Learning to Sing While Playing

[deuceman2003]

I've been playing guitar for about 3 months now, and I consider myself quite good for that short amount of time. I have most of the basic techniques down, but whenever I try to sing, my strumming hand gets way off beat. Do I just need to practice the guitar part more or is it something that just comes with lots of practice. I'm curious if anyone else had this problem or whehter it's just me. thanks

[jammin2theday]

nope , i have ALOT of trouble in that department also, but then again i dont play guitar that much. But i do know a few songs well on the guitar but find it impossible to sing to most of em. I wish i could though cuz it looks alot better to sing while playing guitar than to sing with a freind playing the guitar. i bet it just takes practice.

[jeremy_9]

Tap your foot to keep time while playing(right foot or fretting side), as you do that start to try and sing, with time the tapping of your foot will keep your guitar on beat while it frees up the other side of your brain to sing. This is how i over came singing and playing at the same time, now some songs are easier to sing and play with. Really practice is the key, the more you do it and screw up the less and less it will be a problem, just don't be afraid to fail. The trick that worked for me was tapping my foot.

[fliggil]

my best advice, at least how I learned to sing and play at the same time, is to listen to the actual song, and what notes/chords are played at certain words. it will help you keep pace, i know that when i'm coming up on a certain chord, i need to be at a certain spot in my singing. theres a lot of rhythm that follow chord patterns and singing patterns, listen listen listen, and practice practice practice.

[deuceman2003]

Thanks for the tips guys...I pick up music pretty easily, so I should be able to overcome it. I'm sure I'll be on this board with some other questions, but it's nice to know this is a place where I can come to tone my skills

[unccrombie]

try holding a conversation while playing. be able to focus on what the other person is saying and being able to respond to it is much like singing and playing

[greenpick41]

I've never really tried any techniques or anything but I used to not be able to do it either, and I think as you play more and more and feel more comfortable playing, singing just comes naturally as well.

[BouldrinSoChill]

the more you play, and the better you know the song, the easier it will be to sing. when I first started playing i tried playin crash. I knew the song, but everything would fall apart. For a long time i just dismissed it as a song i couldnt play. Then i went back to it and i all of a suddon could do it perfectly.

Phillip

[newscane]

I just started learning to play American Pie during my lesson. It's a song I know pretty well, and I find it pretty easy to attempt to sing along with it, as I play. I guess it does help if it's a song you know well...

[danster]

i just had to practice like a crazy man before i got it down

[Root]

try holding a conversation while playing. be able to focus on what the other person is saying and being able to respond to it is much like singing and playing
Yep, do this and try to play the whole song without messing up. Then try to speak the lyrics instead of singing them. After that try to sing it. Good luck

[TiedUpLikeABaby]

It also helps to just hum the song you're playing before actually trying to focus on the words or what verse you're on. I'm what you'd call a novice, but I'm starting to hum when I play "Wish You Were Here", and I think it's helping.

ike.

[DMB34O1]

listen to the actual song, and what notes/chords are played at certain words.
I'd listen to that it helps a lot. What I also learned to do is learn the guitar part of the song so well that it is engraved in your head to the point where you aren't even thinking about playing the song on your guitar. Then the singing just comes more naturally.

[angryfish]

if you cant sing and play simple chord pogressions by your first year...something is wrong

[PilotC150]

Just talking while playing is actually harder than playing along while singing. At least when you are singing you are following a pattern that matches the chords with the words. Having a conversation while playing is doing two completely different things at the same time. Eventually you will be able to do that, but singing (or just talking the lyrics in rhythm) will be easier to start out with.