Practice advice for vocals and guitar.

[Mischief]

Howdy,
I'm trying to continually get more serious about my performing.

I think I need to dedicate time to specifically train my vocals, also work on playing songs, work specifically on my guitar playing etc.

To give you a rough idea of where I'm at.
Vocals I think I need to continue work on pitch. Likely scales and various exercises. Breathing and various techniques.

Guitar I really am a basic player. I can finger pick and am confident with chords etc. but I have been trying to learn a lot of theory and scales but I still don't comprehend a lot in that respect so I have a long way to go. My lead skills and embellishing with melodic lines etc are very minimal at this point.

I've got an electric guitar for learning leads and melody lines and am hoping it will help with speed, building brain processing and ease of scales etc. then I can apply that to my acoustic.

So through out the week I have to figure out the best way to practice vocals, my acoustic playing, theory, lead playing, scales, finger exercises, picking exercises, finger picking, then putting it all together to practice songs. Etc.

I may only have an hour a day at times for practice. Sometimes less and sometimes more. How much time is the minimal I should have per day to practice vocals and guitar and learn theory etc?

Any help on how I should structure my practice time throughout the week to maximise my efforts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mandobart]

I'm not an expert singer but I'm a pretty competent instrumentalist. I don't know exactly what you ought to practice, but I encourage you to record your practice. Play it back to get insight on what you do well and what you'd like to improve. As they say practice makes permanent; only perfect practice makes perfect.

[Mischief]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I'm not an expert singer but I'm a pretty competent instrumentalist. I don't know exactly what you ought to practice, but I encourage you to record your practice. Play it back to get insight on what you do well and what you'd like to improve. As they say practice makes permanent; only perfect practice makes perfect.

Thanks. Excellent advice.
I do this sort of. I record my songs and critique. Also my open mikes or any performances.

I guess I'm not sure how I should schedule the different components of what I need to practice and learn.

The tools I use at the moment.
I will watch and study live performances.
I will watch instructional videos in you tube.
I will read or practice from books
I will research on forums and online resources.

Problem is between all those tools and trying to do that for rhythm guitar, vocals, a combination and lead guitar. Well I just can't cover it all everyday. So I know I need to prioritize but I'm. It sure the best way to do that.
Like should I do scales everyday both vocal and guitar and then pick one other tool for say guitar one day and then vocals the next? Or spend a week on vocals and then a week on guitar?? I really have no idea how to juggle it. Just doing whatever I feel like seems to not be working the most optimally at the moment [emoji45] plus I end up just playing for fun. When I do then I don't feel I'm advancing as fast as I should.

[BFD]

Seems like you're very systematic about being systematic!

So, you've got a goal - singing & playing. And you've got tools. LOTS of practice and learning tools.

Maybe try thinking of it this way.....Say you wanted a woodshed (pun intended!).... Will you get some building materials, plans, some tools and build it. Or will you practice being a great measurer, a great hammerer, a great sawyer etc. and then think about building the woodshed. After all, you're probably gonna want a chicken coop and a garage before long.....get my drift?

I'd spend more time concentrating on what you really want to do (play songs) and let that dictate the techniques you need to practice. Learn them in the context of the material you're learning. You wanna improve your licks & fills - do it in a(1) song. Your vocals - ditto. That way your mucisianship improves AND you reap immediate benefits.

[cmd612]

I try to practice singing regularly, but when I'm at home and devoting time to music practice, I'd always rather be playing guitar. My solution has been to work on singing at times when I can't play guitar.

I keep the CD from this book in my car and often sing the exercises on my way to work:

https://online.berklee.edu/store/pro...105&usca%5fp=t

Practicing singing really should be done while standing to allow proper breathing, but I find some singing practice, even if I'm sitting in the car, better than none. I've thought about singing along with the exercises while doing other things at home (cooking or cleaning, for example), but I haven't wanted to inflict it on the rest of the family.

[jseth]

One of the many useful points that I gleaned from my years of working with Judy Davis (legendary vocal coach in the SF Bay Area) was this:

She told us to answer the question, "Are you a singer who plays the guitar, or are you a guitarist who sings?"

Knowing that answer (for YOU) can be key to directing your practice and focus...

