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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I cannot play guitar OR sing, either! :rolleyes:
Now that that is outta the way... I just wanted to ask if others had the same problem, and what can be done about it.
Example - In the song " Ballad of Dwight Frye " (Alice Cooper) the rhythm of the music played on the guitar is different from the cadence of the words spoken... I know the words, and can play the song, I just cannot do both at the same time.
Is this because the connection between the right and left hemispheres of my brain aren't connected correctly, and can I cure this?
I also have trouble playing & singing "Sympathy for the Devil" for the same reason. (But I don't really wanna play that so that's not a problem.) But I do like to play the Dwight song...
But I do have the same problem with other songs when the strumming or picking pattern and the words are not so simply linked.
Advice? (Stay with Neil Young?) |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Same as when you're learning a difficult guitar piece. Break it down into small chunks (even if it's just a few words/chords) and practice, practice, practice. Just like you build "muscle memory", you can build that automatic "can't do it if I think about it" ability with your voice and fingers together. |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Try easier songs. Don't try to sing like Neil Young. One is enough.
Other than that, If I have something that's tough to play, I always have problems singing with it. As soon as I start thinking about one or the other, I screw up either the lyrics or the guitar. Repetition is the only thing I could suggest. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I have found that it is often mind over matter. there are some tunes that I just can't seem to play and sing together (most will argue all tunes) but others I have no problem.
usually if you get to know the rhythm so it is automatic the singing comes after.
think about drummers who synch both arms and both feet sometimes doing different things against each other. while singing!!!! |
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December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
Don't try to sing like Neil Young. One is enough. Damn, there goes my setlist for Mt Vernon :confused: |
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December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | OMA, I've been playing guitar for the better part of 3 decades, and up until a few years ago, I NEVER sang and played, and thought I couldn't. I started playing and singing a few years back, and had some difficulty for sure. It's really the same as anything else, practice. I do learn the song on guitar first, and get it down to where it's brainless to play. I started with just strummin and singingin, then moved on to more difficult stuff.
BTW, there's nuthin wrong with Neil Young, and if you try to play his acoustic stuff like on the recent release of the Massey hall CD, that's the not the easiest thing either. He's got some decent pickin goin on there, and singin and a pickin ain't so easy... unless you're from Bakersfield. |
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Posts: 129
Location: Berkeley, CA | Think about Rick Allen, doing all that with one arm!
knuckles |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | OMA, that sounds like "I'm Eighteen" to me. I wouldn't try to do Alice Cooper or Neil Young if I were you. You might hurt yourself. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | Originally posted by knuckles:
Think about Rick Allen, doing all that with one arm!
knuckles And a sequencer :eek:
I usta do a very tastless Rick impression.... I'm going straight to hell I'm sure. |
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April 2006
Posts: 848
Location: Munich, Germany | OMA, I know what you are talking about.
I have had the same experience with some bossanova songs (Corcovado, Summer Samba, Girl from Ipanema for example) I am playing. The tunes that are sung are way out of the rythm you are playing on the guitar.
What helped me:
Try whisteling the song, that helped me to learn to let the right hand do the guitar stuff without concentrating too much on the lyrics/singing. If your right hand feels sure and independant from your whisteling, try to sing.
Kurt |
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Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | I just let others do the singing, cause I can't sing whether or not I'm playing guitar. |
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June 2007
Posts: 3084
Location: Brisbane Australia | Originally posted by alpep:
think about drummers who synch both arms and both feet sometimes doing different things against each other. while singing!!!!
Don Henley and Phil Collins come to mind |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Can't whistle, Kurt. But I do often do the La-La-La stuff when I'm trying to get something down.
"Don't try to sing like Neil Young. One is enough."
[side story] At Apple Music, I grabbed an Elite T while telling the store-dude that I just got one and needed a case.
I played a bit of the National Anthem.
Another customer sez, "Isn't that verboten? Like playing Stairway to Heaven?"
Music dude sez, "Stairway is alright, I don't mind. Just so long as they don't try to sing like Neil Young! I love Neil, but sing it in your Own Voice! :mad: "
[which I do...] |
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July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | Sing? My playing is bad enough without adding singing to the mix and really scare the wife!
(Gary, IN) |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | OMA ,
I'm in the same 'bag' as you. I had a recent breakthrough that I hope to replicate. I HAD to learn "Fools Rush In" for my own reasons.
