Singing and Playing..Do you find this hard/easy???

[bubinga5]

Does anyone find this very difficult, or does it come naturally??...Was discussing this with a bass player recently..He said he cant sing and play..

I do believe that this is something that either comes naturally or doesnt....However!..

The mind is a muscle like any other, and in being that, it may take time to train that muscle to do things that dont come naturally..There are some fingerings on the bass that i hate doing and feel very awkward..But i force myself to master them..(avoiding injury of course) hopefully making me a more agile player..

My point is, i seem to hear alot of people who say they have tried to sing/play but cant, but dont seem to have spent a lot of time practising this technique...

I dont find it easy, but if i get to know the bassline, then work out the singing parts, my mind slots them in to the appropriate parts..Im trying to practice soloing on the bass, then singing a different line and its bloody hard...I feel the burn with that one...Its like a mind dead lift, while im doing a mind bench press, coupled with a mind tricep press.

Any thoughts on this??

[leschirons]

As it happens, I've always sung since playing bass, whether BV's or lead vocals. I do find it very easy but now and again, come up against one or two numbers that I find really difficult to do. Last one was Jailbreak by Thin Lizzie. Easy to play, easy to sing but not together, for me.

I imagine, but am not positive, that a lot of players say they can't do it as they are concentrating too much on the bass line or whatever part they are playing. It's a mind over matter thing. The less you think about it, the easier it is. I make you right about knowing the bass line ccomfortably and then working on the vocals. Trying to think about both at the same time is a no go area. It also looks daft when your watching your fingers and singing sideways into a mic. It looks like you've had a stroke.

[thisnameistaken]

I sing harmony in both the bands I'm doing at the moment, so yeah I sing and play almost all the time. I've been singing back-up for about as long as I've been playing though, so I can't really remember not doing it.

Sometimes there are parts which are a bit tricky, but honestly once you've got the syncopation down I find the only problem is avoiding letting your concentration slip too much either towards the bass part or the vocal part, and forgetting to do the other one!

[escholl]

for some reason, i find it really easy to sing and play the guitar at the same time, but tough to sing and play the bass. go figure.

Edited April 17, 2009 by escholl

[~tl]

[quote name='escholl' post='465492' date='Apr 17 2009, 08:27 PM']for some reason, i find it really easy to sing and play the guitar at the same time, but tough to sing and play the bass. go figure. [/quote]
Snap. Not sure why really, I guess it's the rhythm...

[Hamster]

At first it felt very unnatural, but with a bit of perseverance I find it almost as easy as when playing the guitar & singing now.

[51m0n]

I cant even talk and play....

And no I dont look at the fretboard (well maybe more with the 5 at the mo, and the fretless is lined so I find myslf cheating on that too - shhhh!)

[leonshelley01]

I do backing singing and usually it's fine, but if the rhythm of the vocal melody line and bass line are miles apart I tend to lose the bass line, so I get the guitarist do those instead!

[Breakfast]

I have to avoid basslines that are too close to the melody with the stuff I'm doing at the moment ( I'm back to being a bass player again, yay! ) because our [i]singer[/i] can't not sing the bass line if they get close...

I can't sing and play, the rhythm is too different. I can play guitar and sing and I think it's because one doesn't have to think to play guitar ;D

[Shockwave]

[quote name='escholl' post='465492' date='Apr 17 2009, 08:27 PM']for some reason, i find it really easy to sing and play the guitar at the same time, but tough to sing and play the bass. go figure. [/quote]

Generally i find that bass lines do not follow the vocals lines at all in many cases. Your playing a longer instrument that requires more muscle to play. If you play with fingers its even worse, Its like your playing with 3 plectrums ie fingers.


As for me, I can perform growl vocals pretty well whilst playing, but couldnt do cleans unless I was playing very simple lines.

[bubinga5]

[quote name='~tl' post='465555' date='Apr 17 2009, 09:37 PM']Snap. Not sure why really, I guess it's the rhythm...[/quote]
I think i know why..With the guitar, you form your hand position and hold it there, then sing a part..With a bass you are moving around that chord all the time with single notes..so requires more concentration..

its more difficult to play the bass and sing than guitar IMHO....The guitar is very in tune rythmically to vocals ( unless your finger picking) so is easier..the Bass requires( not always) A different route through the song so is alot harder to sing against..

Edited April 17, 2009 by bubinga5

[leschirons]

I tried Seven days bass and vocal one time. What a workout that was in my head. I had to really concentrate on the 5/4 and then try and detatch myself from it to go for the vox. Never got there and gave up in the end. Great exercise though, it's worth a try for the hell of it.

[escholl]

[quote name='Shockwave' post='465629' date='Apr 17 2009, 11:04 PM']Generally i find that bass lines do not follow the vocals lines at all in many cases. Your playing a longer instrument that requires more muscle to play. If you play with fingers its even worse, Its like your playing with 3 plectrums ie fingers.