[Nailpicker]

Originally Posted by jseth

One of the many useful points that I gleaned from my years of working with Judy Davis (legendary vocal coach in the SF Bay Area) was this:

She told us to answer the question, "Are you a singer who plays the guitar, or are you a guitarist who sings?"

Knowing that answer (for YOU) can be key to directing your practice and focus...

Intuitively I think this is true. Can you elaborate a little on how she says to proceed based upon whether singer who plays or guitarist who sings?

I am a guitar player, but several years ago I wanted to improve my voice just for my own satisfaction. The coach I used suggested between lessons I should use the book/cd combo to exercise/practice by Roger Love, Set Your Voice Free. I feel it was as helpful, if not more so than the personal lessons.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by jseth

..... "Are you a singer who plays the guitar, or are you a guitarist who sings?"

Knowing that answer (for YOU) can be key to directing your practice and focus...

This is a very salient point.

I was once told by a chap with a beautiful voice who merely strummed that in his opinion, I was a guitarist who sang.

I couldn't work out whether to be insulted or complimented, but I am now sure that I am a singer who plays guitar.

The relevance applies to the OP's query is this:

IF you are a singer with story songs to sing, and want people to listen and understand your lyrics, then the guitar is merely an accompaniment. and can safely be fairly basic to suit the genre in which you work.

e.g : Guy Clark, many country singers, Bob Dylan etc.

If on t'other hand, you feel yourself to be a performer guitarist, with incidental lyrics just to fill out your repertoire, then all you need is to be able to sing in tune.

e.g. Mark Knopfler, Chet Atkins, Ry Cooder etc.

The priorities might then, become clear.

[Mr. Jelly]

My advice is to learn to listen to your voice and the guitar as you are playing and singing. Allot of people play the guitar and sing but it appears they are not listening to the results. So in those nanoseconds when you hit the guitar chord and hit the note to sing the words listen to see if your voice matches the chord. If not move your voice to be in tune with the chord. Not only will you hear it when it is correct you will feel it. The more that you do this the better you will become. But never stop listening to yourself. That is the only way you will know what other people are hearing.

[Mischief]

Originally Posted by jseth

She told us to answer the question, "Are you a singer who plays the guitar, or are you a guitarist who sings?"

Knowing that answer (for YOU) can be key to directing your practice and focus...

Well I've been really thinking about all that's been said and suggested here so far.

The short answer is a singer that played guitar. But it's not that simple. I want to be a messenger. I want to share stories and deliver emotions right to the heart. I want to take the way I feel when a song touches me and share it.
So it's more about improving as a package deal.

I think to do that I need to sing fairly good. I know there's many artists that may not sing fantastic but are very well loved. I think that's because they offer a package that still works. So I'm not looking to be a stellar singer with mediocre playing skills.

When it comes to my guitar work I think I have to play at least at a level that my guitar playing is dynamic and interesting enough that people don't zone out or think the song sounds monotonous. That goes with the singing too.

I feel I need to comprehend music theory and guitar playing a lot more so that it's more intuitive. I think this will allow me to play with more feeling and less thinking. But of corse my playing skill has to match so that I'm truly free to play from the heart. So although I'm not looking to blow away people with guitar skills or singing technical skills. I would like to get to the point that when performing solo people can not be distracted by a deficiency and hopefully become engrossed in the song.

I hope that makes sense....

[Spence]

Originally Posted by Mischief

Well I've been really thinking about all that's been said and suggested here so far.

The short answer is a singer that played guitar. But it's not that simple. I want to be a messenger. I want to share stories and deliver emotions right to the heart. I want to take the way I feel when a song touches me and share it.
So it's more about improving as a package deal.

I think to do that I need to sing fairly good. I know there's many artists that may not sing fantastic but are very well loved. I think that's because they offer a package that still works. So I'm not looking to be a stellar singer with mediocre playing skills.

When it comes to my guitar work I think I have to play at least at a level that my guitar playing is dynamic and interesting enough that people don't zone out or think the song sounds monotonous. That goes with the singing too.

I feel I need to comprehend music theory and guitar playing a lot more so that it's more intuitive. I think this will allow me to play with more feeling and less thinking. But of corse my playing skill has to match so that I'm truly free to play from the heart. So although I'm not looking to blow away people with guitar skills or singing technical skills. I would like to get to the point that when performing solo people can not be distracted by a deficiency and hopefully become engrossed in the song.

