Playing & singing

I can sing reasonably well and now, thanks to this site, I can play guitar reasonably well also. However, I cannot sing AND play the guitar at all! Songs that I can sing pretty well unaccompanied fall to pieces when I try to accompany myself on the guitar. The singing part is the problem. The melody just vanishes! I have no idea why. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any suggestions?P.

Originally Posted by: pcon73I can sing reasonably well and now, thanks to this site, I can play guitar reasonably well also. However, I cannot sing AND play the guitar at all! Songs that I can sing pretty well unaccompanied fall to pieces when I try to accompany myself on the guitar. The singing part is the problem. The melody just vanishes! I have no idea why. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any suggestions?P.

You are doing two different activities and you need to focus on both which is nor possible. One of the activities needs to become automatic i.e. done subconsciously. Practice Practice and it will come,

Just keep trying to do it and it will come. Maybe start with a song that you can either sing with little thought that isn't challenging or that you can play on the guitar with little thought that isn't challenging. Play a very simplified rhythm on the guitar if you need to just to get the feel down.

I sing backup in my duo and at first it felt impossible. As soon as I would start singing my guitar playing would fall apart. Eventually it started to come together and it feels more natural. For me it took 3 or 4 months to get where I could sing/play more complicated things together. I still need to work on my singing by itself :).

Now being the backup singer, I have the luxury of dropping out if I need to...and that was what I did on occasion. If my guitar playing started to fall apart, I shut my mouth :).

Agreed with the other members. You will need to practice the rhythm until it comes to you naturally (which it will, don't worry).

I recommend practicing by playing the guitar and trying to have a conversation. It may sound silly but it has worked for people!

A lot of people have trouble singing and playing because they are still watching their hands when playing to make sure they hit the right chords. Again, don't worry you will get it with practice.

When learning to type on a keyboard at first you watch your fingers to make sure you type the right keys. Eventually you can type and read the computer screen at the same time.

This applies to physical memory. Your hands/fingers eventually just know what to do and where to go to achieve the desired results. It takes practice and dedication, but you can do it!

These people are right. The playing has to become pretty much a part of you before you can begin to sing over it.

The other thing that helps me is to find the spots in the guitar parts that line up with the vocal part. Even if they don't necessarily line up completely, you can find a spot where a word may begin slightly after you hit a certain chord.

I do this quite a bit until the feel becomes more natural to me, and it has opened plenty of doors for me. Let me know if that makes sense :)

This is an interesting subject. I presume you are talking about playing rhythm and singing? Playing lead and singing may prove to be ridiculously difficult.

I have noticed that certain lead guitar playing lead singers can't seem to come near to recreating their studio sound in a live setting. Clearly they are only able to really focus on the one thing at a time.

Are their any lead players that also sing lead around here?

Originally Posted by: jspyattThis is an interesting subject. I presume you are talking about playing rhythm and singing? Playing lead and singing may prove to be ridiculously difficult.

I have noticed that certain lead guitar playing lead singers can't seem to come near to recreating their studio sound in a live setting. Clearly they are only able to really focus on the one thing at a time.

Are their any lead players that also sing lead around here?

This is tough to do indeed. There are certain lead things I can play while singing, as long as it doesn't require me to use a large portion of the fretboard haha.

Many thanks for all the input folks. In general when I try to sing and play the guitar, the guitar part is fine. It seems, however, that my ability to hold a tune vocally just vanishes as soon as I pick up the guitar. Even songs that I've sung since I was a child and have sung well unaccompanied for my own children- put a guitar in there and the wheels just come off. I understand the importance of practice but there seems to be a problem with the way my brain is wired. No guitar- I can sing. With a guitar- I cannot. Why?

I don't think there's anything wrong with how your brain is wired. You are used to singing without a guitar, so bringing the guitar into the mix is throwing you off.

There have been times where I would learn a solo and be able to play it flawlessly by myself and over a backing track. I would go to rehearsal with my band and fail miserably! The ONLY difference was I was now playing in a different environment with the band backing me. With some practice with the band, it all came together.

I would take it a tiny step at a time. It may sound ridiculous, but try this:
- Sitting or standing how you would with the guitar (but without holding the guitar), sing the song.
- Sing the song holding the guitar, but don't play.
- Sing the song and just fret the chords...don't strum them.
- Sing the song and single strum each chord when the chords change.
- Sing the song and play the guitar as you plan to

This will break it down for you and you can work on each aspect of it separately.

Great tips guys!