Singing and playing

[Happy Jack]

It's becoming more and more obvious that I need to be able to sing while playing bass.

Hmmmm.

Any tips on how to get started?

Every time I try, the second I start singing my bass-playing suffers from discolexia and the rhythm goes completely to pieces.

Help!

Edited September 14, 2007 by Happy Jack

[Marcus]

Yep !

That's what happens to me...... to the total amusement of my band mates....

[stingrayfan]

It's a tricky one and takes a bit of practice. Start with singing backing vox against a really simple bass line - chugging 8ths or something rocky and build up. It pays to know the bass line before you start trying to sing on top of it, so it's only the vocals that are new to your brain. I'm still working on it. I can sing backing vox to most stuff but singing lead, the bassline still has to be fairly simple. It's great when you don't have to sing anything though, then you can kick back, relax and enjoy playing!

[wateroftyne]

All you can do is practice. It does get easier...

[timmyo]

I've oft heard that learning to sing the part minus your instrument initially can help alot.

[jakenewmanbass]

I had difficulty with this, and then a really good player/singer I know told me to learn each part (bass, vocals) really well, seperately, then put them together.
It really helped me
give it a go

ps i also try and see how the parts interlock rythmically, that also helps
Jake

[WalMan]

I definitely find that it is not until I have the bass line pretty much sorted, so that it just rolls without me having to think about it, that I can start to properly get the b vox going - but as silverfoxnik will find tomorrow that is a very moot point

[Deep Thought]

I find some songs I cannot sing and play no matter what I do, yet others come really easily, and some I have to work at a bit. Funnily enough it's often busier bass lines that I can sing over more easily. It's true you have to know both parts very well before putting them together.

[wotnwhy]

when i was learning piano i had real trouble when my hands were playing 2 different parts/rhythms, and the tip my teacher gave me was to learn the left hand part till it's instinctive. just play it over and over until it's drummed into the fingers and it's all done on instinct, so you could read a book, or have a conversation with someone and your hand will be doing it's thing on it's own.

this is what i did when trying to sing and play for the first time. and it worked very well. just go over the bassline (something simple to start) with a drum machine or metronome and just keep running over it again and again (for more that one session if necesarry), until you can let your mind wonder without effecting the bassline. then singing over the top of it will be a lot easier.

and as others have said, it gets easier with practice. it took a very long time before i could sing backing vocal without messing up the bass. now i'd be more than capable of singing lead vocals on our entire set (if only i had the voice )

[Happy Jack]

Many thanks, guys, some very helpful stuff here. I'm already working on putting it into practice.