I hope that makes sense....

It helps to have a jammn' friend that will share constructive advice. In this respect I think someone with your skill level is the ideal. As for times to do that, I find Sunday afternoons are good.

[Mischief]

There's some good tips here but I think I may not have posed my question correctly since I have not really received an answer specifically to what I was after.

Not sure if I should start another thread or not? [emoji45]

I'm grateful for the comments that I have received though.

[darrwhit]

Originally Posted by Mischief

Howdy,
I'm trying to continually get more serious about my performing.

I think I need to dedicate time to specifically train my vocals, also work on playing songs, work specifically on my guitar playing etc.

To give you a rough idea of where I'm at.
Vocals I think I need to continue work on pitch. Likely scales and various exercises. Breathing and various techniques.

Guitar I really am a basic player. I can finger pick and am confident with chords etc. but I have been trying to learn a lot of theory and scales but I still don't comprehend a lot in that respect so I have a long way to go. My lead skills and embellishing with melodic lines etc are very minimal at this point.

I've got an electric guitar for learning leads and melody lines and am hoping it will help with speed, building brain processing and ease of scales etc. then I can apply that to my acoustic.

So through out the week I have to figure out the best way to practice vocals, my acoustic playing, theory, lead playing, scales, finger exercises, picking exercises, finger picking, then putting it all together to practice songs. Etc.

I may only have an hour a day at times for practice. Sometimes less and sometimes more. How much time is the minimal I should have per day to practice vocals and guitar and learn theory etc?

Any help on how I should structure my practice time throughout the week to maximise my efforts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You only have an hour a day, and you're trying to improve pretty much all the components that go into performing a song and general musicianship. My suggestion is to chose one component at a time (e.g. singing, but not guitar exercises, theory, scales, etc.). Devote 80% of your practice time to that for a while, and see what the impact is over the course of a month or two. I'm not sure what the minimal time is that you should practice throughout the week; I'm sure that's different for everyone. An hour per day should be enough to make progress, but you'll need to focus on specific small steps that incrementally get you to where you want to go.

I'm betting that at some point your singing will be better, and you'll feel inclined to switch your focus to guitar exercises, scales, etc. Then you can restructure your hourly practice schedule accordingly.

In what ways do you think you're currently mis-using the time that you spend practicing?

[Laughingboy68]

I'm coming from a different perspective here. If I'm reading you right, my feeling is that you want to play guitar and sing, to be able to convey songs. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but spending all your time trying to figure out all of the components of this activity and then practicing them individually, is going to be a very slow road to success.

My advice: simplify the activity to a very basic level and have fun playing a simple song. For example, pick a two or three chord song with a straightforward rhythm and fairly simple melody. Practice that. Record it if you want. Listen back with a critical ear and practice the things that need work. Lather, rinse, repeat. Once you have that particular song mastered, pick another that ups the complexity a bit.

Once you have done this a few times, check out some advice from a coach, an online resource, etc. The fundamentals of guitar playing and singing are much more useful when examined within the context of songs or other pieces of music. Practicing scales, breathing exercises, arpeggios, chord inversions, extensions, sight reading, ear training, picking exercises, etc. - should really be related to music, not exercises.

Once you've built a bit of a repertoire, you'll have something to share, something to play with other musicians, something to ask a teacher to refine, something to relate to the theory espoused on the many online resources.

It might not be your initial instinct, but I assure you, music is supposed to be fun, cooperative, communal. I'm a believer in the value of time woodshedding to build skills, but it is a means to an end, not the whole game.

The world of music is infinitely varied, endlessly challenging and beautiful. It is a gift that should bring joy and catharsis. I'm not sure endless, cold exercises can achieve that.

[krisls]

My initial thing with singing was a serious... me...sing... ugghh... but sorta became nec. So I started 'singing' along with everything i played, be that dah dah daah duh, stuff or whatever. Just to get the rhythm and feel of doing it. Then progressed to actual vocals.

Once there you record everything, I use a Zoom H2n and listen. Carefully. Also try recording the guitar separately and then sing over it and listen. Takes a bit of work but you'll get there.

Also I looked up ye olde youtube and found a 'coach' named Cari Cole gives some good technique tips to work on.

Happy trails...lah lah laaah.....

Kris