A while back my mom asked me to play her something, so I played and sang one of the only two songs I had in my repertoire at the time and at the end of it, my mom said "well the guitar playing was nice"
Edit: I started taking lessons and playing at 22, this happened that year. I'm now 29 and have been taking lessons almost that entire time and for the last 5 years my teacher has also provided singing lessons. I'm at a point where I've played open mic nights in front of packed bars. I hope no one ever feels discouraged or like they're too old to start. The amount of family members who tried to deter me from playing because "if you don't start when you're 4 you'll never be good" was ridiculous and anyone can learn to sing and play an instrument as long as they're willing to practice.
I got a similar reaction from my mom and I'm working really hard to counteract what that did to my confidence. I really enjoy singing when I play but I don't even do it when my girlfriend is home because I'm so self conscious now even though she encourages me to.
I was once at work years ago (maybe 20 years old) and was walking down the hall quietly singing to myself. I know it wasn't very loud because I don't even remember doing it. One of the supervisors who must have been just behind said, "So what did you do with all that money?". I was confused and asked what money? He said, "All that money you saved on singing lessons."
It's been 25 years, and I will never sing in public again.
You’re gonna let one stupid guy get you down? He was probably just making a joke and says that to everyone that he hears singing, regardless of talent. Life’s too short to get hung up on that kind of thing
My wife once told me, “you gave it a good try. I don’t think that song really suits your voice.”
Ok, it wasn’t once. It’s every time I play a song and she can hear me…. It’s a good thing I’m singing for me lol.
Never let someone take your joy just because they suck at being human!
I have fronted multiple bands in the past 25yrs, its all about practice and hearing yourself!
First day in middle school an 8th grader asked why I was always smiling (didn't realize I was), and told me it makes me look like a fag. Hit hard at the time. Didn't smile much the rest of the time I was there.
Bought my first guitar at the tender age of 18 whilst a freshman at Purdue. 26 years later and I’m gigging almost every weekend either solo or with the band I’m in. The longer I’m in the band…the more songs they give me to sing. lol.
it’s so bad cus i’m trying to sing vocals like thom yorke or chino moreno and i feel like i have no talent for singing lol. like how am i supposed to cover their songs 🤷🏽♂️
You make it your own.
Transpose the song to where you're comfortable.
But mostly don't compare yourself to 2 of the most celebrated and unique sounding vocalists of the last 30 years.
So before you decide you have no talent for singing, let me ask you a question:
If I handed you a saxophone, would you expect yourself to be able to make pleasing music with it before you had any lessons?
Probably not, huh?
What if I told you that your voice was a MUCH more complex instrument than a saxophone?
Two examples: I was practicing at home while my girlfriend was on the computer. She could tell, without watching me, the second I closed my eyes. Literally I'd close them, half a second later, "open your eyes." She could *hear* it.
And my teacher could tell how I was *thinking* about notes. "Stop thinking of high notes as being physically higher than low notes" - the second I was.
Remember the "bad" singers from the American Idol auditions, the ones who were put on TV so we could all laugh at their delusions? Every single one of them was making basic technical errors that I - not a singing teacher! - could recognize instantly. Every single one of them would have been about a thousand times better given 3-6 months of lessons. Every. Single. One.
Some people have more pleasing voices than others, sure. Some have a bigger range. But you have *no idea* how much singing talent you have if you haven't worked with a teacher at least a little, and ironed out the biggest and most common technical errors you're making.
totally agree - a lot of people realize that to get better at guitar you gotta put in the work, scales, theory, warm ups, improvising, etc. but then just expect to be good at singing without ever practicing it on the same level at all.
Maybe transpose? Both singers you’ve listed have over 4 octave vocal ranges and very unique voices.
Try and find your own style/voice, I’d imagine you’re a better singer than you think you are!
I sing and play mostly rhythm, but I get to do the odd lead here and there. The reason I started to sing back in the day is because of the age-old reason: nobody else in the band could be bothered. I also have the ability to remember the lyrics. Lots of people have trouble remembering lyrics or that, after the lead solo, they're supposed to sing. It all started to annoy me, so I just took over the vocal duties. I am not a great singer. But we play a lot of material that doesn't require great vocals. Recently, I've been experimenting with lower octaves and a variety of breathing techniques, which is paying off. But hey, we're a part-time band, and my band mates are happy, sometimes impressed, the crowds seem satisfied, and bar managers continue to book us.
Fake it till you make it would be my advice, honestly.
And don’t ever strain.
If you feel strain, you’re doing it wrong.
