in need of help,,,singing and playing guitar at same time

[sean3174]

hello people...name is sean,,,i have been playing guitar on and off now for a few years,,,when i first started playing guitar it was like a passion you would not believe,,i fell into the wrong crowd hence why my guitar playing dissolved,,but i am getting back into it now,,<with a passion>..i like to write stuff,,,but i just wish i could put it to music,,,i am starting to learn to sing whilst playing guitar<which aint easy>...i dont have a great voice but that doesnt bother me,,i just want to know is there any techniques to singing and playing guitar at the same time,,,for some unknown reason i have been practising<and i mean practicing>...richard ashcrofts 'break the night with colour'....i understand that to sing and play guitar at the same time is to understand the beat,,,well.....this tune ,i think,has a good beat to start with for anyone that has my problem,,,i just want to know is there any techniques to help on the way thanks for any help .sean

[suicidalmoose]

first of all get the guitar down so you know it without lookin at the fretboard (if you can, sometimes there are parts where u kinda need to see the fretboard to be accurate)

second of all put the song on and play along, now sing during the parts of the song that are easyiest to sing by (like the constant rythm parts) hum the rest

that seems to work for me.

somebody on another forum told me that it wasn't something easy to master and i'd have to make a big effort each song i play, however i can sing along to any song i know now adays. a Hint is turn the song your playing up way loud so you can't even here your voice, that way you're not distracted by your voice, and you can hear it really clearly, then later on as you get used to it, you can do anything.

these are just my suggestions, they've worked for me and i've been playing about 6 months (3 months intensively) and i can do basic punk songs which are powerchords or riff based songs, and songs like Sanitarium by Metallica whilst singing.

It's easier to learn with consistant, repetitive, riffs that don't move around the fretboard too much.

[aschleman]

One thing that I do for songs that are hard for me to sing and play at the same time... I concentrate on which syllabuls are on beat... then when I pactice it the first couple times I emphasize the syllabuls that are on beat... This helps me keep time and remember the timing of the words vs. the music.... The hardest part for me though was when I started I would concentrate too much on one or the other... I would either play guitar and not sing... or sing and not play guitar... Once I started doing both at the same time... writing songs and such it just all came to me. I sat down and got a chord progression/riff going... and just played it until I could clear my mind and play it effortlessly... then I started humming a melody or harmony along with it... Sometimes I would record this then write words to it... Or, I would keep humming the melody or harmony until words came to me... then I would slowly add in words... Kind of like a freestyle... If you can think of words, sing them, and pay guitar at the same time... you should be alright. This helped me tremendously... I also practiced a lot of easy songs like.... Outside by Staind, Flake by Jack Johnson, Where are you going by Dave Matthews, Angel by Dave Matthews, The Christmas Song by Dave Matthews..... etc... etc... I also learned a lot of Metallica... Fuel, Harvester of Sorrow, Seek and Destroy, Master of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters, Fade to Black, One, Hero of the Day... so on... I learned Hetfields parts to get me use to playing and singing... but I also would learn Hammetts parts...