Is it just me or is learning to sing along strumming a alien language?

[LeDave]

I try to sing along strumming. When I do so, mess up my chords and strum pattern. Any tips?

[TJNies]

Separate the two; get the strumming pattern right, then sing. Don't over-think it, as you'll drive yourself crazy.

[DWKitt]

I'm right there with you brother. After 4 years I'm still messing up. So, welcome to the club. Today I tried playing a couple of songs for my wife, but kept messing up. I got frustrated after a couple of tries, so I had to stop and put my guitar away. So disappointed with myself.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by LeDave

I try to sing along strumming. When I do so, mess up my chords and strum pattern. Any tips?

Start with very simple short exercises that use voice with guitar.
Find, or make up, several so you don't get bored.
Do them over and over.

Don't get discouraged or give up.
Just keep doing it.
You'll get better.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I play the bass in my band and sing. The secret? Elbow grease. There's no shortcuts. Just keep doing it.

[Silvereagles]

I agree you have to master one because it has to be on auto pilot. I start off with getting the rhythm of the words down. Then I master the words with the timing of the chord changes within the song. Then i add the rhythm strumming between chord changes..

Hope this makes sense..

Dennis

[LeDave]

Thanks guys. All good suggestions! ����

Originally Posted by DWKitt

I'm right there with you brother. After 4 years I'm still messing up. So, welcome to the club. Today I tried playing a couple of songs for my wife, but kept messing up. I got frustrated after a couple of tries, so I had to stop and put my guitar away. So disappointed with myself.

Then this thread is both for you and I!

[UncleJesse]

There's just no substitute for practice.

[merlin666]

Our uke circle beginners start singing right along with playing the uke. As they don't know anything they just start with simple down strums which is perfect to support the singing. Once they have that down it is easy to move on and mix in up strums on the eights and so forth.

So as you already are comfortable with several strumming patterns then a good way to get the singing going is to take one or more steps back and just do it with simple down or up / down strums to get started.

[R. Wayne]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

There's just no substitute for practice.

I am reminded of an Eagles special I saw on TV. They were interviewing two of the eagles, I forget which two. But these two Eagles lived upstairs from Jackson Brown in a house that had been converted to two apartments. While being interviews, they stated, "Jackson Browne taught us to write songs...... we would hear him wake up in the morning and rattle around.... then we would hear the tea pot go off, and then the piano would start. He would play a song or portion o f a song over, and over, and over, and over again, until he had it just like he wanted it. And we learned that there was no easy way, you had to play it 200 or 300 times, whatever it took to get it right." And the interviewer asked, "So Jackson Browne would play a song 200 or 300 times?" And one of the Eagles answered, " No, a thousand times! I wanted to kill him! "

I think learning a song is much the same way (at least with my limited talent), plan on playing it hundreds of times to get it like you want it. Here's some advice I gave a friend of mine who is learning to play the guitar. "Pick a song you really, really, really like..... because I am going to ask you to play it hundreds of times. Once you have mastered that song inside and out, the "skill set" required to play that song you will have mastered too. The next song you learn will be easier, and if it's a song similar to the one you have mastered, you will learn it in no time." I think if you stop before you have mastered the song you are trying to learn, you have not developed that skill set..... and have not progressed like you could have. For years I jumped around, never completely, thoroughly learning a song, just pieces of songs..... Don't be like me. $0.02.

[DowntownJamieB]

All great suggestions and reminders that there are no shortcuts.

For me, I need to get both the guitar part and the vocal part on autopilot separately. That requires playing the guitar part over and over and over without singing. Then it’s singing the song over and over and over with the original recording or with a recording of myself playing the guitar. Then I will put the two together and practice it over and over and over.

My tips are:
1. Use your iPhone to record yourself playing the guitar part. Then use that as a backing track and sing along. Great for when U are in the car by yourself.
2. When u get to putting the 2 parts together, use your iPhone to record yourself.
3. Use an app that slows down the original recording so you can get both the guitar and singing parts down. I use “Anytune”.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by LeDave

I try to sing along strumming. When I do so, mess up my chords and strum pattern. Any tips?

Yes forget about the word "Pattern" "when first learning, just "feel" what strumming "rhythmically" feels like... with no thought to pattern..... And then start to sing to that feeling.
Thinking about "a pattern is a mistake until you can walk and chew gum at the same time . The best way to walk and chew gum at the same time is to not think about either the number of steps you are taking, or how to chew

[raysachs]

It just comes with time, there's no secret to it. I could always strum pretty intuitively. I never learned strumming "patterns", I just strummed as it sounded right for the rhythm of the song. I couldn't sing then, and I can't sing now. But at least now my poor singing does tend to fit into the rhythm of the songs. Back then it was a foreign language - now it's like tying shoes, something I've done so often I do it without thinking. When I try to pick up a new song, I'll play through it a few times and try to figure out the tricky ways the words and rhythm sometimes fit together. And then I just incorporate it into the stuff I play. And get better at it for a while, but then I usually hit a place where I'm as good as I'm gonna get because, as noted, I really can't sing. At my very best, I can listen to myself without becoming physically ill. On a bad day, it's pretty offensive. But still somehow fun. Even when I can't sing it well, I enjoy and get satisfaction from feeling like I have the feel of a song down. That comes a lot quicker than it once did.

-Ray

[MThomson]

One thing to pay attention to is whether you're using your internal voice to keep track of strumming patterns. If you are, these conflict with singing and it's impossible to do both. You have to get to the stage where you feel the rhythm and pattern with no verbal processing involved before you can sing and strum.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by MThomson

One thing to pay attention to is whether you're using your internal voice to keep track of strumming patterns. If you are, these conflict with singing and it's impossible to do both. You have to get to the stage where you feel the rhythm and pattern with no verbal processing involved before you can sing and strum.

Exactly right.