Singing & Playing Bass Guitar

[blue]

Singing and playing bass has always been a huge challenge for me. I'm getting better and the separation from my fingers and voice is getting a lot better.

I don't have a great voice, however my band has allowed me free reign with backing vocals. Because we gig a lot, I've had the opportunity to really work on this.


I still have a lot of room for improvement. I really like singing and being on the front line.

Any stories about singing and playing bass you guys care to share?


Blue

Edited March 8, 2017 by blue

[Mykesbass]

Still have problems breathing when singing and playing. Seems like I can only do two out of three!!

[Conan]

It takes a hell of a lot of practice for sure. I don't feel I've "got" a song until I can literally forget about the bass (letting muscle memory take over) and concentrate on the singing. And that's just doing backing vocals!

Generally I find that singers are not very understanding of what it is like to play an instrument and sing at the same time - especially a rhythmic instrument like bass or drums.

It's particularly hard if you are playing covers, and especially songs from a range of bands where the singer might be a bassist (relatively easy), guitarist (harder) or just a vocalist (really hard as they often have no concept of rhythm, metre, syncopation, etc.!).

That said, one of the hardest vocalists to do when playing bass is (IMO) ironically Phil Lynott! Then again, most of his bass lines were significantly different when played live, so even her must have had that problem!

[Phil Starr]

I'm glad to hear that about Phil Lynott, my band want to do one of his.

All I can offer is what you already know, practice both separately until you are comfortable with both parts and only combine them when it is comfortable.

On the plus side it's amazing how even very ordinary backing vocals can lift the sound of a band, so long as they are in tune

[blue]

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1488956984' post='3253152']
Still have problems breathing when singing and playing. Seems like I can only do two out of three!!
[/quote]

It's good to hear I'm not the only one.

Blue

[Japhet]

Yolanda Charles did a good video on Youtube about how to improve at it. I've tried but I find it almost impossible to even hold the most basic conversation whilst playing. I can sing what I play or play what I sing but since bass is usually a counter melody it doesn't work. Check out Yolanda though.

[Beer of the Bass]

I still haven't figured it out. The guitarist in the trio I'm playing with is keen that we get some backing vocals in there, so I should probably start working on it.

[Les]

I seem to manage ok but if need be I will sacrifice the bass line to get the harmony in.

Sometimes thought the bass line is vital, we do The Chain by Fleetwood Mac and once we are into the formula one bit at full tilt
there's no way I can sing the harmony over the chains will keep us together bit. Hats off to anyone who can cos' I've tried and I've tried.

[Mykesbass]

Very much down to the rhythm. In my old band we used to do CCR Proud Mary. I had to swap the call and response the Rollings with the lead singer so I sang the first one. Couldn't get the response for the life of me.

[skej21]

Here's the classic story that Macca learnt how to do it by playing bass whilst reading the newspaper out loud. I tried it once and i found it almost impossible to do! Tricky skill for sure.

[SICbass]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1488961181' post='3253198']
I still haven't figured it out. The guitarist in the trio I'm playing with is keen that we get some backing vocals in there, so I should probably start working on it.
[/quote]

A word of advice, if you're going to do it, get cracking asap. I said something similar to myself about 30 years ago and never quite got around to it. I am now kicking myself.

[Huge Hands]

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1488960935' post='3253194']
....I've tried but I find it almost impossible to even hold the most basic conversation whilst playing....
[/quote]

I do a lot of BVs and (very) occasional lead vocal. It takes a fair bit of practice, but I can usually get there. I usually struggle the most when the melody is rhythmically different to the bass line. I always remember struggling with singing "Your love keeps lifting me - [i]higher and higher[/i]" BV line over the bassline rhythmn!

However, what I really can't do is talk and play. If one of my band colleague asks me something mid song, I end up sounding like a grunting, gurning cave monkey that's had a stroke when I try and reply.

[TrevorR]

Like others, it's the clash of melody and bass line rhythms that does my head in. There are some songs or some lines I just can't sing and play at the same time without the bass line going completely to pot.

Back in the covers band days I did a lot of backing vocals and really loved it. Like has been said, it's amazing how much a good backing vocal could add to a song. Some faves were Kinks tunes, because the backing vocals often so daft if you listen to them in isolation but they're an important subliminal part of the song. Listen to Waterloo Sunset to see what I mean. Ray really must have hated his little brother, Dave.

Then there was Going Underground which I seemed to unconsciously approach as a piece of punk performance theatre. Out went my nicely manicured Surrey pronunciation and suddenly it was all... "Bu' Oi wan nuffin that serciety wan's! Gaw-win unnerground". On occasion it used to send our female vocalist, who'd known me for years into the giggles so she'd have to step off mic til she got her own backing Vox back under control.

