently.

As far singing and playing at the same time...I've always found it helps to tap my foot. It helps me keep the strumming rhythm better. The other thing I do is use the most basic strumming pattern when I first learn a song. Down-down-down....(or you could just strum at chord changes too) It doesn't sound great at first but it gives you a chance to learn the chord progression without having to make real quick chord changes. Once you've mastered the progression and found the right key (with a capo), you'll be able to start to feel the rhythm of the song and the strumming will come natural. Keep after it, I'm sure you'll have dozens of songs that you can confindently belt out in no time!

"Do or do not, there is no try." Yoda

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Oh so that's what that thing is. I've seen those in videos of people playing guitar I've watched. I'll look into that...but I should find my...pitch...key....thingy or whatever first. Any way I can find out without doing it in front of someone? I don't want people to hear me sing lol.

Guitar: Jay Turser "Statue of Liberty" guitar
I've decided to name it (drum roll please) Liberty.
I'm a noob guitarist but I have the love of a pro.
I want to learn everything I can.

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

sing along to songs that you like, you will find that some sound better when you sing them, this is your key.
also listen to a range of bands and again sing along, you will find some of them also sing in your key
tonyblue

man is the dream of the doliphin

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

instead of singing start with just humming the melody while you play... so you don't have to remember the lyrics and the chords at the same time smile

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

well glad i wasnt the only one with this problem at first. it took me a while thou. i agree wit alota the ppl above. u just gota try wht diffrent things till u get it. like humming before singing, or tapping your foot, or foucusing on one more then the other. it always helps to learn the guitar part really well first so that your comfertable wit it. and yes capos often help find ur range too. lotsa diffrent ways but just keep trying! youll get it big_smile good luck and best wishes to ya!

{{***~MuZiK LuVeR~***}}

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Don't get hung up on finding your true pitch Seersha. It can vary and song melodies are as important as key. The thing with the capo is you can check yourself before sining in front of others. Fridays I sing all my songs once before going out to perform them. Sometimes I may have noted down fret 2 but somehow I can't make the high notes, so I drop to fret 1, yep that's working. Next song I thought was capo on fret 3 but it sounds wrong, I try fret 4 I'm singing a bit higher now, that's working better.

Some players I've seen even start a song then realise they need to change the capo. They say 'excuse me singing down in my boots there!', slide the capo up and start again.

Learning to use the capo will open up so many things...

'The sound of the city seems to disappear'

14 (edited by stormnside 2009-07-08 03:41:15)

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Making the song easier to sing via a capo is a good idea. The best thing I was ever taught about music was in our high school band. I played trombone, and our director was a funny, very gifted musician...He also had a temper, which in many ways was good because he'd get the best out of us.
His big thing was.....TAP YOUR FOOT....He hammered that into us, if he saw someone NOT tapping their foot, a eraser, or some other non concussion causing projectile  would often be seen flying through the air towards the guilty party!! lol...Once I began playing bass, due to tapping my foot I had a better meter then most the drummers I worked with...not an ego thing, drums and bass are as one, or are supposed to be to create that foundation music needs.  Not that I was special, learning to tap your foot over time keeps you in rythm, it becomes automatic.....some drummers drove me nuts!  And it works wonders for all instruments..To sing and play at the same time is a process all it's own, but start adamantly tapping the foot to the beat now....learning good habits are far easier then getting rid of bad habits. The foot tapping is a GREAT habit, especially if the vocal seems to conflict with the guitar rythm. Playing bass and singing "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison was a challenge when I began playing bass. Van the Man sings on the backside of the beat, hell he sings on the front side.....tapping the beat with my foot made it much easier. Thats but one song, theres soooo many..You'll get it, what seems like a mountain now needs a stubborn attitude....that mountain will shrink....you will never quit learning, thats the beauty of music....Onward Thru The Fog!
Oh, I have two Jay Turser guitars, a beautiful acoustic which I will put against my 56 Martin D-18 anytime, and a Turser copy of a Gibson 335....it is awesome for what it cost me. I recently played a Martin D-28, looked gorgeouys..won't tune! Then I have played an old cheap harmony guitar which Sears used to sell that lacked tone,,but it tuned! A guitar that wont tune simply needs legs screwed on it, makes a neat coffee table. No two are the same. Turser is making nice stuff at a great price though.

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Agreed Tony ... sing along to songs you KNOW you sound spot on with ... I was trying to find what key I sang in and realized I sing lower tones rather well (i.e. Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam) ... so I checked the songs to see which key they were in (majority are in "A") and voila!  I found my key  tongue

"Rhythm drives the Rock-n-Roll train"

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Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

To add to Stormside - tapping your foot is good IF you have a way to know that you're tapping it in beat.  In a band, you have a conductor who helps to keep the beat.  On your own, you don't have that luxury.  One thing you can do at first to help you is to get a metronome.  A metronome is the number one best thing to use to help you to stay in beat.  It won't help you sing any though.  But what you can do with a metronome is to start a song you know veeeeeeeerrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy sssssssssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwwlllllllyyyyy and as you get it down, you can bump up the speed and still sing in pitch and on beat until you get it to a speed that you think sounds good (which is not always the same speed that the original recording artist did it). 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
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Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Totally Agree Zurf,  I guess what I meant was getting into a habit while learning a song if playing along with the original. Or whenever music is heard, tap your foot to the beat, eventually it becomes second nature, automatic. Metronomes are great, I will say many people, myself included realize just how BAD their meter really is when they play to a click track etc.  lol.....But, not as bad as it would be without being aware of the beat and it being second nature. The first recording I did with a metronome was a wake up call....I laugh now, you see this wasn't about ego when I mentioned drummers! , It is  just to hopefully help.

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

Worst thing you can do in music is to stand stock still. Whether you tap your foot or sway like a loon you are physically getting with the beat. Metronomes can really help. The more you internalise a regular beat the better.

The exception is old-style folk music where the meter is highly variable for dramatic effect, but even there you need to know what the rules are, don't kill the pace to make the words easier.

'The sound of the city seems to disappear'

19 (edited by All1Song 2009-07-10 16:32:00)

Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time.

The one thing that helps me to sing a song (this applies to cover songs) is to hear the song clearly in your mind.
When I was young my group of friends would get together and listen to music pretty intently.
I believe it is through this careful listening that a person can "audiate" and memorize songs in the mind.
I have the ability to play back songs I have stored in my head.

So when I play songs I have in my head that is my guide to timing and singing.
It's just me but I never play along with the original nor do I use TAB.
If I don't know how to play a song (but know it in my head) I look up the chords and pick it up quickly from there.
Through careful listening you can learn to play by ear.
So develop a mental jukebox by practicing hearing the songs you know in your mind.

For original songs it's a different story.  First I write the lyrics then I make up the music and the singing flows from there.
Great thing about originals is there is no basis for comparison so it is very liberating.
With cover songs you will always be compared to the original because that is people's point of reference.

Original Songs on YouTube:   www.youtube.com/thegilsongs
Cover Songs on YouTube:   www.youtube.com/All1Song