singing and playing

Why don't you actually take some lessons from a pro?It can help you a lot. A pro music teacher, can bring your voice to new levels. Dare and see.

I've only been playing for a little over 4 years, and that's with several six month breaks. I started singing along maybe a year ago. Quite different than what you are doing. I think that singing really helped my timing as a guitar player. Kind of odd. It took quite some time to be comfortable with it though.

Well, this is what I go through to learn a song and finding that groove, so to speak. I strike the chord once each time a chord change happens, but I continue singing. I add chord strikes as I get the feel. I sort of work my way into it I guess. I can normally sing and play most of the song within a few tries, leaving complicated transitions to be worked on during future attempts and perhaps some isolation.

I'm sure some long-time players are cringing at what I just wrote, but it seems to work for me. :)

Well, IMO you should first learn to play a rhythm correctly, each rhythm has certain beats, up and downs and you need to master this. Learn the guitar part and after you master it sing, the way you say you do does not seem very productive to me.

Well, IMO you should first learn to play a rhythm correctly, each rhythm has certain beats, up and downs and you need to master this. Learn the guitar part and after you master it sing, the way you say you do does not seem very productive to me.

Well, good things for me then, are that it works and that I didn't ask you for your opinion. :evil:

Right. Just don't get mad, I've never meant to attack you. I thought an opinion does not hurt since we are part of a forum where communication is the main feature. Chill...

Right. Just don't get mad, I've never meant to attack you. I thought an opinion does not hurt since we are part of a forum where communication is the main feature. Chill...

I obviously mistook what you wrote then. My bad. :oops:

I'm trying to sing and play, also. I've been at it for about a year. At first the guitar playing lost out to the singing, then the singing lost out to the guitar playing. Now each loses out a little. I think the only thing for people like us to do is to plod along and keep at it until you get it.

why i don't get a professional singing coach: i don't have the money for one, i don't know anyone in the area that'd be good or i'd trust, i don't have the money for one, i don't know how effective one would be for the style i'm into, and i don't have the money for one
anyway, i want to make this more about the musical aspect, as opposed to the technical aspect. if you click on my page, you'll hear that i am fairly comfortable just improvising on the guitar, but vocally, i'm stuck in "write something down, write a chord progression, and then stick to that" or "learn the song and play it back". it's very limiting, in that i can't improvise on the guitar when i'm singing, since i'm stuck playing the chords that go with the song. the thing is, i don't know of a lot of musicians that actually improvise singing on the spot, although i've heard that g love does, and a few others, but i'm more guessing that it's rapping over a simple groove than anything (although that's cool). but the thing is, i played long enough to be able to make up a song on my guitar, but other than a simple 12 bar blues, i'm usually lost trying to do the same as a singer, and it's never spontaneous. i think of all the hours over the years i put in on the guitar to be able to do that, and i'm just hoping to accelerate the creative process vocally, since it was such a loooong time.
i have found writing to sort of loosen up the mental aspect of coming up with lines and rhymes quickly, but it's still fairly jumbled. right now i mostly work on covers and singing songs i've written, hoping it'll cause some neurons to connect spontaneously.

I am thinking on taking some singing lessons, cause I don't sing well, as much as I would love to have that "voice". But I am comfortable playing the guitar so it's OK. But I can not actually sing (I do backing vocals) while playing complex guitar parts like Dave Mustaine does on Megadeth songs, to get my point.

Singing over playing the guitar comes in time, it is like driving. A friend told me when I started driving that I will reach a point where I won't even notice I am driving. I though at that moment Yeah, right! Like that will happen! And now I just find myself at the office without realizing I drove all the way. If you find that thing with driving familiar, then you will understand the guitar playing part and you will understand that at one moment it will come naturally to you.

Just getting a few lessons, as opposed to getting a vocal coach, can do a world of wonder. Most people don't know the basic techniques of singing and even one lesson with a good teacher can help. It's not a matter of style as much as it is a matter of mechanics. You might want to get Nick's take on this as he's a pretty good teacher when it comes to voice.

And there are a lot of low-budget options. First one to check out would be a choir or choral director at your local school or church.

Peace

I think the biggest problem most people have is being able to breathe while singing. Don't laugh. Do you find yourself losing a note to suck in air? You are doing something wrong then. A vocal instructer, even for only a couple of lessons, can teach you how to breathe. Worth its weight in gold. I'm lucky, my dad reminded me to breathe while singing.

I have been playing for 30 years + and I have very little trouble singing while I play. My problem is that it sounds bad ... I mean I don't have a good singing voice. I've even had people tell me .... your in key, the timing is good ... but something just doesn't sound right? I'm like yeah, my voice! :lol: