You might be in awe of those who sing well with a guitar in their hands. That looks great, isn’t it? But at the same time, you also find it difficult to play the guitar while singing. You find yourself in a position where you can either play guitar or sing.
Doing both things at the same time needs practice and is indeed challenging. Being able to do both things simultaneously is not only cool but also makes you more confident while performing. It will not be easy to do them simultaneously as it will call for your perseverance and dedication.
No matter at what level of learning you are in, the following tips will surely help you out singing while playing the guitar. Maybe you are more or less experienced, or you might have applied some of these tips already, but you can still do better following the ones you have not tried. Here are the eight tips.
1. Start off singing an easy song!!
It is that easy. Isn’t it? No matter how professional a vocalist you are or how easily you can play the guitar. Doing both of them together with that ease will take time.
Select a song with 3 or 4 chords in total. If you do not know how to play the guitar and are on a learning stage, an easy song or piece with a basic tune will be a great start because multitasking is challenging to incorporate.
If you start with a difficult song, you will find yourself struggling between the two, getting yourself nowhere. Even if you love challenges and think you can start with a complicated song, it is advised to proceed gradually.
There are tonnes of songs which are both easy to sing and easy to play. Prepare a list of some songs and figure the ones which you feel are the easiest. Also, see which song suits your voice the best. A song must be comfortable for you to play and sing.
Once you have picked up a song, try the vocal parts first. Try singing and memorising the song. After that, practice the song on the guitar, and then when you think that you are able to do both of them effortlessly, try doing them simultaneously.
2. Parrotize until you load it in your memory!
Play the song on the guitar to the point where you can just play it without any effort and without giving much of your attention and involvement. You need to put it into your muscle memory. Practice it again and again until where you do not need to remember what you need to do next.
You should have great rhythm sense and chord knowledge, and you have to be efficient while playing frequently used chord progressions.
3. A metronome would be of great help!
You may be playing the guitar correctly, but timing is crucial. A metronome gives you a constant beat that keeps you in sync with a song while playing. As a beginner playing the guitar and singing at the same time, you might have a hard time keeping up with the beat.
With a metronome, you can quickly know when you are off beat and out of time. It will help you to correct this situation. Also, you must have seen people tapping their feet while singing. It acts as their metronome and allows them to ensure that they are well in time.
Play the song without vocals using a metronome. Play it till the end, in time. Once you have achieved to do this without mistakes, add in the vocals.
4. Master the beats with correct timing.
Try counting the beat aloud while playing the guitar once you are comfortable using a metronome. At this point of the time, even when you are not singing, you will be simultaneously speaking while playing the guitar. It will also develop a sense of rhythm in you.
Use a metronome while doing this exercise and practice it without a metronome too. It will be better if you ask someone to listen to you while practising. They can easily tell you when you are not on time and off beat.
Even if you have no one around while practising, you can record your voice. You can listen back to it and figure out where you have slipped out of sync. The advantage of having a person while practising is that they can instantly tell where you are going wrong or slipping off the beat.
Also learn guitar using a metronome even if you’re not planning to sing.
5. Before you actually start singing, hum!
You must have heard the song enough times to have memorised it. The next step is to try humming the vocal melody. You should focus entirely on the humming aspect now.
Try going through the song till the end without actually singing it. It will ease you into singing while playing the guitar part simultaneously.
Just hum but do not sing the lyrics. This will help incorporate the song structure into your head. Do it again and again.
6. Ingrain lyrics in your memory.
This is where even professional guitarists sometimes trip. They do not memorise the lyrics well. Practice the lyrics of the song until you have learned the song with all your heart.
If you have a tough time memorising, then you can also learn it by writing it several times. Know how the song progresses, and rhythm works. You will not have a tough time memorising easy songs.
You can just learn them by listening to them a couple of times. You will need to make some extra efforts for complicated songs. Learn the song in parts to make things easier.
7.Record Yourself Singing the Song Without Guitar
After you have memorised the lyrics well, try recording yourself while you are singing. Make sure that you sing in rhythm and in time without the guitar accompanying you. The guitar can be a problem when learning to sing. Make sure you record the voice to examine your singing voice for the song.
Once you have recorded the song, take your guitar and play it over the recorded song. Figure out the areas where you messed up and it did not go with your guitar. Analyse them and correct them.
Repeat this practice until both the tracks fit together, and nothing is slipping out of sync. This will make you a better singer as well as a guitar player.
8. Work on your vocals
Well, you might not be gifted with a natural ability to sing. But it does not mean that you can not do it. For that, you require professional guidance. If you practice on your own without knowing what is right and what is wrong, you will end up learning the wrong way.
Nothing could be worse than that. Once you have learned the wrong way, it will be reflected through your singing.
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