Singing and playing bass

[The Walloper]

Recently, due to our guitarist leaving, we've brought a new guy in, who has said to us from day one that he can't sing.

'That's not a problem' we though, as he is a real competent guitarist. He'll come in, learn the tunes and we'll be out playing in no time.

After dropping a few of the harmony parts our old guitarist used to sing from our songs, things have not been there vocally, and I believe that vocals are probably the most important part of any band. As a result, we had a discussion about it and I've been put under a lot of pressure from the other members to sing the parts. Now, I can sing, and I can play bass. But the problem i'm having is trying to do both at the same time. I seem to find it easy playing single notes on any particular scale and singing at the same time. It's when the bass melody becomes syncopated. That's when I'm feeling as though I need to concentrate on either one or the other.

Anyone have any tips to help me overcome this?

[oggiesnr]

It's down to practice I'm afraid. My technique is to simplify the bassline and get comfortable with doing both together and then gradually up the level of the bassline. As, in most cases, the vocal is more noticeable to an audience than the bassline I would also put that higher in your monitor mix so you can home in on it.

Steve

[bigjohn]

Yep, it's just practice rather than a trick.

What i do is really make sure I've committed the bass part to muscle memory. Then I really practice the vocal over and over. Then I practice them together until I can do it over an over. Then I work that into that part when practicing the whole song or it's context. Eventually you'll never play that bass part again without singing along.

It general, the process gets quicker and easier, some parts just require more practice, others come relatively instantly.

It's a rub the tummy, pat the head thing, once a part clicks, you can do it on demand, until it clicks it can feel unnatural.

Edited July 10, 2012 by bigjohn

[foal30]

2 separate pieces to learn. Do so individually. Generally you'll find one a lot easier than the other.
The merge of the 2 parts is done slowly. Out of time is no thing, you'll need the notes first.

agree with BJ that once the two are fused you can't play one without the other
funny how that goes.

[chrismuzz]

I can rarely manage this, but as you've mentioned I also get issues if the melody is syncopated! As above I think practice is key... Also do you play with a pick or fingers? Playing with a pick can make this easier as you're not moving as many different body bits! Something to think about?

[PURPOLARIS]

I used to find this difficult and still do for a lot of songs and that's just singing backing vocals. It's deffo practice because I never used to be able to sing and play at all.

As for harmonising and playing, I don't think I'll ever get that bit right.

[The Walloper]

My playing varies from playing with a plectrum or fingers, depending on the song.

It's all down to practice then. I thought it was just the old saying that 'males can't multi task'.

Thanks guys.

[lowdowner]

The answer for me was to be completely comfortable with the (simplified) bass line first. I find the vocals much easier than the bass (i've sung all my life, bass is relatively new) so I don't bother too much practicing that, but playing the bass and single was tough to start with.

The biggest problem was that I started to sing in a kind of rhythmic way in time with the bass - sort of all 'choppy' and unnatural. Good vocalists sing around the beat and not absolutely *on* the beat. The only way to do this is to be comfortable with both bass and vocals separately, and then putting them together when you're happy with both.

Why not start by just playing root notes on beat one of each bar, and doing the vocals as well as you can, and then adding in the bass riffs or syncopation later? Or record your bass part and then sing over it without your bass until it seems natural.

Just practice...

[Westie9]

I'm going through the exact same thing..... I either end up singing what I'm playing or playing what I'm singing...!!!