Do you play bass AND sing???

[danbowskill]

same as most,i do a lot of backing-ooohs an arrrs/shoutings and all that caper.
sing a lot at home,recon i could pull off a band with me singing,but hey i wouldnt want it getting in the way of my bass playing

[dan670844]

[quote name='LemonCello' post='1050494' date='Dec 7 2010, 01:31 PM']I'd be interested to know how many of us sing as well as play bass. Particularly interested in front men....the Phil Lynott's of this world. I can sing fine when strumming chords on my six string. It gets more interesting when you have a bassline that has no 'pattern' to it. I.E. you cant switch-off and do your vocal.

LC[/quote]

I would love to either guitar of bass, i have tried but can't sing and play! if anyone has any pointers! advice welcome!

[Lozz196]

I do backing vocs in my current band, playing bass, and have done in all the bands I`ve been in except one.

Have done lead vocs whilst playing guitar, but have to say, I`m neither a good singer, nor would I attempt lead vocs whilst playing bass (except at rehearsals, for a laugh),

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='dan670844' post='1050919' date='Dec 7 2010, 07:28 PM']I would love to either guitar of bass, i have tried but can't sing and play! if anyone has any pointers! advice welcome![/quote]

Practice practice practice.

I hardly do any singing, but one of the bits that I do is 2 hand tapping while I sing in a different rhythm. I found that breaking it down rhythmically to see how they fit together (like a drummer would break down kick and snare) rather than trying to learn both then just do them at the same time.

Even Les Claypool says there's no trick to it, it's just a buttload of practice.

[munkonthehill]

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1051013' date='Dec 7 2010, 08:45 PM']I`m neither a good singer, nor would I attempt lead vocs whilst playing bass (except at rehearsals, for a laugh),[/quote]

this is how I started singing. Our old singer didnt show up,,,so i stood in as singer/bass player for the session. I will never do a full gig singing, however I will happily stand in at rehearsals.

Thanks to this one session brought on my confidence to do alot of backing vocals and I asked the guys if it would be ok to do 1 song as lead singer. Thankfully they said yes

[noelk27]

Yea, fronted three bands. Lead vox and bass in one (circa six years) and lead vox and guitar in two (circa seven years). Mostly performing originals. Mostly written by me.

I've always learned my vox and bass parts separately, then combined section by section. Maybe because I also play percussion I've never found any problem combining rhythms, tempos, etc. Saying that, I'd often structure parts when composing with performance in mind.

[paul_5]

I do, but only by default. I write all the 'song' bits in the band (melodies and lyrics, but everyone contributes riffs etc...), but we were looking for a dedicated 'singer' to front the band. We auditioned loads of people but they were all a bit below par, so I gravitated towards singing as we had gigs booked and no 'proper' singer, mainly'cos I was the one who knew the material the best. It was really daunting at first, but we were really well rehearsed with the material, and I could 'switch off' my bass playing brain and concentrate on the vocals and front man thing.

Les Claypool is right, it takes buttloads of practice, but I'm sure that anyone can do. If you're thinking about having a stab then I'd say "go for it", you have nothing to lose but your inhibitions - and when is that a bad thing?

[Rich]

Yay for singy basspeople

[achknalligewelt]

I never used to, until our regular backing vocalist had to miss a gig with a buggered throat, and I said, like a fool, that I'd give it a go. I'd always had an ear for a harmony, but not had the mic in front of me since I'd been the guitarist in my old originals band some five years before.

And whaddaya know, it came off. A bit loose at times, and my hands did just fall off the bass during what had hitherto been quite a slick run during Build Me Up Buttercup, but it came off. Now I do harmony on about half our set, often countermelodies, barbershop-flavoured inversions and other complex stuff. I practise the singing first, as that needs things to be quieter, basically. I also need the space to work with everybody else, as the job of arranging our harmonies (often 4 part these days) falls largely to me and our lead guitarist (a fine purveyor of Brian Wilson falsetto).

The basslines I play when singing, I mostly do from muscle memory and the usual bag of bassist tricks - we can all slide up to the third and catch the fifth with our index finger without really thinking about it, so I let my fingers do the walking. The really interesting bass playing I save for numbers where I don't need to sing. We already have three voices, so if the song doesn't require it, I stand back - proper rock playing doesn't need flowery Beach Boys stuff anyway. It's all about the song. At some point though, I'm going to need to do both!

[casapete]

I sing BV's all the time, got a good ear for it just not a great voice!
Occasional lead vocal duties when the situation demands it (like last Saturday night when I ended up doing 50% of the songs!),
but just don't like the sound of my voice- its tonally 'flat' (and often pitch too!), which is ok for BV's but in isolation is pretty grim!
When I first started bass found singing a bit odd, but doing it a lot makes it easier to get your hear round. Hardest is when there's
a repetitive riff to play whilst phrasing BV's with the singer who's had a drink! Great stuff.

[King Tut]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7UUxuE3TcU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7UUxuE3TcU[/url]

That's me in full flow - Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll!

[munkonthehill]

[quote name='King Tut' post='1051745' date='Dec 8 2010, 02:47 PM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7UUxuE3TcU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7UUxuE3TcU[/url]

That's me in full flow - Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll![/quote]

very nice ma man.