Once I had the chord progression pretty much down pat, I just let my emotions take over. The more I tried it, the more I could express myself. I think that's why the 'pros' are just that. They can 'get it done' even if they're not into it.
I can't sing worth a crap, but I found the compatible key and it fell into place.
I plan to sing it to my bride of 39 years at her 1st anniversary of her brain surgery (Mar 31st).  |
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Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Just keep trying. It won't be easy at first but you will eventually get there. It just takes a lot of practice time. Stick with it and keep playing the stuff you like. |
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February 2003
Posts: 2178
Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
.....I plan to sing it to my bride of 39 years at her 1st anniversary of her brain surgery (Mar 31st).
....I know your bride will think you sing wonderful :D |
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July 2004
Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | I just follow the saying that was once a footwear advertising slogan: "Just Do It." Eventually, being able to sing the song and play the guitar simultaneously becomes second nature over time. |
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December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | Or be like B.B. King and "Just Skip It!" He's still going strong at 82 and can't do it either! In B.B.'s words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille." |
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Posts: 2487
| Practice Pratcie Practice, You need to make one of the things your doing (preferably both) become second nature. Somehow singing lyrics seems as though it would become so easy after you have performed the song enough but I find if you relax with the vocals to much you forget the words. So it's a constant trade off for me, you just keep a conscious edge between the two disciplines. Repetative practice works for me to make the songs sound the way they should. The harder the song is the more work it takes. Simple rules. I always thought if I did a band thing I would play Bass as I have gotten fairly good with one. WRONG.... Some bass is easy and you can sing it, but the stuff I want to do it is impossible. Bass lines need to be tight and sometimes what sounds like a simple bass line is not and it is very very easy to simply blank out and forget where you are in a song while trying to do both.
I have forced myself to do a couple of Rush tunes. Red Barchetta and New World Man. To get there it took ten times the practice you need on any normal acoustic song I do. Also a constant revisiting or I forget it all. Then there is Geddy, he adds a foot pedal for some keyboard sounds while doing this stuff through the foot pedal. Have the beginning of Camera Eye worked out but to be honest as much fun as it was to force myself to learn music this advanced and the bragging rights I can claim, I could never do even a whole set of music like this. It is fun to work it out in practice room and I'd love to show it off one night at a club through someone elses PA with a guitarist & drummer who know the parts but it is not fun when you have to WORK that hard. WORK..........that is the word we use for shit we don't like to do! If you see my point....; find music that is at your level and you'll be a happy 'r guy.
Randy |
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October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | OMA, All the advise above is very good. Practice is the only way to get it down. I usually "sing in my head" while playing the chords only to get the rythm and melody down and slowly start singing out loud a line at a time until I get it down. Good Luck!! |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | "Talking" over a song (like Alice is doing) while you're playing it is a lot harder than singing it.
"Werewolves of London" is a prime example. Three simple chords at a relatively steady beat, yet the only cosistent "melody" is during the choruses. Getting the timing/phrasing right during the verses can be a bit of a bitch . . .
(You may also notice that when Alice sings this tune, he's not playing anything - unless you consider a straightjacket an "instrument" - in that case, you have BIGGER problems)
Just Keep At It.
One thing you might wanna' try is to type out all of the lyrics (double-spaced) on a sheet of paper and then write the chord changes over the lyrics in the EXACT spot where they co-incide.
Use this as a Practice Guide and it may help you to develop mental "anchor points" as to where the chord changes co-incide with the lyrics (&ViceVersa). |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Thank You Cliff... That is a more concise way of describing my problem. My speaking cadence want to move over to be in time with my strumming, like it is in the chorus...
Yeah, and B... All I really do is really sing in my head. I just play by myself for my own head.
But if I ever become unemployed, I may need to play in public... With an open guitar case and a sign that sez,
"Need Money for Batteries and Lessons!" :rolleyes: |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | "Need Money for Batteries and Lessons!"
That's what it says on my TipJar . . .
Do you sit down when when you're practicing??
Y'might wanna' put the strap on(ShutUp,Witko!) and WALK around the room while you're practicing the tune t'help develop the cadence.
(course, if y'get real GOOD at that, you'll be f@cked when comes time to stand at a mic . . .) |
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October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | OMA, Funny you say that. I am unemployed. I was layed off on 12/3/07 and one of the thing I told my former fellow employees was that I was going to sit on a corner with my guitar case open and a sign that reads: I'll stop playing and singing for money!! LOL!! :D |
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I cannot play guitar and sing - Any advice
