Originally Posted by: smokinjonHey Kasperow, A few beers always helps me get started, but it helps if you really love and know the songs well, and they have a meaning you can attach to them. I cant tell you an icon to press so you can sing and play a number of songs in a week, but for me it seems I just could one day, (but not without taking some time and effort) though it seemed an impossible thing before that. It starts with that one song, Patience is great song to start with for sure, if you can whistle the beginning while playing guitar that's a good start. How I learn, having learnt guitar parts, is listen to the song often while singing and playing along till you think you know it, then play the song in your head only as you as you try to recall and memorize the lyrics, take it line by line, verse by verse, chorus, etc., till you think you know it, then try same process while playing guitar, if you've got the guitar parts, the big thing is having lyrics memorized. Also you may try humming (or whistling) the vocal/melody parts while playing the guitar, and work the actual words and expressions in gradually. Another good thing is to play with a "patient" singer, and start with singing backup fills, chorus's and harmonies. The coordination thing should come together, if its going to happen, it's natural to some people, some have to work on it more, as well as the vocal skills themselves.

It seems the basics pretty much come down to "memorize the lyrics and the guitar-parts, and practice a lot". I've seen the same explanation some other places on the internet, only slightly different words. You did, however, add a few things I haven't seen anywhere else, mostly the part with starting with singing back-up and chorus.

Otherwise there are a lot of guitar players that just play guitar, and hook up with a good singer to gig.

Agreed. There are a lot of great guitarists who couldn't even sing if their life depended on it. However, for the purpose of this thread, the idea was to learn to sing and play simultaneously, so I could perform for friends and family. Once I actually manage to find a band, though it's going very slowly, I'm going to leave the singing to a vocalist, and maybe do back-up vocals on a few songs. However, getting a singer for family-gigs... not gonna be worth the effort and possibly money.