cytania Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I had been frustrated at not being able to play bass and sing at the same time when I thought I could do it with my acoustic guitar... Well a few weeks ago I did a singers night at a folk club. No big disasters but alot of learning. I've been reassessing the songs I thought I could sing ever since. I now seem to spend alot more time working on my own right pitch and right phrasing of the words than I ever did before. Completely changed my working songbook. Songs I thought were duff are now my easy-starters, songs I though I had nailed I realise are just too rangey for me. So my tuppenceworth to the singing/playing bass debate is that singing chops need sharpening too. At least for myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 sing + guitar = easy sing + keyboards = very easy sing + bass = impossible sing + chapman stick = don't even think about suggesting it!!!!! It's all academic as my voice has been known to cause small rodents to commit suicide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='Golchen' post='498630' date='May 27 2009, 12:02 PM']sing + chapman stick = don't even think about suggesting it!!!!![/quote] When I was at Newcastle College, a guy called Jim Lampi came along and proved you wrong. Awesome. Did a particularly stunning rendition of [i]Fisherman's Dream[/i] by John Martyn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='BottomEndian' post='498710' date='May 27 2009, 01:18 PM']When I was at Newcastle College, a guy called Jim Lampi came along and proved you wrong. Awesome. Did a particularly stunning rendition of [i]Fisherman's Dream[/i] by John Martyn.[/quote] Yeah, I was only referring to ME there .......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='cytania' post='498534' date='May 27 2009, 09:51 AM']Well a few weeks ago I did a singers night at a folk club. No big disasters but alot of learning. I've been reassessing the songs I thought I could sing ever since. I now seem to spend alot more time working on my own right pitch and right phrasing of the words than I ever did before.[/quote] I wish our drummer would do this. Some tunes he's great, others he's either off pitch or he wavers or his drumming slows down. Worst part is I'm singing harmony with him, so I get an equal share of the dirty looks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='Golchen' post='498630' date='May 27 2009, 12:02 PM']sing + bass = impossible[/quote] Not so! From a standing start, and feeling the same as you, it has taken me about 18 months to reach the point where I sing about a quarter of the songs in our set-list. It really is just a matter of practice. What seems incredibly difficult at first gradually gets easier and easier until it becomes hard to remember that it was ever an issue. BUT you have to be very careful in your selection of songs to sing while playing bass (which I think is one of cytania's points), and you need THREE times as much practice to get good at a song where you do both ... once to get the bass part right, twice to get the vocals right, and then the third time to put the two together. It gets you noticed, too. At one jam session where I'm a regular, these days I'm routinely introduced as "the singing bass-player", in the same tone of voice as "the juggling dog". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Yeah, sure, anyone who sings....even backing vocals, should practice that as well as they're bass playing. We've just started doing Higher And Higher by Jackie Wilson, and the backing vocal rhythm in the chorus is completely different to the bass rhythm. But I'm getting there. It's all about slowing it right down, and practicing it slowly until they're right. Then, bit by bit, speed it up. Then this kind of thing gets easier the more you do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='498814' date='May 27 2009, 02:42 PM']"the juggling dog". [/quote] Get yourself on Britain's Got Talent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='Golchen' post='498805' date='May 27 2009, 02:37 PM']Yeah, I was only referring to ME there ..........[/quote] Ah, gotcha. Still, though, check out Jim Lampi. IIRC, some of his stuff's a bit noodly-instrumental-w*nk, but he's a real master of the Stick. As it were. :brow: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cytania Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 You anticipated me correctly Jack. Song choice is crucial. Alot of standard's are particularly forgiving, voice and chord change in unison, lyrics proceed uniformly. Standards are fine but once you get into songs you can sing and want to sing you find new obstacles, lyrics that suddenly sprint, chords that change ahead or behind a signficant vocal part etc. Stuff I've been up to recently is with acoustic 6 string guitar not bass but it's ruffled my thoughts enough to realise that singing and bass playing will take work on both fronts. Glenn Matlock advised bassists to sing along with the words in a recent interview. You can see him do this in vintage Pistols videos. Good advice, it keeps you locked into the song and you don't get lost grooving and miss parts. But he's not miked, it's not singing to push the tune forward. What I've been finding recently is just like with bass playing, where I had to make sure I was pushing the song forward not riding the drumbeat, I need to make sure I'm not simply intoning over a guitar sequence. If anything a strong vocal with a simple finger-picked line underneath beats wobbly singing over bashed out chord strumming, no matter how energetic. With songs and bass there is a matter of if the vocal changes and bass parts marry up at all. Some basslines are really quite isolated from the main song. They muscle along nicely, in fact they're like a voice in their own right but they don't tally with the main vocal. No wonder it's a tough act. I'd appreciate your selection of songs that do work well for bass and vocals Jack. Could help me alot. Ta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 [quote name='cytania' post='498888' date='May 27 2009, 03:34 PM']I'd appreciate your selection of songs that do work well for bass and vocals Jack. Could help me alot. Ta.[/quote] The ones I sing currently are: Tanqueray (Johnnie Johnson) Looking For My Baby (Climax Blues Band) Natural Born Bugie (Humble Pie) Don't Be Cruel (Elvis Presley) Baby Please Don't Go (Them) Rollin' Man (Fleetwood Mac) Walking The Dog (Rufus Thomas) Dixie Chicken (Little Feat) What they all have in common is ... nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drae Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 I sing backng vocals and play bass in my covers band. As previously posted, I find difficulty based entirely on the song. Those with some rekatively simple basslines (early Oasis) I find easier to sing against than something more complicated. I've tried singing the harmonies on Stuck in the Middle, but just haven't got the bass part nailed down enough to be able to play it without concentrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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