Having Trouble, HELP!?

Question

How do you learn to play guitar and sing at the same time? I'm not very good at it, but I want to be. Is there a website that has exercises to practice? Advice?

Don't tell me to practice, I have and it hasn't gotten any better.

Answer 1

concentrate on learning how to play the guitar first. When you get good enough that it comes naturally then start singing at the same time.

Answer 2

As a guitar teacher, I get this question a lot.

It's a lot like the joke: "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Answer: Practice, practice, practice!

When you say you practice and it hasn't gotten better, how much practice could you have done? When you play a song a thousand times (literally), that's practice. That would be once per day for about three years. Or twice per day for a year and a half. Or four times per day for about nine months. You get the idea.

Time dedicated to practice will be a definite factor in your success. But the buggest factor is your determination, that you will practice till you get it right. Practice singing the song without the guitar. Then learn to play the song on the guitar without singing. Then learn to combine the two. If you can already sing, but you get distracted by your playing, then practice very slowly to coordinate the sound of the voice with the sound of the guitar. And you'll probably have to play only simple songs until you can do it smoothly.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You already have some great recommendations. I agree that first you must learn to play the chord progression of the song without having to look at your fingers to see they are on the correct frets. It takes more time than you imagine if you are a beginner, but start with a simple 3 chord progression: CFG,GCD, or ADE. With any of these, you can play hundreds of songs.

For the singing part, you must not be tone deaf. I know many people who "sing", but are not able to produce the correct frequency. If you have this problem, then you must take voice lessons, for it is difficult to overcome this in a self-taught way.
Have a friend you know can sing well evaluate you.

Choose the chord progression that is in the correct range for your voice for a favorite song you want to play.

If you only have mastered one chord progression, say CFG, and the melody is too low for your range, buy a capo. This is a bar that clips on to the neck of your guitar between the frets. Each fret raises the key 1/2 step. So if your range for the song is in the of D, for example, place the capo between the 1st and 2nd fret, raising the pitch a full step to the key of E, but still using your favorite chords CFG. If you place the capo between the 3rd and 4th fret, you will be in the key of E,
and so on. It works the same with any chord progression.

Then, just make sure you are changing chords at the correct time to match the melody. That's why you practice with only a 3-chord progression song.

Good luck! See you at Carnegie Hall!

Answer 4

SO one at a time. Just play the guitar and then begin to sing with it when you have the chords down to the song you want to perform. SOunds like you are not too talented (I am not saying this to be mean) it is just that this comes naturally to most musicians... it is not a struggle.

Answer 5

Start with a very simple song (2 or 3 chords) and a simple rhythm backup strum. Practice the guitar part over and over until you can do it without thinking, then add the vocal part.

Answer 6

Sing while playing music on a stereo and begin singing to the rhythm then go to slow short songs on the guitar.

Answer 7

try letting someone else play while u sing then play while they sing then u play then start singing but focus on the guitar

Answer 8

go to walmart and get a 'playing gutiar for dummies' thats what i had to use! P.S. it's a DVD by the way

Answer 9

try it with your eyes closed. Not tightly but pleasantly like your tasting your favorite food.

Answer 10

seach on youtube