How to play and sing and the same time?

[wjl123]

Hi guys,

Recently tried playing some songs like Holy Wars and some metallica stuff where Dave Mustaine and James Hetfield plays their guitar and sing. So I tried to do so but I just can't seem to do so, its either sing then playing goes out of timing or play then singing out of key. So how to acutally train this?

Oops typo in the title its : How to sing and play guitar at the same time haha.

 

[Girlpants]

Honestly, it takes practice. Lots of it!
Good luck!

 

[vickomaniac]

^ yep.
always thought i was doomed to not be able to sing and play but it turns out i can
you just gotta be able to play with your mind not focusing on your notes and chords - which just takes practice

 

[matt-muser]

yeah. simply practice. you will be able to do it somehow.

 

[wjl123]

Haha its really hard man... Wonder how those guys like dave and james hetfield does it with perfection

 

[sf1102]

One word: practice. Have you tried listening to a song for 30 times continuously? It helps. No, I'm serious, it really does help!

 

[halfastepdown]

Perfect practice makes perfect.

Keep playing until your hands remember how to play.
Then you can start humming the tune with "mm" or "lala".
Once you've gotten the pitch and timing, put in the words!

 

[theunknown]

Haha its really hard man... Wonder how those guys like dave and james hetfield does it with perfection

coz they practice hard! and so will u!!



yeah man, i tried doing enter sandman, creeping death and whereever i may roam yesterday after half a year not playing metallica stuffs. even worse, my lead guitarists mia. so play 3 piece. very hard. but im gonna practice.

 

[pianomankris]

Count the beats of the bar out loud whilst playing e.g. '1 2 3 4'

It is just about understanding what falls on what beat

when you understand this, the same principle is applied to the words e.g. which words fall on which beats

So, begin by counting the beats out loud

Depending on how you have practised, or if you have ever practised with a metronome, this will be quite easy, or terribly difficult

if you haven't ever used a metronome, then that is your problem - you'll need to go back to square one and understand the rhythm of what you are playing, rather than imitating what you hear

that is usually the main problem - imitating, rather than understanding


PS other exercises you can do - just strum a basic strumming pattern over a chord progression, and try reading a newspaper out loud - make sure you read it 'naturally' i.e. NOT in a beat.

Also get someone to ask you basic maths questions e.g. addition/subtraction etc etc

subtraction is difficult, as with music, you are always thinking forward, but subtraction forces you to think backwards.

Try also spelling words - try spelling them backwards. As before, try to speak naturally, and not in time with what you are doing on the guitar.


That should get you started.

 

[wjl123]

hey pianomankris , thats really alot to work on , but thanks for the advice!

 

[Ocean]

wjl123, u planning to sing? hehe

 

[hecklerkoch]

Practice, practice and practice some more.

It's called muscle memory, and it'll become natural for you if you keep doing it (singing and playing the guitar at the same time, not looking at porn :mrgreen everyday.

 

[Dime]

i think you'll get the same answer.practice.

unless you're able to split your brain up which would make multi-tasking much easier.lol

 

[wjl123]

Haha actually its not just play and singing in general like many other things also. Like somehow I recording some stuff then when my parents ask some questions its like hard to answer back when playing some technically difficult stuffs.

So its somehow related to each other, guess it boils down alot to then hand and mind independence Eh?

 

[justheretolook]

hmmm, i don't know about you guys, but singing while playing came to me veryyyyy naturally. Right now I'm practicing to do solos while singing though. My advice; perfect your guitar skills 'til you don't have to think about it anymore, as in til your fingers have their own memory, then start singing. Sometimes it helps to close your eyes cus you can visualise the fret in front of you.

If all fails, watch Matt Bellamy live. He is one of my inspirations to sing while playing licks and all whatever you call on the guitar.

Hope I helped

 

[fenderrules]

im only up till the point where i can strum and mute chords while singing but cant do it while im riffing. i guess it takes more practice..

check out Heafy and Tuck from Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine. they're the best frontmen ive ever seen and heard.

 

[halfastepdown]

Have you seen Dave Matthews from the Dave Matthews Band?