First, I just have to say I've stayed away from these forums waaay too long, for months and months . . . and I've missed them! But now I;m back, and I'm still playing my guitar and loving it, but now I've run into a new problem . . . maybe 2 new problems . . .!
It's singing. I can sing okay (although my voice is so soft and mellow that it aggravates me a bit), but the moment I pick up my guitar for some accompaniment, I start singing out of tune. My guitar is in tune (I've checked quite a few times!), so I don't think that's the reason I'm being thrown off. I really, really, really want to be able to play and sing in tune at the same time. How do I resolve this? Also, the second problem is that I seem to speed up my playing while singing, and that screws the song up. I'm learning Paul Simon and general folk songs right now, so I'm Travis picking and stuff like that, and so I try to concentrate on doing the right patterns, but the moment I start singing, I start to rush my playing. And I just can't seem to slow down for long!
Anyone here have any suggestions on how to improve this? It's driving me crazy!
"After Changes upon changes, we are more or less the same." Paul Simon
Well I'm no expert since I can't sing or play, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night....
Seriously, I think the speeding up is just a matter of practice. Try relaxing and it should come in time.
As for your voice, maybe you need a capo and start playing these songs in keys more suited to your voice.
Just my two cents
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Have you tried playing/singing with a metronome? that may help keep you from speeding up.
:) Portia
That speeding up problem is a natural occurrence and will get better with practice. It can be related to how well you know the song. It happens to me often when learning a new song. It also happens to my playing partner who's been playing for 30 years. So it's not just a newbie thing. Being able to relax while your playing helps. Portia has a good idea.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
Do you sing with your guitar, or do you play your guitar and sing it the way it sounds in your head. Sounds like your just singing off key. Try playing the chords and humming along, matching your voice with the guitar. No words until you can hum it. Then gradually start singing the words softly, still paying attention to the way your "voice accompanies the guitar". As you build confidence, strengthen your voice. If you do this it will help your playing too because youre not trying to do two different things. Youll join the two as one and eventually youll feel naked singing without your guitar.
So...how is it going t_g?
I just noticed this thread, so maybe you've already got the problem solved. I'm not a singer, but I've worked with one for many years. One suggestion though, as far as the voice: I don't know if you're doing it already, but sometimes when your voice is 'soft and mellow' and goes out of tune quickly, it's because you're not supporting and pushing the voice with the diaphragm. You know, like when you cough or something, you can feel that area just at the bottom of the ribcage (but inside) that sorta tenses and pushes the cough out. If you have your hand on that area when you cough, you can feel how tense it becomes.
When you sing, you 'push' your voice out from there. It'll be louder (like when you cough it's pretty loud), but it'll be a steady pushing, and that's what supports the voice and many times will solve the going out of tune issue because the air output will be steady and even, and not dependant on the lungs alone.
Another thing is most times guitarists are sitting hunchned over when they play (I do that myself) and when you hunch like that, it sorta 'folds' you right where the diaphragm is, almost deactivating it. You could try sitting with your back straight so you can get the push going.
The other suggestions are great though - metronome, strumming and humming, all those, but try the diaphragm-conscious ones too.
Take care :)
Doing two things at once is hard, but doing two things well? That's tough. It takes a ton of work, and I know, I'm working on this same thing now.
I've found that singing on pitch with music just takes a bit of practice. If you've got a piano, start on middle c or so (in your range) and play a scale, singing with each note. Using a tuner can help make sure you're singing the right pitch. Once you can handle that, play random chords with your guitar and try to match the notes with your voice. Keep working, concentrating and really listening, and eventually you'll be able to do it without thinking!
As for playing well as you sing, I find that with most things, especially travis picking, you just have to know the song forwards and back. play it when you wake up and before you go to bed. That way it'll be stuck in your fingers and you can use more brainpower for singing. You won't have to think about what you fingers are doing, they know! :)
If you don't know where you're going,
Any road will take you there
That's a cool, cool article.
