or singing and strumming....
I find when strumming I either follow the drummer or try to strum along with the words...
Strumming along with the words can lead to all sorts of difficulties like I never seem to be able to stick to a consistent pattern through a song.
So what do you guys do when learning a new song try to strum to a pattern that fits the words or just look for a pattern and try to make the words fit in?
Fair dinkum this singing and strumming is like patting your head while rubbing your stomach!
Keith
I know a little bit about a lot of things, but not a lot about anything...
Looking for people to jam with in Sydney Oz.......
Strumming with the bassist will be a better idea than strumming along the drummer. This is because, you can follow the melody by playing along the bass.
However, the best way to strum will be to strum along your singing. Remember, the song is the most important. All other actions are being done to support it. So, support your lyrics with your guitar playing and you would be fine.
Indeed, to say it in another way - Let the band follow you, not vice versa. :D
Good Luck !
Fair dinkum this singing and strumming is like patting your head while rubbing your stomach!
Keith
LOL kblake. I'm just getting going at the process of singing and playing at the same time and came up with the same analogy.
I sure can't speak from any authority, but one development has been: I've become a toe tappin' fool. I've found it's helped tremendously to have one simple beat for both the vocals and the guitar patterns to revolve around (in independent ways). So, ironically, doing 3 things at the same time is proving easier than just doing 2 things at the same time. :shock:
All the best!
:)
Don
Fair dinkum this singing and strumming is like patting your head while rubbing your stomach!
UNLESS you get a rhythm going first! A simple experiment - instead of rubbing your stomach AND patting your head, try rubbing your stomach. Get a nice circular rhythmic motion going. Now, still keeping the same rhythm, try patting your head. slowly at first, then speeding up. Not so hard now, is it! It's a good analogy to singing and playing at the same time. I've found what works best for me is concentrating on the guitar - learn the lyrics well, and they'll come as almost second nature.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I almost always sing, and poorly I might add, when I play by myself. It's probably done more for my timing than anything. Even if I just barely whisper when I sing, it still helps me keep time. I've been blasted for this practice before, but if I'm learning a new sone, I'll sing it and strike the chord at each change only once until I get the feel for it. Most of the time, I'm well into it by the chorus.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
I almost always sing, and poorly I might add, when I play by myself. It's probably done more for my timing than anything. Even if I just barely whisper when I sing, it still helps me keep time. I've been blasted for this practice before, but if I'm learning a new sone, I'll sing it and strike the chord at each change only once until I get the feel for it. Most of the time, I'm well into it by the chorus.
Hi Keith and Roy,
It sounds as if I do exactly the same as Roy. So maybe if we stand back to back we can fend off the next attack on the method. :mrgreen:
I suspect that it's only part of what should be a range of time-keeping skills and strategies, but it does seem to be a fairly easy thing to fall back on. I play rhythm guitar in our group and if I drift off and lose my place I just mentally sing the words to whatever the lead is playing (we don't currently have a singer or a drummer) and play the changes to suit. The weakness of this method was exposed the first time we played a classical piece that had no words. :oops: Suddenly, I had to wake up and start counting the beats and bars, reading the flow of the music, and generally paying a bit more attention.
So I've made a resolution to work more on timekeeping and music reading in general. With piano you often practice each hand separately - against a metronome if needs be - and get them both solid before combining them, and then working hands together. So I'm planning to do more of that - sing alongside a drum track without playing, and then practice playing to the same track, without singing, and only put it all together when both aspects are up to standard, and feel comfortable and natural. In my case the singing is easily the weakest link, and I find that the timing slips because I'm having to adjust the playing to cater for my lack of singing ability. Not surprising as I've never had any singing lessons or done any proper practice at it. :roll: So I guess I just need to treat it like any other instrument that needs regular work.Time will tell if that's successful or not, but in the short time that I've been doing it I do seem to have improved.
Cheers,
Chris
I can't put my finger on it. Some songs I can sing and play with no problem. Others give me a real difficult time. For example, (in no particular order) I can play and sing Rocket Man by Elton John or Remedy by Black Crowes but don't ask me to play and sing Last Chance Texaco by Rickie Lee Jones. It's an easy song to play. I just can't sing it. (not that I call what I do "singing" by any stretch of the word, but you get the drift.
BTW... what does fair dinkum mean???
Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
BTW... what does fair dinkum mean???
Ah, that's a language called "Strine," or more accurately a glottal mangling best left to our Antipodean cousins/colleagues. It can mean one of several things depending on context, in this case I'd take it to mean "true enough."
Warning - speaking Strine should only be attempted after the vocal chords have been thoroughly lubricated with Fosters Lager, Victoria Bitter, or, in extreme cases or direst emergency (ie there's no beer.....) Castlemaine XXXX.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Ah, that's a language called "Strine," or more accurately a glottal mangling best left to our Antipodean cousins/colleagues. It can mean one of several things depending on context, in this case I'd take it to mean "true enough."
Warning - speaking Strine should only be attempted after the vocal chords have been thoroughly lubricated with Fosters Lager, Victoria Bitter, or, in extreme cases or direst emergency (ie there's no beer.....) Castlemaine XXXX.
:D :D :D
Vic
Never heard of that language. See!! You learn someting new every day. Thank you professor!!
Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
Never heard of that language. See!! You learn someting new every day. Thank you professor!!
It's hard to describe this: Strine is a contraction of Australian. It you think Aus stray liun and run it together with an Aussie nasal twang, you get 'strine'.
BTW... what does fair dinkum mean???
Ah, that's a language called "Strine," or more accurately a glottal mangling best left to our Antipodean cousins/colleagues. It can mean one of several things depending on context, in this case I'd take it to mean "true enough."
Antipodean
Excellent word!
+1 on that, Vic.
(Now, doesn't that word just roll off the tongue?)
Antipodean - Opposite sides of the world.
My wife and I are antipodean. But we live in the same house. Go figure.
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
...My wife and I are antipodean. But we live in the same house. Go figure.
This, my son, is the meaning of life. Welcome to the world of marriage. :lol:
Now, you have to keep in mind that I am a new member of the "Recently divorced- He-man woman haters club."
Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
I like this site more and more each day!
CORRECTION folks. "Fair dinkum" originated in the mid-1800's by Chinese laborers that were in the gold fields. Fair Dinkum was a warped Chinese slang for "a fair rate of exchange for the gold they presented to the assayer".
I've been living here in Oz for a while now and I can say that you'd all LOVE it!
As far as some of the "chicken or the egg" posts vis a vis playing with others:
(You newbies in the studio should thank me for this)...the six string should stand so the drummer can see his pick hand. This pick hand DIRECTLY relates to the kickpedal. The bassist needs to see BOTH the pedal (the drummer's foot, in other words) as well as the pick in the guitarist's hand. I've spent half my life in session studios and nuthin' works bedder!
Cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
but don't ask me to play and sing Last Chance Texaco by Rickie Lee Jones.
Don't worry, I can't sing that song either. Of course, the fact I've never heard it might be my problem. :)
I personally dislike rhythm that is tied tightly with the vocal. the rhythm should be the foundation of the song. it sets up the groove creating headroom for the vocals. the vocal then can 'play' with the groove. extending or hanging back; a vocal adds feeling and interest.
it takes practice to be able to play rhythm and sing . if you can stand it give a listen to the recent song I posted, Big train. my guitar is loose and rhythmic, changing strums in the vocal phrasing and chord changes.