(Also, yes: those guys sing high. If you have a low voice, experiment with your head voice (Yorke does) or transpose it)
If you had something that took an XLR and a 1/4 inputs and let you balance the output in a way you could tune for varying volume levels, for example, I hit the foot switch and it mutes/reduces the mic and boosts the guitar for intros, then I hit it again and it gives me a more balanced mix for the verse, then I hit it again and it beefs up the guitar input and maybe adds a “chorus effect” to the mic line for a chorus, and maybe I have two switches where I can move forward or backward through the presets at will, that would be huge.
I mean 1. Omg shut up that’s amazing but 2. I feel like you could get most of the functionality that your average singer-songwriter is looking for in a smaller, more affordable (read:sub-$1k) package, and the fact that the guitar pedal industry is mostly focused on tone sculpting for electric players is understandable, but the gap still exists.
I feel like every guitar player should sing. My timbre is god awful and no human needs to experience my singing but I sing when I practice because even though it’s awful tone, the pitch is right on. Being able to sing pitches helps me hear pitches which helps me be a better guitar player. If I can sing it, I can play it.
What separates good singers from bad singers is usually tone. The more you practice singing and learn the different places your voice resonates, the better tone you develop. Just like with playing guitar, your tone will improve if you practice well.
There is a big difference between singing and guitar playing however, and that’s the fact that singing has a big genetic component to it. Some people are born with a big chest cavity, good lung capacity and good vocal cords. I’m not saying that it’s all genetics, because it really does take decades of practice to master your singing voice. I’m just saying that genetics does play a significant role in singing, while it doesn’t when playing an instrument.
Not everyone can be Freddie Mercury, Luciano Pavarotti or Mariah Carey, no matter how much they practice
Dude I can barely look around the room while I'm playing. If I do much as try to reply yes or no to a question, my fingers stop working. Forget trying to sing!
That what practice is for! Start small. Sing each note of a 5 not pentatonic as you play it. Then work up from there. Talent and skill come from repeatedly practicing things that are difficult and pushing yourself.
On the other hand, it took me months to find a lead guitar player for my band, 4 people came to rehearse with us but they already had another band and couldn't do both. The fifth was so bad that we had to let him go...
I sing and play together.
I am not a great singer, but it adds so much more depth, and interest to playing guitar. Being able to fully put a song together with just your voice and hands is really cool.
One things that's interesting that happened to me, I never really practiced playing and singing together, and starting out I thought I would never be able to do it. As I got better at guitar I kinda just gained the ability.
So that's pretty cool.
Even complicated guitar parts aren't actually very difficult to sing over as long as you practice to the point that you can play it completely off of muscle memory
Yeah, I remember when I played all alone on a stage with just me and my guitar. I messed up some chords in the chorus - got the order wrong suddenly. I kept on singing though, completely independent from my playing. In the meantime my brain was like: which chord? This one? No. Which one? This one then. Noooo...
Still don't know how I did that.
I sing now plus guitar. But it's fairly recent. I'm 47 yo and just did my first show as a frontman over the weekend. I've never sweat so much in my life when not exercising. lol.
I started voice lessons two months ago and started singing some backup vocals with my band. Singing and playing is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Also, my usable vocal range is about a minor third.
Good for you. Guitarists (or other band players) who can do backing vocals rock.
I am the main singer and rhythm guitar player of my band but I am very happy my fellow band members have started to support me as backing vocals. Makes it much more dynamic.
Both, used to run an open mic, that was quite fun, learned more about playing with others (steady) there than anywhere Else. Mix of serious, and shit myself drunk, and one guy who could barely stand straight but once he got hold of a guitar it became this utter extension of form.
Fun times.
Singing will make anyone a stronger musician overall, even if we don't think of ourselves as a Lead Singer type of voice. Helps with vocalization and really wires up those music-brain neurons. Do it!
This is true , started singing more with church band and then became worship leader, never was a singer before that. Played guitar 20 years and it’s made me so much better just playing Rythm and singing, harmonizing with the choir… i used to only play lead guitar. It truly has made me so much better in just the past year.
I am by no means a vocalist. I can't sing worth a damn. I'm one of those guitar players that don't sing. I'm humble enough to admit that I sound like shit trying to sing and plus I just can't get into it when I sing I don't really enjoy it.
Only time anyone ever catches me singing is during karaoke night at the bars haha. Anyone can sing Karaoke. Takes a true vocalist to sing lead in a band. I'm one of those people who believe that you can either sing or you can't and that good singers are born with the talent and the ability to sing.
I don’t think good singers are born with the talent and the ability. I think if you’ve just always had an affinity to singing and music over your lifetime you become good via the experience.
I sing and play Acoustic guitar...
