A singing question

[mboskovs]

OK, a question to all of you who sing or know something about singing. I've been playing guitar for several years now I have no problem playing most Dave songs but as most of you know, the guitar parts are very repetetive. So I'm thinking about starting to sing over the guitar, but I have no idea how to start. Should I take lessons or should I just listen to the songs and try to imitate Dave? Any help would be appreciated.

[daniel may]

play the song over and over till you can play it without even thinking about it. youll mess up either your singing or playing if you need to concentrate on both. also, tapping your foot helps i find

[snodunc]

Yeah, I could never sing along to a song until I learned how to play it upside down, backwards, and in my sleep. A good one to start with is Watchtower; the guitar part is cake, so you can concentrate on the singing. Whatever Dave song you pick to start with, listen to it over and over and over again in your car or your room or wherever you listen to music, and then play it over and over again on your guitar, and pretty soon you'll find yourself singing along involuntarily--it'll be really natural. One thing that really helped me was playing in front of other people on a regular basis--it put good pressure on me to be able to sing and play at the same time. Best of luck!

[AJDMB05]

Please, don't try to imitate Dave. We already have enough DMB cover bands and solo cover artists that try and sound like him. Develop your own vocal style and it'll come much more naturally. No need to take lessons, just practice a few times. The first song I sang/played along to at the same time was Christmas Song. Ridiculously easy riff and enough lyrics where -that's- the main focus of the song.

[boonie]

Please, don't try to imitate Dave. We already have enough DMB cover bands and solo cover artists that try and sound like him. Develop your own vocal style and it'll come much more naturally. No need to take lessons, just practice a few times. The first song I sang/played along to at the same time was Christmas Song. Ridiculously easy riff and enough lyrics where -that's- the main focus of the song.
Amen to that. Thats what i did originally b/c dave was the original reas0on i picked up the guitar and that scene from bttf 1 with johnny b goode. But every dave cover artist kinda dude by urself an electric so u can break away from straight dave stuff and learn a nice balance of other peoples songs not just daves so ur vocals sound ok

[timmyt23]

I agree that you shouldn't try to imitate Dave, as he has an often imitated but never duplicated singing voice/style. But if you want to learn how to sing and play at the same time, some of DMB's songs, than the other guys got it right. First know the guitar parts like the back of your hand, and then when you first start out play along with the cd (live or studio) to practice gettting the vocals down, while doing the guitar at the same time. It just takes practice.....

[ryanbeaird]

start playing the jam and start singing what sounds right with it. if your a good enough musician you should come up with some really interesting chords. good luck man

[RushianSyrinx]

Amen to that. Thats what i did originally b/c dave was the original reas0on i picked up the guitar and that scene from bttf 1 with johnny b goode. But every dave cover artist kinda dude by urself an electric so u can break away from straight dave stuff and learn a nice balance of other peoples songs not just daves so ur vocals sound ok

:ugh:

[jeremy_9]

Also when singing build on your vocal range, learn to sing in tune and in key, those things right there are paramount when singing. I've heard too many ppl that could play quite good but could not sing a note to save their life, which is expected if your voice is not trained, but it makes it much better for your audience if you can sing in tune, otherwise you going to just sound off. I would suggest lessons or voicing out chords and notes on your guitar to train your voice.

[ryanbeaird]

your from st. louis...i've sang with alot of all-state choirs up there. there's tons of oppertunities to jump in with a choir whether it be high-school, church, or community related. a choir director can really teach you alot about music. look into it.

[mboskovs]

thanks for all the tips... i think timmyt23 said it best: It just takes practice...

[timmyt23]

In reality, that's all it is. I'm still working on it. I just started singing a year ago but have been playing guitar forever. It just takes repetitive action until it's unconcious, automatic, etc... you get the idea...

:) :)

Keep at it!!

[PilotC150]

Don't you normally sing along at concerts and with cd's and while driving? That should pretty much do it for ya. You'll know all the lyrics, although you realize how little you know the lyrics until you try to sing them without the CD playing along to prompt you at different parts.

[jammin2theday]

On the part about imitating Dave: does anyone else find it somewhat difficult to sing some of the "Dave'd out" DMB songs without throwing in the characteristic scratch/squeek while you are playing it??? sometimes, although i try not to, i just do it. haha i guess since i have listened to these songs played so much by the same person and sung the same way it kind of sticks with me, and i find it hard to imagine these songs sounding even close to good sung any other way. Anyone else have this problem??? But YES it is always better to have your own style, but sometimes it is kind of hard.

[timmyt23]

Don't you normally sing along at concerts and with cd's and while driving? That should pretty much do it for ya. You'll know all the lyrics, although you realize how little you know the lyrics until you try to sing them without the CD playing along to prompt you at different parts.
Yeah, when you are playing by yourself, you realize how much more you have to concentrate on the lyrics.

[mboskovs]

Man, this is gonna take a lot of work. I sound worse than Britney Spears.