How can I learn to sing and play guitar at the same time?

Question

I sing really well, and I play guitar really well. I just have problems doing both at the same time. I REALLY need to learn to do this, because I'm the singer and rhythm guitarist of my band.

Answer 1

Have no fear, the guitargadfly is here! I searched for open questions about guitar, and yours caught my eye.
Once again, I am amused at the ideas of some of your answerers. I chuckle softly :)
It is fine to say "do it over and over until you get it right" - but I am afraid this is doomed to failure if you don't do it the CORRECT way.
The core problem people have with singing is RHYTHM. You have to learn to coordinate the rhythm of your hands with the rhythm of your voice. This is true when playing any instrument while singing.
The key to solving the problem is to keep it simple. I'll say that again:
KEEP
IT
SIMPLE
Most of us hear someone who is well practiced playing the guitar and singing, and blithely assume that if we just keep trying over and over, we will be able to do that as well. Wrong! You will fail. You already have right? It ain't working, right? So do this:
Play a simple song with simple chords- 2 or three MAX. Now use a down stroke strum on a simple count of 2 or 4 beats. Stop trying to do anything fancy. Stopppppppppppp it - no no no don't do that! Strum down four times in one measure. That's it. NOW try to sing the song while playing. NO upstrokes--- NONE ! All down.
When you can do that and it is solid, then try adding an upstroke or strum on every beat. Progressively make the rhythm harder.
The CENTRAL point of failure in learning the guitar is that people try to skip steps and learn things too quickly.

Answer 2

Mike and some of the others are on the right track.

If you practice and learn to play the song on the Guitar to the point where it becomes "automatic" and you don't need to look at what your fingers are doing, then learning to sing along should be an easy next step.
The problem you're having is trying to pay attention to what your hands and fingers are doing with the Guitar as you're playing and trying at the same time to listen to your voice.
Just try and separate the two, and before long you'll be an accomplished singer who accompanies himself with the Guitar.

Answer 3

I had some trouble with that too, and I find a good remedy is to practice just the guitar part over, and over, and over, until you can play it without even thinking about it, and without even having to look at you're hands. that way, when you throw your voice in the mix, you'll know the guitar part so well, you will be playing it automatically, and will be able to focus all you're attention on you're singing. As far as scales, the blues pentatonic is probably the most popular. other than that, just get some chord charts and learn some good chords, like c,g,d,Amin, f, etc. Also, maybe consider taking a songwriting class at a community college and read some articles on the internet about it. I took a songwriting class in Last year in High school, and that helped my playing/singing synchronization a lot. best of luck.

Answer 4

Yeah, I had a problem with that, as well. I agree with the other postings, you need to practice and practice some more.

But here's an additional tip. Ever heard of Nirvana? Well, the way I finally learned how to play and sing, simultaneously, was by learning Nirvana's "Come As You Are." I feel this is a great piece to learn because 1) it's a great song, but most importantly 2) it is very effective for producing the results you're looking for due to its "simple" strumming patterns and action. Afterwards, try Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." From here, you should have no further problems playing and singing, together.

Answer 5

These days you can learn how to play guitar over the internet. Check out Mark McKenzie's guitar video lessons here: http://www.jamoramaguitar.com The videos are very easy to follow and to my surprise extremely helpful even for advanced guitar players. For beginners I would have to say this is a gold mine.

I was able to improve my skills in just under 4 weeks and I am an intermediate-to-advanced guitar player; I've been playing guitar for the past 6 years and I was on stage with my band a lot of times.

I live in New York City, I wanted to go to a pro guitar teacher but that would have cost me over $1400 per month. Good thing with this internet, $1400 it's a lot of money for me. Good luck!

Answer 6

Just play the song OVER AND OVER again, until you can do it almost naturally, and when you sing just concentrate on the guitar, because you should be able to sing it very easily. Try not to look at anything in particular.

You think that's hard, try being backup vocals and drummer at the same time >_>

Answer 7

start off by humming the melody like....it will be choppy at first but just keep at it and eventually add words instead of humming. Play the piece over and over also so that it just comes as second nature so you dont have to concentrate so much on your hands

Answer 8

same problem with me

left hand

right hand

while playing piano

great hands alone

hands together is a problem

just keep tryin and tryin and you'll nail it

good luck

Answer 9

all you have to do is practice...practice slowly,,we have the same problem....you'll learn it!!..believe me,,just keep on practicing!

Answer 10

Just practice practice practice