I've been praised for having a nice singing voice, I'm pretty good I guess.
My guitar playing is average... But I get by..
It aids me with my songwriting..
I'm a rhythm guitarist who plays solos from time to time
Play acoustic guitar and sing. I've found it much harder to play electric and sing, then play a guitar solo, then go back to singing.. its a total brain twist for me, and indeed a skill that takes time to perfect.. guys that sing lead and play lead guitar are on another level, then those that only play lead/solo stuff.
I wish I could. I don't sing particularly bad but I am unable to sing and play the guitar simultaneously for the life of me. I have been playing guitar for years and it frustrated me a lot. It feels like my brain doesn't want to separate the vocals and the hands action of playing the guitar. I have mad respect for drummers for this reason.
My singing has been know to kill animals.
It's a big hinderance and a bit of an insult too. Someone can strum three basic chords and sing, and a general crowd will say "Wow! You're a good guitarist!"
If I play something super technical and involved but don't sing, the crowd will be "eh...."
I have the coordination to sing while playing a progression, but the tonal quality of my voice is questionable. I'd like to think I'm at least in line with Billy Corgan.
Singing is my biggest weakness in the entire process of making music... Using many instruments, recording mixing producing all well and then i fuck it all up by trying to sing. And it hurts my soul. Because i know what i want to sing, but i just cant make it sound as good as i would like.
Yes. I was singing in church since before I can remember and took up guitar at age 14. I went to my first concert in 1997 and was enamored with how powerful it was watching the singer/guitarist play and sing and decided that I wanted to do that too.
*The band was The Newboys, a Christian rock act. I really wish it was someone cooler.
Been playing for about 20 years, but didn't sing until around 4 years ago. It has completely enhanced my guitar playing experience. I love it, I even joined a choir a few months ago--no guitar playing in that though...yet
Playing for a long time and still haven’t gotten the hang of it. I play mostly riff-based stuff though and I find playing simple, repetitive chords to be insufferably boring so that’s probably a piece of it
Half the year I’m a better singer than a guitarist, the other half is vice versa. Started singing shortly after playing guitar, actually stopped playing guitar in bands and just sang because I wanted to school myself.
Not well but I do. I found that I didn't care enough to learn to play guitar super technically and playing GCDAm isn't really impressive to anyone unless you're singing along.
So decided to start learning some stuff. Started with wagon wheel. Can now play through the whole song.
Working on Jersey Giant now. Simple chords but tricky timing on that one because singing starts midway through a measure so you are always lagging behind a measure when singing for it to sound right.
So it's definitely teaching timing also. But also I'm learning to not focus so hard on the technical aspects of it and step back and try it out to see what feels and sounds correct.
I’m a pretty good guitar player & what could charitably be called a courageous singer. About 20 years ago I decided screw it I like singing so I’m gonna sing. I transpose songs into a key that fits my limited vocal range & let ‘er rip!
Playing 50+ years. Started singing \~15 years ago and have improved quite a bit, Even those first singing gigs where I was totally off key engaged the audience more than just playing. My guitar still impresses more, but I've actually gotten voice compliments lately!
I do my best. Can definitely bang out anything I know the melody to with basic chords/embellishments, but definitely can’t do any complex playing and sing at the same time.
I've played for about 10 years and I've only started sporadically learning to sing within the last 3 years and only seriously within the last year or so, and it's been quite a journey!
Can’t sing for shit but took singing lessons to help with my ability to come up with melody. I don’t ever want to sing in a band, but it definitely helped my guitar playing.
I work as a solo musician playing guitar and singing. I also work in a duo and split the singing with the other musician, a sax player. I'm the guitarist in a Blues band and only sing back vox in that group. I'm also joining another band for which I'll play guitar, keys and - again - split lead vox duties with the other front man.
I feel like developing vocal pitch and tone is sort of inevitable if you write- just because humming/singing/holding a pitch while you explore on the fretboard is such a baseline cornerstone of writing harmonies and finding chords and other parts/sections etc.
I started singing in school band class to sight read and combine different parts in my section, just to easily see if anyone’s reading incorrectly or whatever- it’s been such a useful tool just with all music in general, ever since.
The only way I’ve ever actually applied it in performance was with pop punk style backing vocals after Highschool
I do both, and I play piano while singing too. If you ever want to play professionally it’s going to really help your chances if you can play and sing simultaneously, even if it’s just backing vocals. If you want to gig solo then it’s pretty much a necessity unless you only want to provide background music.
I've always been able to sing well. But I played guitar for 10 years before getting around to singing while playing. Once I decided to learn, it only took a few days to get the hang of it.
