Playing and talking/singing

Ive been playing for a couple years and pretty good, perhaps as good as some how have been playing for 5, because i play so much! But question is.. how do you play guitar while talking to a pal or singing! If im playing and some starts talking to me i i cant play. I find it hard to keep the beat. Its the same with singing! If i try to sing along too i usualy loses the beat! Am I really stupid?

I think your better of not trying to play and talk to someone else at the same time. Cool if you want to show off but I find that your only being rude to the person who is trying to talk to you. Singing and playing at the same time is just another thing you need to practice. Try learning some nirvana songs while singing and playing at the same time. That should get you used to it. Then it will just come natural. :)

I find it is easy if the melody follows the progression you are playing and it only gets difficult if you are playing a break (or something that requires a lot of concentration) and trying to sing / doing backing at the same time. However, as ever Noticingthemistake has it spot on, practice is the answer !

I dont mean taking and showing off! Am meaning how if Im playing as soon as someone starts taking to me i cant play at the same time!

That just means you're thinking too much! LOL :)

Get married, you'll get used to it quickly!

Personally, I think it is incredibly rude when people try to talk to you when you are obviously playing your guitar. Can't they wait at least til the song is over? Next on my list of pet peaves is when you're playing something cool and people start making stupid requests. Say you're playing a classic Dylan tune and they ask if you know any Jim Croce. Give me a break!

Oh, and to answer the question, I can't talk to people and play at the same time. I usually ignore them or stop playing if what they're saying is important.

Hmm.. is my girlfriend sitting bitching about other people important... erm.. ill just stick to the guitar huh!

its all just a matter of practice - the more you practice, the easier it will become. final stage: singing a completely different rythm and melody than what yo uplay on the guitar - or singing and improvising a solo at the same time

Welcome to the world of multi-tasking. You have to learn how to think of two things at once. Sounds hard, but after a while, it's a breeze. Just takes practice. After you play for so long, you get to where it doesn't take much of a conscious effort to play most things. I practice on my electric (unplugged) while talking on the phone all the time. Me and my bandmates chat while playing sometimes. Try this to learn how to multi-task. When you can do this, you'll probably be able to talk and play at the same time :)

Choose two sentences of about equal length (in letters), but that don't contain any of the same words. Now, write the first sentence with your left hand and write the second sentence with your right, at the same time. The rule is that one pen can't move unless the other one is moving too. I discovered this neat little trick on my quest for ambidexterity while practicing left handed handwriting.