==== ==== Do you love to sing? FREE eBook – 90 Days to Become a Better Singer http://www.bytemusic.com ==== ==== How to Sing and Play Guitar So Both Sound Good! It takes a lot of practice to learn how to sing and play the guitar at the same time. . Because you are working with one sung word for each note played on the guitar, you are in effect dealing with the same song played at different rhythms. It takes practice to master this challenging combination, and there are certain issues you will have to tackle. Below are some of the common problems faced by musicians: * Singing on pitch * Matching a particular song syllable to a particular guitar note * Maintaining a strumming pattern while singing * Maintaining coordination * Maintaining timing for the duration of the song * Keeping song rhythms in sync Though it may seem like an impossible task to handle two different rhythms at the same time, thousands of people have mastered singing and guitar playing at the same time. Here are some guidelines to help simplify the process: Start Simple One of the common mistakes people make is trying to do too much at once. They pick complicated songs that are either difficult to play on the guitar, difficult to sing, or both. The result is that one or the other suffers. Often the song is sung well, but the strumming pattern becomes repetitive with little or no variation. It's best to choose a song that is simple to play on the guitar and is also fairly easy to sing. If you choose a song within your voice range with a simple beat, you will have a much better chance of mastering playing and singing together. To keep it really simple, try to first hum the song while learning to play it on the guitar. You should get so familiar with playing the guitar chords that you don't even have to think about your hand movements. That will free your brain to concentrate on singing the words. One of the most difficult problems people face is timing. If the words are not sung at the right time, the guitar notes will get ahead of the song. In other words, there are certain musical notes and certain words or syllables that need to occur during the performance. Once again, keep it simple. Sing the first verse and get it down pat before moving on the second verse. If you chose a simple song, you should be able to master the first verse fairly quickly.
Another way to keep it simple is to choose a song where the song rhythm and the guitar rhythm are about the same. That way, you don't have to worry about your guitar hand and your singing getting out of sync. Use Your Imagination As a beginning singer, one of the important skills you'll learn is to imagine pitch, envisioning your body in alignment and your voice producing the right note. You'll need to use this same imaginative strategy when learning how to sing and play the guitar. For example, you can play the song in your head while also imaging yourself playing the guitar. If you know the song well, you can "see" your fingers creating the chords. Some people actually start with a recording of the song before even trying to play and sing it. If you start with a recording, practice singing with actual music. That will develop your sense of timing so you can blend the rhythm of the singing to the rhythm of the guitar playing. There is really no set rule for learning how to sing and play guitar. If there was, it would just be: "Practice, practice, and practice!"
==== ==== Do you love to sing? FREE eBook – 90 Days to Become a Better Singer http://www.bytemusic.com ==== ====