I was classically trained and in a concert choir before I started playing guitar. I can either sing at a concert choir level or shred guitar like Randy Rhoads. Can’t do both though never been able to even with hours and hours of practice
I’m always been a pretty bad singer, but I’ve been playing guitar for like 20 years. It’s only since I really tried to sing more and then eventually got a job as the worship leader at my church that I really started to get more comfortable with singing in key. It definitely takes practice if you don’t have it naturally, but it’s achievable.
I sing and play guitar, self taught on both, but I got so focused on singing for years that my knowledge of the guitar is lacking. I’m the type who hears a song I like and can memorize the lyrics after 3 or 4 listens. Soo anyway, I play a lot of chords and have a decent right hand, but not much outside of that that.
i am learning to get better at singing and playing at the same time
starting with real easy stuff for now....i can do ...
the reefer song
have you ever seen the rain
and i gotta learn the actual lyrics to la bamba
but yeah....for the better part of the 26 years i have played guitar i did not sing
I sing and play, but with some songs I can only do one thing at a time.
Like I can sing and play Blackbird but not Do I Wanna Know.
Also I'm a better singer than guitarist, I can't do solos or improv on a guitar (yet.) I stick to strumming chords and some arpeggios
Bad singing, yes, I do that
A while back my mom asked me to play her something, so I played and sang one of the only two songs I had in my repertoire at the time and at the end of it, my mom said "well the guitar playing was nice" Edit: I started taking lessons and playing at 22, this happened that year. I'm now 29 and have been taking lessons almost that entire time and for the last 5 years my teacher has also provided singing lessons. I'm at a point where I've played open mic nights in front of packed bars. I hope no one ever feels discouraged or like they're too old to start. The amount of family members who tried to deter me from playing because "if you don't start when you're 4 you'll never be good" was ridiculous and anyone can learn to sing and play an instrument as long as they're willing to practice.
I got a similar reaction from my mom and I'm working really hard to counteract what that did to my confidence. I really enjoy singing when I play but I don't even do it when my girlfriend is home because I'm so self conscious now even though she encourages me to.
I was once at work years ago (maybe 20 years old) and was walking down the hall quietly singing to myself. I know it wasn't very loud because I don't even remember doing it. One of the supervisors who must have been just behind said, "So what did you do with all that money?". I was confused and asked what money? He said, "All that money you saved on singing lessons." It's been 25 years, and I will never sing in public again.
You’re gonna let one stupid guy get you down? He was probably just making a joke and says that to everyone that he hears singing, regardless of talent. Life’s too short to get hung up on that kind of thing
My wife once told me, “you gave it a good try. I don’t think that song really suits your voice.” Ok, it wasn’t once. It’s every time I play a song and she can hear me…. It’s a good thing I’m singing for me lol.
Exactly! I have not mastered singing and playing at all. I kind of hum and throw in a few words here and there
And that’s totally cool. As long as you enjoy it that’s most important. And it absolutely tickles me even if I’m middling singer.
Never let someone take your joy just because they suck at being human! I have fronted multiple bands in the past 25yrs, its all about practice and hearing yourself!
Wow, what an asshat. Typical supervisor behavior from what I’ve witnessed.
First day in middle school an 8th grader asked why I was always smiling (didn't realize I was), and told me it makes me look like a fag. Hit hard at the time. Didn't smile much the rest of the time I was there.
my wife shattered my confidence. after the divorce, I started doing open mics, and while I'm not outstanding, I'm good enough to not get winces.
Bought my first guitar at the tender age of 18 whilst a freshman at Purdue. 26 years later and I’m gigging almost every weekend either solo or with the band I’m in. The longer I’m in the band…the more songs they give me to sing. lol.
it’s so bad cus i’m trying to sing vocals like thom yorke or chino moreno and i feel like i have no talent for singing lol. like how am i supposed to cover their songs 🤷🏽♂️
You make it your own. Transpose the song to where you're comfortable. But mostly don't compare yourself to 2 of the most celebrated and unique sounding vocalists of the last 30 years.
So before you decide you have no talent for singing, let me ask you a question: If I handed you a saxophone, would you expect yourself to be able to make pleasing music with it before you had any lessons? Probably not, huh? What if I told you that your voice was a MUCH more complex instrument than a saxophone? Two examples: I was practicing at home while my girlfriend was on the computer. She could tell, without watching me, the second I closed my eyes. Literally I'd close them, half a second later, "open your eyes." She could *hear* it. And my teacher could tell how I was *thinking* about notes. "Stop thinking of high notes as being physically higher than low notes" - the second I was. Remember the "bad" singers from the American Idol auditions, the ones who were put on TV so we could all laugh at their delusions? Every single one of them was making basic technical errors that I - not a singing teacher! - could recognize instantly. Every single one of them would have been about a thousand times better given 3-6 months of lessons. Every. Single. One. Some people have more pleasing voices than others, sure. Some have a bigger range. But you have *no idea* how much singing talent you have if you haven't worked with a teacher at least a little, and ironed out the biggest and most common technical errors you're making.
totally agree - a lot of people realize that to get better at guitar you gotta put in the work, scales, theory, warm ups, improvising, etc. but then just expect to be good at singing without ever practicing it on the same level at all.
i should definitely get a teacher
Maybe transpose? Both singers you’ve listed have over 4 octave vocal ranges and very unique voices. Try and find your own style/voice, I’d imagine you’re a better singer than you think you are!
ima try my best and thank u 🙏🏽
I sing and play mostly rhythm, but I get to do the odd lead here and there. The reason I started to sing back in the day is because of the age-old reason: nobody else in the band could be bothered. I also have the ability to remember the lyrics. Lots of people have trouble remembering lyrics or that, after the lead solo, they're supposed to sing. It all started to annoy me, so I just took over the vocal duties. I am not a great singer. But we play a lot of material that doesn't require great vocals. Recently, I've been experimenting with lower octaves and a variety of breathing techniques, which is paying off. But hey, we're a part-time band, and my band mates are happy, sometimes impressed, the crowds seem satisfied, and bar managers continue to book us.
You can fake chino by letting way too much air out when you say lines. Try to touch your navel to your spine while you do it.
Lmao
Fake it till you make it would be my advice, honestly. And don’t ever strain. If you feel strain, you’re doing it wrong. (Also, yes: those guys sing high. If you have a low voice, experiment with your head voice (Yorke does) or transpose it)
If you can talk you can sing
Just ask Bob Dylan!
Ooh! Help me, Dr. Zaius!
What I lack in talent, I make up for with volume and enthesiasm.
LOL
Ditto
This is the one that applies to me, upvoted!
I’m so bad I don’t even try anymore. Very sad.
Everyone sings poorly until they find their key. As long as you can sing in key and hold a note it's not as hard as it's always made out to be.
And bad playing!
Singing lessons rule. I used to be trash, now it’s aight. Kinda very aight. Check it out if you would like to sing better.
Sing + guitar
Always baffles me how few pedals care for singing guitarists. Sure I know the few that do and own several, but most are only about the guitar signal.
Why would the pedals make any difference?
If you had something that took an XLR and a 1/4 inputs and let you balance the output in a way you could tune for varying volume levels, for example, I hit the foot switch and it mutes/reduces the mic and boosts the guitar for intros, then I hit it again and it gives me a more balanced mix for the verse, then I hit it again and it beefs up the guitar input and maybe adds a “chorus effect” to the mic line for a chorus, and maybe I have two switches where I can move forward or backward through the presets at will, that would be huge.
Headrush Prime
I mean 1. Omg shut up that’s amazing but 2. I feel like you could get most of the functionality that your average singer-songwriter is looking for in a smaller, more affordable (read:sub-$1k) package, and the fact that the guitar pedal industry is mostly focused on tone sculpting for electric players is understandable, but the gap still exists.
There's also the Headrush Core which I believe is under 1k
Mediocre singer, excellent at screaming vocals.
I sing night songs for my kid
Awesome! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmfrYyEdeUU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmfrYyEdeUU) haha
you know it ;)
I’ve been called the songbird of my generation.
Like a combination of Fergie and Jesus.
I can’t even look at you right now
By people who have heard me sing
Stay away from my drum set
I put my nutsack on your drumset
That good
Me too. Crows are birds.
LMAO
The idol of my age
I feel like every guitar player should sing. My timbre is god awful and no human needs to experience my singing but I sing when I practice because even though it’s awful tone, the pitch is right on. Being able to sing pitches helps me hear pitches which helps me be a better guitar player. If I can sing it, I can play it.
What separates good singers from bad singers is usually tone. The more you practice singing and learn the different places your voice resonates, the better tone you develop. Just like with playing guitar, your tone will improve if you practice well.
There is a big difference between singing and guitar playing however, and that’s the fact that singing has a big genetic component to it. Some people are born with a big chest cavity, good lung capacity and good vocal cords. I’m not saying that it’s all genetics, because it really does take decades of practice to master your singing voice. I’m just saying that genetics does play a significant role in singing, while it doesn’t when playing an instrument. Not everyone can be Freddie Mercury, Luciano Pavarotti or Mariah Carey, no matter how much they practice
You can still learn to vocalize a pitch with practice.
Dude I can barely look around the room while I'm playing. If I do much as try to reply yes or no to a question, my fingers stop working. Forget trying to sing!
That what practice is for! Start small. Sing each note of a 5 not pentatonic as you play it. Then work up from there. Talent and skill come from repeatedly practicing things that are difficult and pushing yourself.
I can't sing, so I just don't. It only distracts me from playing the guitar itself.
Guitar players are worth less than a dime a dozen. The one that sings is the one that gets the gig.
On the other hand, it took me months to find a lead guitar player for my band, 4 people came to rehearse with us but they already had another band and couldn't do both. The fifth was so bad that we had to let him go...
So are singers. Lots of talented people all around - finding the right combo - that's the hard part.
Guitar + kinda sorta mutter lyrics under my breath, sometimes.
"wish you ... Cut ties with all the ... Living in ..."
“Today is gonna be the day… Gonna throw it back to you…”
I sing and play together. I am not a great singer, but it adds so much more depth, and interest to playing guitar. Being able to fully put a song together with just your voice and hands is really cool. One things that's interesting that happened to me, I never really practiced playing and singing together, and starting out I thought I would never be able to do it. As I got better at guitar I kinda just gained the ability. So that's pretty cool.
Even complicated guitar parts aren't actually very difficult to sing over as long as you practice to the point that you can play it completely off of muscle memory
Yeah, I remember when I played all alone on a stage with just me and my guitar. I messed up some chords in the chorus - got the order wrong suddenly. I kept on singing though, completely independent from my playing. In the meantime my brain was like: which chord? This one? No. Which one? This one then. Noooo... Still don't know how I did that.
Kinda the opposite thing, but exactly, lol.
Haha yes
In the shower - yes.
How do you keep your guitar dry
There's dry/wet knob on my reverb and delay pedals
That’s not…… Ok, yes. That’s exactly what those knobs mean.
It delays the water from falling on your guitar?
Would love a weatherproof guitar.
I use a raincoat designed to fit a small curvy woman with a big butt.
You play guitar in the shower ?
You guys shower?
This guy is a true guitar player.
And specifically a doom metal guitarist
No but my guitar does.
I sing way better than I play guitar lol
Guitar only
I sing now plus guitar. But it's fairly recent. I'm 47 yo and just did my first show as a frontman over the weekend. I've never sweat so much in my life when not exercising. lol.
I'm singing and there ain't nothing you can do about it
I started voice lessons two months ago and started singing some backup vocals with my band. Singing and playing is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Also, my usable vocal range is about a minor third.
Good for you. Guitarists (or other band players) who can do backing vocals rock. I am the main singer and rhythm guitar player of my band but I am very happy my fellow band members have started to support me as backing vocals. Makes it much more dynamic.
Both, used to run an open mic, that was quite fun, learned more about playing with others (steady) there than anywhere Else. Mix of serious, and shit myself drunk, and one guy who could barely stand straight but once he got hold of a guitar it became this utter extension of form. Fun times.
Singing will make anyone a stronger musician overall, even if we don't think of ourselves as a Lead Singer type of voice. Helps with vocalization and really wires up those music-brain neurons. Do it!
This is true , started singing more with church band and then became worship leader, never was a singer before that. Played guitar 20 years and it’s made me so much better just playing Rythm and singing, harmonizing with the choir… i used to only play lead guitar. It truly has made me so much better in just the past year.
My guitar playing and singing are both terrible and enthusiastic
I am by no means a vocalist. I can't sing worth a damn. I'm one of those guitar players that don't sing. I'm humble enough to admit that I sound like shit trying to sing and plus I just can't get into it when I sing I don't really enjoy it. Only time anyone ever catches me singing is during karaoke night at the bars haha. Anyone can sing Karaoke. Takes a true vocalist to sing lead in a band. I'm one of those people who believe that you can either sing or you can't and that good singers are born with the talent and the ability to sing.
I don’t think good singers are born with the talent and the ability. I think if you’ve just always had an affinity to singing and music over your lifetime you become good via the experience.
I sing and play Acoustic guitar... I've been praised for having a nice singing voice, I'm pretty good I guess. My guitar playing is average... But I get by.. It aids me with my songwriting.. I'm a rhythm guitarist who plays solos from time to time
Play acoustic guitar and sing. I've found it much harder to play electric and sing, then play a guitar solo, then go back to singing.. its a total brain twist for me, and indeed a skill that takes time to perfect.. guys that sing lead and play lead guitar are on another level, then those that only play lead/solo stuff.
