What do you do when you play by yourself?

[Minotaur]

Do you sing? Can you sing and play? Do you play along with a recording? Do you just play and listen to the voices in your head?

I cannot sing and play; I can only do that if I have really gotten good enough with the song and really concentrate.

Many times I play with iTunes on the computer. But very often that doesn't cut it because either there are too many tracks and layers in the recording to hit a cue, or it's too fast to keep up with.

So, I was just wondering what you all do. I'm getting a little discouraged. Real world example... Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine. He finger picks. Fantastic. Most YT covers strum, using different patterns, and that's OK. I found my own pattern.

But I can't sing with my playing, so all I'm doing is strumming and changing the chords appropriately. I don't think you can tell it's the song unless I have someone singing (and that ain't likely to happen any time soon ).

So, I was just wondering what you all do.

[Bryan T]

I play my solo guitar compositions.

[Guyute]

How long have you been playing? It takes a while to get comfortable enough playing before you can play and sing without thinking about it.

Keep practicing.

[Ridgeback]

Learn new songs/pieces. Practice some I know.

[muckin]

It really depends on what you aim to achieve in playing the guitar.

If your aim is to sing and play the guitar together then you should really practice that. That was my initial want in learning the guitar. I found having a song playing low in the background whilst you learn that song helped me. Sing along quietly to it and try to strum the patterns, if it is a fingerpicking piece you are dealing with then, try the easier ones first. Singing and playing together takes time. Especially when it's not your own song you are singing.

Don't get discouraged it will get easier!

[Minotaur]

Originally Posted by Guyute

How long have you been playing? It takes a while to get comfortable enough playing before you can play and sing without thinking about it.

Keep practicing.

Two years January. I'm not shy about playing, especially along with recordings I can follow. Just opening my mouth to try to sing while playing. Maybe it's time.

Originally Posted by Ridgeback

Learn new songs/pieces. Practice some I know.

I'm like a kid in a candy store with all the new songs I want to learn. Sometimes I think I move too fast in wanting to pick up new ones to learn. But then playing them comes pretty easy.

Originally Posted by muckin

It really depends on what you aim to achieve in playing the guitar.

If your aim is to sing and play the guitar together then you should really practice that. That was my initial want in learning the guitar. I found having a song playing low in the background whilst you learn that song helped me. Sing along quietly to it and try to strum the patterns, if it is a fingerpicking piece you are dealing with then, try the easier ones first. Singing and playing together takes time. Especially when it's not your own song you are singing.

Don't get discouraged it will get easier!

Yes, that's my aim. I like rhythm, and if I ever play with others, I'd want the rhythm spot, or bass (I'm teaching myself that too). I think you're right about singing quietly. It's hard to give the singing and playing a full effort when you're just starting to do both.

Thanks guys.

[MJScott]

Country blues, fingerpicked - don't usually sing with those. Some pop stuff-Beatles, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, etc. I do sing with most of these.

Lately I've been working on some classical pieces too-no singing.

I don't sing in public. It would probably make dogs howl-lol.

[tadmania]

I do what I do when I play anytime.... I listen.


I do sometimes go over some things more than I would if playing in front of others, trying one way and another around a phrase, a word, or a note, but most times, I just play to hear the music.

[Long813]

I hardly play with other people ( ). I've been learning to sing/play, so that's slowly coming together. For fun though? Jam tracks - mainly blues, or play any song along to a GP file.

Then just random noodling ... who knows what that will come to be.

[Brian W.]

I went through an instrumental guitar phase when "modern fingerstyle guitar" was fresh to my ears. I bought up all kinds of acoustic albums from the various artists you might expect to hear in that genre. It inspired me at the time.

Now days I rarely listen to that stuff anymore—file it with my Led Zeppelin phase. Today I'm starting to see consistency with the types of artists and music I listen to (singer/songwriters). I like timeless, gritty, and raw music from artists that know their way around the guitar and can both sing and write meaningful lyrics. This is where I've turned my attention.

[shawlie]

I used to try and sing when I played (fingerstyle folk, old blues kind of things) - I could do it ok, but my voice is just so bad I gave up.

So now I mostly practice songs I wrote (for playing them live here and there)and write new ones. Then I get either my wife or a friend to sing them... which makes it a lot better than me trying to do it.

[Minotaur]

So I guess I'm not too far off the mark by trying to quietly get a few of the lyrics out with a few measures at a time. I'm glad to know this is pretty common until I get a lot better at being able to play and sing. It sounds like you're all doing this only for yourselves, for ourselves.

I've come to a point where I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up the guitar again (after a 20 year break, which was only 8 months of lessons anyway). So I think that's what added to my disappointment. But you guys have encouraged me now. Thanks a billion.

[Hack Amatuer]

Usually, if I know the chords then I can find the melody within the chords. I may have to use a different postion of the chord to hit highs/lows but ordinarily, i can find it. Then I fingerpick it, but if you use a pick you can play chord/melody.

[rattletrap]

Originally Posted by Minotaur

Do you sing? Can you sing and play? Do you play along with a recording? Do you just play and listen to the voices in your head?

I cannot sing and play; I can only do that if I have really gotten good enough with the song and really concentrate.

Many times I play with iTunes on the computer. But very often that doesn't cut it because either there are too many tracks and layers in the recording to hit a cue, or it's too fast to keep up with.

So, I was just wondering what you all do. I'm getting a little discouraged. Real world example... Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine. He finger picks. Fantastic. Most YT covers strum, using different patterns, and that's OK. I found my own pattern.

But I can't sing with my playing, so all I'm doing is strumming and changing the chords appropriately. I don't think you can tell it's the song unless I have someone singing (and that ain't likely to happen any time soon ).

So, I was just wondering what you all do.

I've been doing something different lately. I got Tabledit and play along with the computer. With TablEdit I can select sections and play them over and over. I can slow it down as needed and inch my way up.

Craig

[Minotaur]

Originally Posted by Hack Amatuer

Usually, if I know the chords then I can find the melody within the chords. I may have to use a different postion of the chord to hit highs/lows but ordinarily, i can find it. Then I fingerpick it, but if you use a pick you can play chord/melody.

I'd like to do that too. It's a goal for down the road. I want to do that for the harmonica solo for Heart of Gold. Heart of Gold is not the same without the melody of the harmonica. I can interrupt the chords and play the harmonica melody, but the transition is kind of sudden.