Singing and Guitar

[RoaringRowanThunderBender]

Hi all! I really just wanted tips from some of you. There may be a thread similar to this already, but I didn’t see it and 81-something pages can be quite a bit to go through. I sing and play guitar, but sometimes it can be a little hard to do both at the same time. I am the lead singer and not a backing vocalist, but I may also soon be taking over lead guitar for my band as well. I notice Syn does a lot of back-up vox while still playing lead. I really wanted to try to ask Syn or Papa Gates themselves, but I know they are usually very busy and there are quite a lot of us and I’m sure they get tons of messages a day. So, I figured this was an awesome idea! Do you guys have any tips? Usually, I try to get comfortable with guitar and then the vocals and then try to put them together and use keywords in the lyrics for certain changes so I know what I should be playing. But, seeing as some of you amazing people have been at this far longer than I have, I would like to ask your advice. Thank you!

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

you can practice singing and playing together. For example, one of my friends practices playing scales while singing, or playing small sections of leads while singing. Set a time separately for that kind of practice.maybe 10-15 minutes a day

 

[BrandonJ]

Spend a lot of time focusing on the guitar part so that it becomes muscle memory and you don’t need to think about it. After that you can focus on the singing. I’ve played beast and the harlot so many times that I don’t need to think about playing it, so I have fun with it and sing the lyrics even tho I’m not a singer, lol

 

[idssdi]

I first focus on my guitar playing to make sure I’m comfortable with that! When I have that down I first memorize the lyrics and when I know them I start singing along to the song at first and then without the songs and just play guitar.

 

[Noah Berends]

Get one of the two (or both) down packed and memorized so well that you can play it without putting it in the front of your mind. That gives you a lot more room to focus on the other task. For some people it’s easier to commit lyrics and melodies, for others it’s the guitar work. Finding what works best for you and going from there would probably be best.

 

[Ed Seith]

I only sing backups, @rowan, but what you’ve put down is pretty much how it’s done. Learn one, then the other, find focal points to stay synced, and practice.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Mia Coldheart is my ONLY female guitar inspiration, and she’s actually my only favorite female rock singer. She’s amazing. The only tip I can give you, is some advice I read about her in an interview. She said, “I have to think of myself like a piano. My left hand is the bass clef that’s doing the guitar work, and my right hand is the treble clef that’s doing the singing. Each one has their only individual rhythm, I just have to feel the beat as to where they sync up.”
I’ve tried singing and playing her stuff at the same time. It’s DAMN hard! But what pianists do, is they have to work up each hand and make sure each hand really knows what it’s doing before it combines them. Make sure your melody and your guitar work is solid and is exactly what you want to do. Mia usually (for her heavier, harder and faster stuff) would write the guitar part and then write the melody over it to get it defined, and then practice them both together. It was hard for her, it really was. But she did it! Hope this helps!

 

[RoaringRowanThunderBender]

Alright, it seems like I am on the right course of thought then. I appreciate all of the responses. I really wanted all of your opinions because I’m sure some of you are much more experienced than I. Jak, thank you so much. I will definitely check her sometime soon when I get the chance. I definitely appreciate the quote and that seems like sound advice. I’m just going to have to keep practicing and locking myself in. Apologies for not being able to reply to each of you individually like I have been wanting, but I’ve been going through some stuff and mostly just wanted to let you all know I have been reading every response and appreciate them all so much. Thank you!

 

[supraja vadlamani]

I completely agree with Brandon! When I first started playing the guitar, I couldn’t do both together at all but then as I kept playing, my fingers started to automatically move due to muscle memory. Once that happened, I could easily focus on singing without worrying about the guitar. It’s amazing what the human body is capable of.