Playing and singing

Originally Posted by Sponserv

I am sure I am not the only one who was totally shocked when I tried to sing and play a song for the first time. It is outrageously difficult.

There are probably some folks who are natural players/songwriters who can't understand what I'm talking about. They just play the music and sing the lyrics. No problem. God bless em.

But I am not one of them. I was wondering today if I am trying to overthink this. I am trying to look at music and changing chords right when a certain word comes into play. Is that my problem? Should I just not worry about changing chords on the right word?

Please help. Thanks in advance

I think you are perhaps over thinking. Ultimately, I have found that I have to practice a song to the point where I am bored with it but at that point it’s in good shape. But I make mistakes while playing live but I just carry on and I’ve never had anyone notice.

Often, perhaps a lot more than you think, words don’t fall exactly on certain beats and to be honest I never think that way. Sometimes I deliberately hold words back etc and mess about with the feeling/timing.

I must admit I feel I have a very good sense of timing etc, but I still just go with repetitive practice until I feel able. That said, I have recently performed several songs with a few days notice and have then lyrics and chords in front of me. Luckily, I knew the songs.

Perhaps just loosen up the mind a bit and let the songs develop through practicing.

[Gordon Currie]

Playing guitar and singing is difficult for many of us because we don't realize or forget that we can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

So one thing has to be largely on auto-pilot - either the guitar part or the vocals. Most will choose the guitar part as audiences can pick up on vocal delivery that is lacking spontaneity.

In actual practice, once you get decent at this, you find you can quickly flip back and forth in your concentration - focus on the little guitar lick at the end of the verse, then focus on the vocal starting the chorus, etc.

At an advanced level, it's just like juggling. You cannot spend ALL your time looking at one ball, you have to move your focus around constantly as needed.