Further on how to sing while playing bass..

Rocker

Anyone any suggestions on how to practice/learn to sing while playing bass?  I have a few songs and a few bits of songs that I would like to try in a band situation. But it would help if I got a start on my own first.  I have some basic equipment such as a Boss RC-3, that might be of use. Suggestions appreciated, thanks.

crunchman

Just try it.  If it's a cover, then play and sing along to the orginal.

If it's your own song, just record a rough demo with an acoustic guitar and play/sing along to it.

This is assuming that you can do both separately.  If you haven't had much experience singing, then try to get the right breathing technique there first.  Ideally get a few lessons, but if not, there are singing tutorials on Youtube. The only problem is that they won't pick up on your bad technique like a good teacher.

fretmeister

When words happen to match with a note exactly those bits are quite easy.

But when the beginning of a word does not match with a note start then you have to learn how to identify points that do match. Perhaps it is the 2nd syllable in a word that matches and preserves the rhythmic pulse of a particular tune.

I find humming the vocal melody while playing to be a good stepping stone before trying to introduce the actual words. It's slightly less to try and remember and it gets your brain used to playing one thing and humming a different melody, rather than adding the 3rd thing being remembering the actual word.

If you have a suitable app to slow the track down but maintain pitch then that is a great tool for spotting the rhythmic matches that have to be just right.

I am not a fan of learning just 1 part perfectly and then trying to add the other. Doesn't seem to work because you work so hard to get a part perfect, and then trying to learn the other bit automatically damages that perfection. Treat them as 2 parts of a whole instead.

Many guitarists will simplify a guitar part if necessary to get the vocal right - that approach is usually wrong for bass. The bass is the keeper of the pulse of the song, if you have a noticeable change in the rhythmic structure to solve a vocal issue then it can ruin the pulse of the song. Far better to adjust the vocal delivery.

As always - if the melody instruments (inc vocal) have the odd slip or even a dodgy gig most of the punters won't notice. If the rhythm section has a bad day, then everybody has a bad day. 

TimmyO

the only thing I'd add to the usual good advice is that I found it helps if I only start to bring them together when one of the other bit is pretty much on autopilot. So if you're still not 100 percent  on lyrics, or melody, or good pitching, then the instrument part needs to be totally ingrained, or vice versa - the whole thing comes together more quickly from that point, imho 

Bezzer

TimmyO said:

the only thing I'd add to the usual good advice is that I found it helps if I only start to bring them together when one of the other bit is pretty much on autopilot. So if you're still not 100 percent  on lyrics, or melody, or good pitching, then the instrument part needs to be totally ingrained, or vice versa - the whole thing comes together more quickly from that point, imho 

This, 100%, wis applied.

When I was playing bass I was only providing backing vocals so it wasn't as constant as it is now but weirdly I find guitar and vocals together easier, probably because you can be a little "looser" and claim its feel ... *cough*.   Bass though, yeah get it absolutely nailed.  Practice the vocal separately.  Bring together at the end.  With BOTH make sure when practicing you're taking good notice of the drums, I found applying some of the same focus point to both parts made it easier to join together.  Appreciate that may just be me.

Schnozz

If you can use a pick then do, as it's easier IMO

Snags

Learn the words so you don't have to think about them. Early on have them printed out if necessary, but try to ditch that asap otherwise you start to rely on it.

 I've always found a combo approach works best, in terms of learning the instrument part and vocal part separately and together. Get a rough idea of each, then try together, then brush up the sticky bits individually, then bring together etc.

Don't practice it wrong. If there's a bit you keep messing up, isolate it and work out why, and don't do the whole thing again until you've got it right, otherwise you're reinforcing the error each time.

Also, if you're not a confident singer, get some lessons. I've just started and they're having a huge impact, just learning a bit of technique.

I think the above is true for singing with bass and guitar, it's just that bass can be harder to marry the two up.

If singing along with recordings that aren't in your natural range, don't be afraid to drop an octave rather than damage your voice, too. Particularly if playing bass

sev112

Do bass guitars have capos ....?

Teetonetal

You need to know both parts really well, I’ve really noticed that the bass in particular had to be automatic. Start with something very simple to play and move on from there.

after a really hard couple of weeks, playing and singing has been developing quite nicely. 

Rocker

Took my first singing lesson today.  And it did not go too bad.  A bit better than I expected to in fact.  The tutor was youngish - I thought he looked more a 'boy band' tutor than an aging rocker tutor but that was not the case.  He sat at a piano and played up and down scales.  I had to sing the notes he played starting with 'Ahhh' then 'Oh' then 'Wah' and finally humming the notes he played.  We started out in the G major scale and went higher by one note for the next round.  I got as far as making a reasonable stab on the E major scale.  F major was a step too far.  He surprised me by saying that I had a bigger vocal range than he thought based on the first contact I made with him.  We finished up with me singing two songs and from those he said that tonally I had a lot but need breath management as I was cutting the song lines short.

I came out feeling quite pleased as I am booked for a few more lessons and am encouraged to work on the Ahhh etc sounds every day.  Practicing is not my strong point but I am going to give this a fair shot....