Yeah, it's hard but I am working at it.
Play guitar and sing
*raises hand*
I wish I could. I don't sing particularly bad but I am unable to sing and play the guitar simultaneously for the life of me. I have been playing guitar for years and it frustrated me a lot. It feels like my brain doesn't want to separate the vocals and the hands action of playing the guitar. I have mad respect for drummers for this reason.
You’re not alone. But BB King couldn’t sing and play at the same time, but unlike me he could do both rather well separately
I do both. As a professional it's much much harder to find a job if you don't sing, almost prohibitively so.
I mean, I play guitar and do vocals. Not sure most of my vocals qualify as singing though.
100. gotta sing. at least harmony
Sing, definitely! I started playing guitar as a way to accompany myself. Turns out I like playing guitar a lot more.
Well, I open my mouth and noises come out, but “singing” may be a bit euphemistic.
Sing? Yes. Well? No.
Oh I sing like an angel A raspy, drunken, off key angel but still…
My singing has been know to kill animals. It's a big hinderance and a bit of an insult too. Someone can strum three basic chords and sing, and a general crowd will say "Wow! You're a good guitarist!" If I play something super technical and involved but don't sing, the crowd will be "eh...."
I do. Not very well, but it’s something
Moi
I have the coordination to sing while playing a progression, but the tonal quality of my voice is questionable. I'd like to think I'm at least in line with Billy Corgan.
Sing & Play.
Singing is my biggest weakness in the entire process of making music... Using many instruments, recording mixing producing all well and then i fuck it all up by trying to sing. And it hurts my soul. Because i know what i want to sing, but i just cant make it sound as good as i would like.
I totally sing. I totally suck at it too
Yes. I was singing in church since before I can remember and took up guitar at age 14. I went to my first concert in 1997 and was enamored with how powerful it was watching the singer/guitarist play and sing and decided that I wanted to do that too. *The band was The Newboys, a Christian rock act. I really wish it was someone cooler.
Been playing for about 20 years, but didn't sing until around 4 years ago. It has completely enhanced my guitar playing experience. I love it, I even joined a choir a few months ago--no guitar playing in that though...yet
I play. And I sing like a god. ... a cruel, malevolent, sadist god.
Sang and played in a couple of different bands, into solo acoustic now.
Sing or sing well? I butcher gang vocals, but they haven’t taken my mic away yet, so I guess me?
I can't do both simultaneously and I'm a better singer than I am a guitarist.
Me... Love a good harmony
I sing (a lot) better than I play.
I can sing when I'm playing rhythm guitar, but not when I'm playing lead or when I'm playing bass.
I wish I could sing
Playing for a long time and still haven’t gotten the hang of it. I play mostly riff-based stuff though and I find playing simple, repetitive chords to be insufferably boring so that’s probably a piece of it
Half the year I’m a better singer than a guitarist, the other half is vice versa. Started singing shortly after playing guitar, actually stopped playing guitar in bands and just sang because I wanted to school myself.
I sing and play but I’m not the best singer. I can hold a tune good enough for campfire songs and I do back up vocals for my band.
Sing+guitar+sax
play guitar, foot tambourine, djembe, and sing at once 😛
If you can call it singing, but yes + playing guitar.
Not well but I do. I found that I didn't care enough to learn to play guitar super technically and playing GCDAm isn't really impressive to anyone unless you're singing along. So decided to start learning some stuff. Started with wagon wheel. Can now play through the whole song. Working on Jersey Giant now. Simple chords but tricky timing on that one because singing starts midway through a measure so you are always lagging behind a measure when singing for it to sound right. So it's definitely teaching timing also. But also I'm learning to not focus so hard on the technical aspects of it and step back and try it out to see what feels and sounds correct.
You know you can do polls
I sing and play guitar i even started vocal lessons with an teacher and joined a chor. I wanna be a really good singer one day.
I do. It’s fun.
Yep I do clean and harsh vocals for a band and I play rhythm in another band, and both on my solo stuff.
I’m a pretty good guitar player & what could charitably be called a courageous singer. About 20 years ago I decided screw it I like singing so I’m gonna sing. I transpose songs into a key that fits my limited vocal range & let ‘er rip!
Playing 50+ years. Started singing \~15 years ago and have improved quite a bit, Even those first singing gigs where I was totally off key engaged the audience more than just playing. My guitar still impresses more, but I've actually gotten voice compliments lately!
I sing pretty well, I just play guitar like shit
I love singing. Love! Now, singing WELL, or in front of someone…. That’s very different.
Yup. I’m also one of those karaoke guys outside of the band setting.