[leschirons]

I sing lead vox on every song marked *

The boys are back in town *
Don’t believe a word *
Jailbreak
Whiskey in the jar *
Shoot to thrill *
Highway to hell *
You shook me all night long *
You could be mine *
Paradise city *
Sweet child of mine *
Smoking in the boy’s room
Can’t get enough of your love *
Hush *
Sharp dressed man *
Born to be wild *
Black night
Lights out in London *
Hard to handle *
You really got me *
Rock and roll *
The hunter *
Dead or alive
Comfortably numb *
Pretty vacant
Word up *
Doctor doctor
Hotel California *
Rockin in the free world *

[3below]

If I sang it would not be a good thing, not a good thing at all. Now add bass playing as well and we have a really bad situation. I have the greatest respect for those who can sing, and as for singing and playing bass - Phil Lynott rules. Those who can do both, I am most envious you lucky people.

[AsterL]

Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, The Police, Bands fronted by bass players have been my inspiration since I started!

Music video if proof is needed

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMDq0H_QFA8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMDq0H_QFA8[/url]

Edited December 9, 2010 by AsterL

[Lozz196]

Don`t forget The Stranglers - JJ liked to sing (yell?) a bit too.

[Sue]

[quote name='LemonCello' post='1050496' date='Dec 7 2010, 01:32 PM']That'll be front men AND Women of course![/quote]

I do mostly backing vocal, but a lot of harmony - on the more tricky stuff I need to get the bass part nailed so I only have to concentrate on singing.

[fryer]

Slightly different, but how do you hear what you're singing ? We've tried stage monitors, but were thinking of in-ear things ?

[Sue]

[quote name='fryer' post='1054004' date='Dec 10 2010, 01:33 PM']Slightly different, but how do you hear what you're singing ? We've tried stage monitors, but were thinking of in-ear things ?[/quote]

Ah, there's the rub! I use a monitor with a mix of vocals in it (me and the other 3 who also sing!) and a teeny bit of bass. I haven't tried in-ear monitors, and would be interested to hear from anyone who has.

Sue

[phil.mcglassup]

I must be unfortunate in that apart from the lead vocalist I am the only one who can do backing vocals. The rest of the band are tone deaf! Why does it take half an hour or so to learn a bassline and three weeks (or more) to learn the harmony? It's like the harmony has to be engraved onto my brain so that I can switch it on at the right time.

Anyway, the good thing is that when we do gigs in cramped venues, I have to stand at the front next to our lead vocalist near the monitor as I wear ER20 earplugs (new HF17's coming next week, yeh!). This does tend to upset the lead and rhythm g*****ists!! Mind you, I'm the only one who plays their parts correctly and it is particularly annoying trying to sing harmonies when bum notes and chords are being played loud in my earholes!!!!

I have total respect for those who play and sing harmony BVs, practice does make perfect and maybe it's a skill that once learned becomes easier.

[Sue]

[quote name='phil.mcglassup' post='1054029' date='Dec 10 2010, 01:57 PM']Why does it take half an hour or so to learn a bassline and three weeks (or more) to learn the harmony? It's like the harmony has to be engraved onto my brain so that I can switch it on at the right time.[/quote]

For me it's the other way around!

Sue

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='phil.mcglassup' post='1054029' date='Dec 10 2010, 01:57 PM']I must be unfortunate in that apart from the lead vocalist I am the only one who can do backing vocals. The rest of the band are tone deaf! Why does it take half an hour or so to learn a bassline and three weeks (or more) to learn the harmony? It's like the harmony has to be engraved onto my brain so that I can switch it on at the right time.

Anyway, the good thing is that when we do gigs in cramped venues, I have to stand at the front next to our lead vocalist near the monitor as I wear ER20 earplugs (new HF17's coming next week, yeh!). This does tend to upset the lead and rhythm g*****ists!! Mind you, I'm the only one who plays their parts correctly and it is particularly annoying trying to sing harmonies when bum notes and chords are being played loud in my earholes!!!!

I have total respect for those who play and sing harmony BVs, practice does make perfect and maybe it's a skill that once learned becomes easier.[/quote]

I find it really easy to learn stuff like harmonies. Mind you I think i'm more of an "ear learner" as it is so that's probably something to do with it.

[Sue]

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1054140' date='Dec 10 2010, 03:19 PM']I find it really easy to learn stuff like harmonies. Mind you I think i'm more of an "ear learner" as it is so that's probably something to do with it.[/quote]

Ditto - I have always been able to easily hear the harmony - and make one up if there isn't one!

[purpleblob]

I can't sing !

So I've never had to try and learn to play and sing. Hell, it's hard enough playing an instrument let alone singing, I'm amazed how the likes of Mark King can do it.

I did backing vocals in my first band but I was so bad they turned the mic off, so I was putting my all into it but nobody in the crowd could here me - I think that was probably for the best looking back at it

[theosd]

Just started to get into it in my new band. Bit o' backing and harmonising for now. It's taken me years to build up the courage but finding it's coming quite quickly now that I'm not trying to play too busily on the bass. It took me about two weeks of rehearsals to get the independence and stop trying to play what I was singing!