singing while playing

im not sure this is where this goes but i have never been able to sing while playing. i cant carry a tune in a magic bucket inside a nuclear transport containment truck anyway, but learning how to sing while playing would help with a lot of slow song like the whos behind blue eyes jimi hendrixs the wind cries mary and too many other songs.

is there a practice tech i can learn or something im missing that everyone else seems to get of the bat? will i ever be able to do this?

anyhelp would be great.

Hey man, I found I had a really big problem with that too, It was very discouraging.

I Found the hardest part to making it sound good was relating the lyrics to chord changes, while still staying on beat. I still fight with this problem, but a lot of songs that i know well i can sing wiht them.

A difficult thing to overcome at first is trying to make it sound exactly the same. First just work on getting it all out together, then If you still want it to sound exactly the same you will have to work with a metronome to really nail the timing, but i have never bothered,

Just try singing to an easily strummed song with a basic up down motion, You will have to listen to the record and compare the chord changes to the lyrics, or simply find a tab that some kind soul has already listed the chords with the lyrics.

Start simple and work your way up, I still have a lot of trouble with Picking and singing, but practice makes perfect :D

I can only sing when I know the song so well that I'm playing 100% without thinking about it, so it's pretty much like singing along to the radio.

If you don't know the music well enough, the chord changes become related to the vocal line and that doesn't work for me, or for many songs.

Practice... once you know the music singing will be easier...

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22947

thanks for the link i read all the posts.

now i wish i would have learned to juggle in 3rd grade like everyone else.

you have to play the song like 10million times until its absoulutely pounded into your memory, youll know it is when you can have a conversation while playing it, an easy song i learned that was the first i could sing with was death whispered a lullaby by opeth

Are you too tense? How about a little flow and just start strumming and tapping your foot, easing in with humming first, then trying some singing? Who cares if your singing is out of key or anything. Just get in the swing of it and then hit the right notes when you've got the flow of things.

Anything worth learning isn't going to happen right now. So practice, practice, practice, and relax. Let it flow. Start with really simple stuff. I posted a reply to a thread on this topic and I started out with "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. Just simple down strumming, and you can even start just speaking the words, then make your way up to singing, then singing it properly. It worked for me and I'm hopeless, I can assure you. :D

there's a bunch of pink floyd songs that are easy strummers that can be sung along to quite easily.. such as Wish You Were Here.

i suggest the followin to learn to sing and play in a more natural less mass repetitition way.

basically start with some simple chord progression witha simple rythm and humm over the top of it. like hum (or sing) (dont bother about lyrics) the note of the chord your playin at the same rythm it is played. so if u are playin a g c chords hum those notes. then maybe try and sing some of the other notes in the chord. like hum the like the e in the a chord. etc. then try to mix these two notes together as you play the chord.

next make the rythm you are playing a bit more complex. whilst keepin the rythm of the hummin simple.
next make the rythm simple again and sing a more comfortable rythm.

then try a more complex rythm on both the rythm and vocals. then just improvise a bit sing other notes in the scale of the key u are playin. or actually wateva notes u want as ;ong as it sounds good.


do this for a few chord progressions. and slowly it will become natural for you. the whole trick of this is to be able to make one part of your mind concentrate on one thing and the other part of your brain concentrate on another. basically multitaskin. its a skill once its gained it isnt to hard. and to make it easy you basically start with the rythm and vocals bein same notes same rythm so they are the same and slowly try and make them different.

then it comes naturally.


actually doin this will also improve ur ear and make u bettter at singin to progressions u havent heard before.

That's good advice FretSpider. I'll do that myself, thanks!

Originally Posted by: light487there's a bunch of pink floyd songs that are easy strummers that can be sung along to quite easily.. such as Wish You Were Here.

Hmm, didn't know about those! Cheers for the tip-off. :)

Originally Posted by: guitar.auThat's good advice FretSpider. I'll do that myself, thanks!

no probs dude glad i could help