As for me, I can perform growl vocals pretty well whilst playing, but couldnt do cleans unless I was playing very simple lines.[/quote]


[quote name='bubinga5' post='465630' date='Apr 17 2009, 11:04 PM']I think i know why..With the guitar, you form your hand position and hold it there, then sing a part..With a bass you are moving around that chord all the time with single notes..so requires more concentration..

its more difficult to play the bass and sing than guitar IMHO....The guitar is very in tune rythmically to vocals ( unless your finger picking) so is easier..the Bass requires( not always) A different route through the song so is alot harder to sing against..[/quote]


hmmm, thanks guys, that makes sense. guitar, and i'm talking of just typical rhythm guitar here, is much easier to play, mentally, than the bass...a few chord positions and one pick, versus having to move all 9 fingers independently.

now i don't feel so thick! still wish i could master it though....just as well really, i can't sing anyways!

[ezbass]

I initailly found it almost impossible and would lose the groove completely, but the more you do it the easier it gets. There are still some songs that I won't sing on though because the groove and melody line are so at odds with each other and I'm a bass player first and foremost.

[RussFM]

In one band I sing along to most choruses and a few harmonies, but in the other I play more complex parts and can't sing at the same time. In contrast, I can never sing while playing guitar!

[Eight]

Well... I've progressed as far as being able to sing every sixth or seventh word while playing.

But then I can only play every fourth or fifth note so it works out quite well.

[Thunderthumbs]

I always sung backing vocals, and for the past few years have done lead on a few tracks too.

Whether I'd class it as coming naturally or not I'm not too sure. Simple rhythms aren't too difficult, but it can be if the bass and vocal rhythms are completely different. But as with everything, slow it down as slow as possible, get it right at that speed, and slowly but surely wind it up. You'll be amazed at how easily you'll pick it up.

[The Funk]

I find it difficult but I've set myself the goal of singing/playing [i]Hair[/i] live. It's just a matter of practice, same as right hand/left hand independence on piano.

I can do simple tunes like [i]Sunshine Of Your Love[/i] or [i]Love Spreads[/i].

[4000]

I've been doing it on and off since I started playing (both lead and backing), and find most of it easy. Certain things are difficult though; like Suzie Quatro says, I imagine "If you can't give me love" would be a bear.

EDIT - I think it was actually "She's in Love With You" I meant....

Edited April 21, 2009 by 4000

[thisnameistaken]

I think the trickiest one I've had to do lately is [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP2-5__wpkY"]Sweet & Dandy[/url], singing the high harmony part. The way the third and fourth lines of each verse wrap over the bar line were tricky at first. Plus most of it is in my head range, and it's generally not an easy vocal part at all!

Beautiful song though. More African-sounding than most old ska tunes.

[Gman]

It's definitely something that gets easier...it also helps if you can sing easily to start with.

If you want to practice it's worth starting out with a simple song like 'All the Small Things' - just a straight 8 line with simple melody. Weirdly some tricky basslines are easier to sing over than a straighter part. Orson's 'No Tomorrow' was a tricky one for me...dead simple bassline but the offbeat bits crossed over the melody in weird places - not to mention that the chorus is too high for me to sing easily!!

[Golchen]

This has come up before. I can't seem to sing along and play bass, it is much easier on guitar or keyboards.

[Rich]

[quote name='51m0n' post='465566' date='Apr 17 2009, 09:45 PM']I cant even talk and play....[/quote]
For some bizarre reason, this is [i]immensely[/i] more difficult than singing and playing. I can sing and play quite well, done it for years and so it sort of comes naturally (depending on the complexity of the bass or vocal part, and how different the two melodies or rhythms are).
But talk and play? Nah. Can't utter a word without the bassline going all to pot.

Like him or loathe him, for my money Mark King is one of the great singer-players. Quite how he manages to sing a complete counter-melody over some of his complex basslines is totally beyond me. 'To Be With You Again' is a case in point. 0:41 onwards:
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrJNhTBNWs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrJNhTBNWs[/url]

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='465485' date='Apr 17 2009, 08:25 PM']Sometimes there are parts which are a bit tricky, but honestly once you've got the syncopation down I find the only problem is avoiding letting your concentration slip too much either towards the bass part or the vocal part, and forgetting to do the other one![/quote]

+1
thats the main issue for me, learning what happens between your hands and voice is the key to success.
Also knowing both parts seperately really well helps.

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='51m0n' post='465566' date='Apr 17 2009, 09:45 PM']I cant even talk and play....[/quote]

I think thats harder as talking is improvisational wheras vocal parts are set. I've learned to improve my talking whilst playing to teach and display at the same time, I still get stuck (verbally) sometimes.

Playing walking basslines (or improvising lines in general) and singing is really hard.