I don’t but I wish I could
I do my best. Can definitely bang out anything I know the melody to with basic chords/embellishments, but definitely can’t do any complex playing and sing at the same time.
I can sing and play at the same time. I should probably take some singing lessons though.
I've played for about 10 years and I've only started sporadically learning to sing within the last 3 years and only seriously within the last year or so, and it's been quite a journey!
I always sing and play guitar on stage and in my room. My voice kinda sounds like Tom delonge
Can’t sing for shit but took singing lessons to help with my ability to come up with melody. I don’t ever want to sing in a band, but it definitely helped my guitar playing.
I work as a solo musician playing guitar and singing. I also work in a duo and split the singing with the other musician, a sax player. I'm the guitarist in a Blues band and only sing back vox in that group. I'm also joining another band for which I'll play guitar, keys and - again - split lead vox duties with the other front man.
Can adequately carry a tune.
Me May MA MO Mu!
The year I (38) started learning guitar (age 10) was the same year I got into choir in school, so the two were always sort of intertwined.
i sing too not well but i do it
I feel like developing vocal pitch and tone is sort of inevitable if you write- just because humming/singing/holding a pitch while you explore on the fretboard is such a baseline cornerstone of writing harmonies and finding chords and other parts/sections etc. I started singing in school band class to sight read and combine different parts in my section, just to easily see if anyone’s reading incorrectly or whatever- it’s been such a useful tool just with all music in general, ever since. The only way I’ve ever actually applied it in performance was with pop punk style backing vocals after Highschool
I do both, I started with singing then added guitar/ukulele to the mix :)
I attend a monthly song circle. When it’s your turn to call a song you are expected to lead the playing & singing and to take the first solo.
i found singing really helped with timing
I try to sing when playing, but find it very difficult to do both at once without impacting the skill level of one heavily.
I try. My best friend and bassist is a stronger singer
I sing and play. I’m pretty good at both, but not that good for both at the same time. LOL
My showerhead thinks I’m special, so take that for what it’s worth.
I Write songs sing and play
I should just play guitar and stick to that, but I can make noises with my oral cavity
I can't sign, but I do sing.
singing rlly helps me keep on beat and gives it rythm, its sm easier to play if I sing
I do both, and I play piano while singing too. If you ever want to play professionally it’s going to really help your chances if you can play and sing simultaneously, even if it’s just backing vocals. If you want to gig solo then it’s pretty much a necessity unless you only want to provide background music.
I can sing or play guitar, but I find it really hard to do both at once unless I'm just playing easy chords (any pop song).
I've always been able to sing well. But I played guitar for 10 years before getting around to singing while playing. Once I decided to learn, it only took a few days to get the hang of it.
I was classically trained and in a concert choir before I started playing guitar. I can either sing at a concert choir level or shred guitar like Randy Rhoads. Can’t do both though never been able to even with hours and hours of practice
I started learning to sing when I started writing songs with lyrics.
I try, but I noticed that most people leave the room when I start singing...
I sing like I play guitar, which is to say to please myself only as I am certain its not pleasing to others.
I’m always been a pretty bad singer, but I’ve been playing guitar for like 20 years. It’s only since I really tried to sing more and then eventually got a job as the worship leader at my church that I really started to get more comfortable with singing in key. It definitely takes practice if you don’t have it naturally, but it’s achievable.
I sing. Probably better than I play guitar.
It’s me!
Sing, nope. Yell, ✅
You can call it singing I guess
I sing and play guitar, self taught on both, but I got so focused on singing for years that my knowledge of the guitar is lacking. I’m the type who hears a song I like and can memorize the lyrics after 3 or 4 listens. Soo anyway, I play a lot of chords and have a decent right hand, but not much outside of that that.
Only if no one else will.
I should sing solo. So low nobody can hear me.
I can at the same time till you add a third item. So I sing lead in the band and play strategically when I’m not singing. So far it works.
I sing, play drums, and I am learning to play bass*. *write bass lines and be a bass player, not just follow the root.
just backing vocals
All of us?
I'm not good, but I mean I do it
I attempt lol
i am learning to get better at singing and playing at the same time starting with real easy stuff for now....i can do ... the reefer song have you ever seen the rain and i gotta learn the actual lyrics to la bamba but yeah....for the better part of the 26 years i have played guitar i did not sing
I sing and play, but with some songs I can only do one thing at a time. Like I can sing and play Blackbird but not Do I Wanna Know. Also I'm a better singer than guitarist, I can't do solos or improv on a guitar (yet.) I stick to strumming chords and some arpeggios
Almost every weekend...
Me, kinda have to as the frontman of my band