[martthebass]

I'm usually ok with BV but find that some basslines interfere with the process for some inexplicable reason. For example no problem with BV on Come up and see me (Make me smile) but losing it on something simple like I love rock and roll. Go figure....

[TrevorR]

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1488964199' post='3253233']

However, what I really can't do is talk and play. If one of my band colleague asks me something mid song, I end up sounding like a grunting, gurning cave monkey that's had a stroke when I try and reply.
[/quote]

This, this, so very very this!

[Dropzone]

It is useful to have a guitar around when doing bvs, as generally singing the same note as the singer sounds aweful, however the bv note can be anything depending on the need of the song. Using guitar chords can give you a quick and easy way to find complimentary notes to try. Although pitching them can be tricky live.

[chris_b]

I know this is a forum about bass, but. . . . there's so much agonizing, nit-picking and over thinking about the tiniest detail of bass that the biggest "issue" is nearly always overlooked.

No one else cares about our wonderful bass gear and sound, but add some vocals and we're going to be more use to a band than any non-singing bass prodigy.

I sang in the band at school, but I went on to play with some good players that put my "croaking" into perspective. I stopped singing. I should have worked at it but I haven't sung since and it restricts my bass playing options every day. I know I could have joined a couple of good bands if I'd been able to do even passable BV's. I lost out on 4 gigs at New Years and found out on Monday that a gig I was lines up for is now going to use a singing bass player!

Everything else is faff. . . . play bass AND sing. You'll be working when me and players like me are left sitting at home.

[bonzodog]

We do a lot of Jam songs and Bruce Foxton is a master at singing backing vocals over walking bass lines. Some i can do but some i will just revert to the root notes while i sing and back to the correct bassline inbetween

[RockfordStone]

i've been a lead singer/bassist for the past 5 years. it has its cons, you have to decide which element takes priority (unless you are geddy lee).

for me now, my bass is secondary as i have to be the focus, the voice and the front of the band, so my singing has to be on point so has to take priority over a flashy walking line.

[scrumpymike]

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1488964846' post='3253241']
This, this, so very very this!
[/quote]

I was a singer first so I'm a singer who learned to play bass. Despite being the/a lead singer in all my bands since the '60s, I still occasionally find something that trips me up. The most recent was Losing My Religion. Even though the bass part is a doddle, the killer was overlaying Michael Stipe's 'conversational' phrasing. Took me hours practicing alone at home to get it fit for gigs.

[Yank]

Yeah, I too, was a singer before I started playing drums at age 10. Learned to sing while playing drums, then took up guitar and bass. Get your part down on bass, so you don't have to think about it, then you can put your brain onto learning the singing while your bass is on auto pilot. Start with songs where notes on both are right on the beat. Lator tackle ones where the singing or bass is syncopated. Hardest one for me was playing the synth bass part on bass to "Very Superstitious" while singing. Even Sting had trouble and had to work at getting his parts right live. Sing every day. Sing while driving. Memorize the lyrics so you don't have to think about them.

[police squad]

I've been doing it since my first gig in 1981.
Occasionally I do hit a wall with something that I can't sing and play, for instance, Driven to tears by the Police. It took me 7 years to be able to do it.

I'm also depping with a band at the moment and I've only just about crammed their set in my tiny brain. Singing BVs was challenging to say the least but I reckon a couple more gigs and it'll be ok.

You have to practice and if you can't sing AND play something, try slowing it down, a lot even and build up your speed.

As someone said earlier in the thread, a bass player with BVs is an asset.
A bass player that is a singer / frontman will always be in demand

[mikel]

Playing bass and singing is to my mind more complex than with other instruments. Depending on genre. Bass lines tend to be out of kilter with the vocals a lot of the time. How Sting managed to sing and play with the Police still impresses me. Straight on the beat stuff is ok, but real singing whilst playing is beyond me. Trying to express a vocal and lay down a good bass line at the same time? Genius.

[Hobbayne]

I never used to sing. In fact I couldn't sing a note until a joined a function band 20 odd years ago. They let me sing backing but I wasn't all that confident and stood back from the mike. Every gig I kept plugging away and got a lot better.
Fast forward 20 years and now I am a better singer and sometimes get the lead vocals on a few numbers (Although I have to simplify the bass part)
It just goes to show what you can do if you keep on at it.

[Dave Vader]

If your band has less than 2 people doing BVs then your band is doing something very wrong.
IMHO, YMMV etc.

also, does not apply to Metal of the very heaviest kind.