Playing and singing.....help!

[tonyquipment]

I can just about do it but quite badly. Either the vocal or bass line takes over

Usually it comes down to practice .. Just keep rehearsing until it becomes apparent

A trick I employed was to disengage the vocal from bass line- disassociate the hands from the mouth !!

Play bass like robot / automatically and once you've got that then all you have to worry about is the vocal because that's more dynamic than the bass..

Not sure if this helps but it is a difficult thing to do..

[Raymondo]

I have always tried to do backing vocals but I could never play anything other than a root note bass line at the same time .
A few years ago I ended up gigging ,on average,four nights a week ;pretty soon two things happened .....(1) my vocals improved dramatically and (2) I was able to play any bass line.
In fact I remember one time in particular when I was singing,thinking up and playing a new bass line and working out what I was going to have for supper all at the same time!
Unfortunately now that I hardly ever gig I am back to the non confident "can't sing and play at the same time" me of old.

The moral of the story.....PRACTICE. I was just lucky enough to be gigging whilst doing my practice.

[hollywoodrox]

[quote name='GILLY' timestamp='1402304993' post='2471773']
Start watching at the 8:25 mark:

http://youtu.be/qGwkROLWLrY
[/quote]
Oooh gonna save this and watch it later,

[hollywoodrox]

[quote name='GILLY' timestamp='1402304993' post='2471773']
Start watching at the 8:25 mark:

http://youtu.be/qGwkROLWLrY
[/quote]
Oooh gonna save this and watch it later,

[GrammeFriday]

Funny thing is, I can play and sing fairly easily when playing with a pick, but when playing finger style (which is what I usually do) I really struggle. To some extent this may be because songs that require pick playing are sometimes (but by no means always) more rhythmically regular - i.e. doing eighths in a nice 'chug along' fashion, making it easier to automate the playing and focus on the vocal melody instead. But when playing finger style I definitely feel like I am 'singing with my fingers', and I find it [b][i]really[/i][/b] hard to partition my brain in the required way. As others have said, it is just a matter of breaking it down and building it up really slowly, segment by segment, until the bass line becomes an automatic, muscle-memory-only thing, but it's really hard and slow work for me - so much so that in recent years I have found it easier simply to say that I don't do vocals at all.

[Oopsdabassist]

I sing a bit of BV, but some things totally screw me up, like the whoa whoas just before the 2nd chorus in Vertigo, bass line goes to pot if I even attempt that! Other things like doubling up on Foos chorus's, no problemo, regardless of what the lyric might be. Trying to nail harmonies rather than just singing is a problem too, doesn't help that I sing as flat as 2 day old champagne!

[Norris]

As others have stated it comes down to practise, practise, practise.

First of all you need to know your bass part so you can play it unconsciously. You then need to learn your vocals separately, and finally put them together.

A good way to start on the mental compartmentalisation you need is to play a bass part you know well while trying to hold a conversation with someone. If you can do that and keep the conversation flowing without pauses and stutters you are most of the way there. Another advantage is that you'll be able to talk to audience members who insist on making a request while you're playing some devilish riff. So while you're sitting there noodling away of an evening, chat to your partner.

... from a chap who takes the lead vocal on Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile) - a straight forward enough bass line, but vocals pulled off the beat all over the place!

[BassBunny]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1402313737' post='2471923']
First of all you need to know your bass part so you can play it unconsciously. You then need to learn your vocals separately, and finally put them together.
[/quote]
Spot on and that is exactly what Yolanda Charles advocates. She did a Masterclass at the UK Bass Day in Manchester a few years back and demonstrated the process. Learn both parts in isolation and then starting off VERY slowly, bring the 2 together.
It does work. I always struggled with "Higher & Higher". Easy bassline but when I tried Backing Vox with it, all went to pieces. Used the YT method and "Bingo".

[Black Coffee]

Can't even have a conversation with anyone, never mind sing.
I find I can drum and have a short chat, but not with bass.

Total respect to these who can.

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

At church there are some songs I can sing along with while I play, others - no chance! you could try humming the tune while you play? That might be a halfway house stage which once mastered you could turn into singing?

[oggiesnr]

It's practice, lot's of it. There is no short cut but it helps if you know both parts well enough that you can concentrate on putting them together rather than worrying about what comes next.

Steve

[Marvin]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1402303546' post='2471757']
even thinking about singing whilst playing throws my playing out

had somebody come up during a song once trying to ask for a request and even thinking about answering her was just too much and i eventually ended up thinking 'go away i cant concentrate on playing and thinking about your question at the same time' and just ended up nodding in the general direction of the bandleader
[/quote]

You are me, I claim your £5

I was trying to run through a song the other day, at home, and the good lady Mrs Marvin asked if I wanted a cup of tea. Even replying 'Yes' was a struggle :/

As for singing...good grief. I've a voice that makes people cry, and not in a good way.

[theyellowcar]

I share lead vocals (make sense?) with my brother (guitarist) and I intentionally stick to basic bass lines on my tracks. Thankfully I get to noodle about a bit more on his.

My only advice echoes everyone else - practice.

Edited June 9, 2014 by theyellowcar

[UglyDog]

Am i the only one who finds that talking and playing is actually far more difficult than singing and playing?

[marlborored]

For some bizarre reason I find playing bass and singing with a pick much easier, but if I'm playing fingers even if it's the same bassline I find it much much harder, not sure why

[hollywoodrox]

I have just tried very poorly singing while playing round and round by Ratt it wasn, t pretty but managed some bits very roughly so theres hope, I was trying to scat along the melody of green onions earlier to a basic bluesy line, that was fun and seems a simple way to try and get your brain doing different stuff, its hard enough playing a bass line sometimes let alone singing too lol

[gub]

I was just about to put up a new post on this topic, I then did a search and came across this one.
I have really struggled for years with this, will give the video a watch and see if I can try it.

[rogerstodge]

Apparently Geddy practices his basslines whilst reading a newspaper out loud,

[bonzodog]

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1406918917' post='2515951']
Apparently Geddy practices his basslines whilst reading a newspaper out loud,
[/quote]

Great idea!! Learn to sing, play bass and be informed of current affairs all at the same time. Cool

[Pinball]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1402313737' post='2471923']
As others have stated it comes down to practise, practise, practise.
[/quote]

I had my first playing and singing gig recently. Loads of practise as suggested and I felt confident. Then when I went to sing I got feed back and the band decided to play the song a tad faster than usual. I just about managed to get through it OK. Back to more practising I guess!