SINGING AND PLAYING TIPS ANYONE?

[definite]

Does anyone have any good excersises and/or tips to getting good with singing and playing simultaneously?

[timi]

I concentrate on one and let the other come naturally. Sometimes it's better to concentrate on the easier of the two, sometimes the other way round.

I find playing bass and singing much harder than playing guitar and singing, but nowhere near as hard as drumming and singing. Must be really hard to play sax and sing at the same time....

[definite]

The challenge for me is quite formidable - to be able to sing while playing syncopated and often off beat bass patterns - its hard! HELP !

[foal30]

ha ha
you pick the hardest material to sing on mate

totally nail the bass part, then add voice is 90% of what I've done
for the more syncopated stuff I have probably written the Bass Riff to the lyrics or vice versa so the parts are of the same genus. It's then hard to separate them which can have it's downside too.

If it's adding to an already written tune I might play the simplest bass line and consciously only sing the thirds (or whatever). If (and it's a big if) I can do this then I may expand some ideas.

hopefully Rog/JazzBass reads this, he's only being doing this for 30+ years so he will be sure to have some handy hints.

[beagle]

I'm amazed by guys who can sing and play bass. Cudos to you def.

I find playing bass and singing much harder than playing guitar and singing, but nowhere near as hard as drumming and singing. Must be really hard to play sax and sing at the same time....

interesting... How do you figure that? Drummers don't have to think about what notes to play.

[ryanmaiden]

Yeah, what foal said. You pretty much need the bass line on autopilot. I get the bass line sorted well before I start learning lyrics to songs my covers band are doing. I've tried getting vocals going on autopilot, but found that since the foldback seems to vary wildly from one gig to the next, you really need to listen hard sometimes to keep your pitching sweet, so you need the bassline to just keep pumping out without too much thought.

[Pstewart]

Beagle if you think about it, drummers have four limbs with a different rhythm on each limb, albeit generally connected ones.
I personally find it hard enough playing drums by itself haha.

[beagle]

Beagle if you think about it, drummers have four limbs with a different rhythm on each limb, albeit generally connected ones.
I personally find it hard enough playing drums by itself haha.

Yeah fair call.... i didn't really think about it from that aspect.
I was ignoring the actual complexity of how the different instruments are played.
My thinking was that bass players normally play the rhythm like the drummer, while the drummer doesn't have to harmonize. ... does that make any sense??

[definite]

im practicing away hard out and actually its not quite as hard as I thought - im still making a few errors and only just winging it in certain parts but I can see that with perseverance and practice I'll get it!

[ryla]

i only do BVs, but ive found if i dont sing (due to 'flu) it can be harder to play,- singing gives you automatic cues and when youre not singing, the bass part is less subliminal and therefore more difficult - does that make sense?

[manofthematch]

I think it's a case of practice, practice, practice. Certainly I think there's a lot to be said for nailing one part so well that you can do it almost on auto pilot. So for me it's making sure I know the bass part so well I don't really need to think about it. Then I can start singing along.

There are some songs my band does that do my head in - in terms of nailing both bass and vocals - that I've accepted that I won't do vocals and just concentrate on the groove.

I only do backing vocals too.

[pins]

I unfortunately "sing" 1 song in our entire repertoire,"sing" is a very very loose word in my neck of the woods,and the unfortunate part more relates to any poor soul present.

As a rule, as soon as I open my mouth while playing my fingers become detached from what brain I have left, and the wheel comes off........

My tip is do it if you can and don't if you cant

[manofthematch]

Right on there Pins... Good point.

Play to your strengths.

Bass and any vocals (backing or especially lead) done simultaneously is a top effort. Even though I personally rate his voice, Mark King played some very active bass parts and sings. Now days some good examples are Esperanza Spalding and Nathan East - from time to time - does vocals.

[ryla]

tHe hardest thing is to just sing, and if your like me it has to be a harmony or I'm treading on our vocalists wavelength and I simply cannot get away from not singing in my band full stop.

[Mr Bass Man]

Well when I am learning a new song(s) to play, I always learn the bass parts first and go to rehearsal and play the song with the band, then add in BV's once I'm comfortable that I've got the bass line nailed
the hardest one for me at the moment is that Bruno Mars 'Uptown Funk' - the bass line is pretty full on towards the end of the song and I need to watch what I'm playing.... but the vocals at the end repeat "Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up..." at the same time and it's quite difficult to multitask!