Playing bass and singing

[12stringbassist]

As a singing bass player, I agree with those that say that you should be comfortable with the bass part first, and the vocals will follow. Mark

+1.
Good luck.

[RicOSoundMan]

The only song I was able to sing and play quite comfortably is "Walking on the moon" by the Police. Wait there is another "Cold Turkey" by the Be-at-els. <<<< remember the dude in HELP? He called them, the Be-At-els.??


Good luck

[marc61]

This would be the perfect thread for Macca to chime in on

Personally, I just bring my playing to a halt..then further halt the show by opening my mouth and trying to sing

My son plays drums and sings lead..try that on

[Becky]

Mostly I've tried to cement the bass part first and then concentrate on singing, although I've sometimes done it the other way around. Once you have both, you learn the bass pedals/synth line or you can drop in and out with either part. I tend to approach my coordination limit when I play Rush's Turn The Page.

[Dave Scantland]

My son plays drums and sings lead..try that on

In my first band (TC and the Comets, circa 1965), I sang and played drums -- I wasn't very good, which might be why we did mostly instrumental covers. It's extremely challenging. I'm a great admirer of drumming lead singers like Don Henley, Phil Collins (though he doesn't do it so much anymore) and especially Peter Rivera of Rare Earth.

[plasticman_88]

You've got no idea how jealous I get seeing a bass player who can sing and play bass simultaneously. I saw a band in Melbourne called The Basics the other night and spent the whole night being envious.

[gibsonlp]

After quite a lot of effort I managed to sing Day Tripper along with the original bass line, not an easy task but my wife kept telling me - if Paul can do it, so can you

[antipodean]

my wife kept telling me - if Paul can do it, so can you

That's kind of like saying "If Einstein could understand the theory of relativity, then so can you!" or "If Van Gogh could paint that...."

[jps]

If Tom Silva can totally restore an old house, so can you. I think Kareene is setting you up for something.

[ricmic]

Gil, your wife is right. That song is a perfect example of what everyone has said. If you are comfortable with the bass line first, the vocals can lay right over the top of it. From a big Beatles fan, keep jammin Bro. Mark

[johnallg]

Um, don't you have to be able to sing and carry a tune first??

Counts me out....

[RickenTom]

Um, don't you have to be able to sing and carry a tune first??

Counts me out....

Me too.

[aceonbass]

A lot of guitar players think that just playing bass is easy, but it's really not. Guitarists are used to playing ON the beat, but bassists have to ANTICIPATE the beat, playing slightly ahead of it. That's what drives a song. The bass is not just another stringed instrument. It's the halfway point between drums and guitar/keyboards/horns or whatever. I do agree that the bass part should be learned first though, followed by the vocals. Then when you put them together, it's like two sides of a zipper interlocking. Muscle memory will take over for the bass part while you sing.

[cjj]

As far as being comfortable while singing and playing, well, if I sing, NOBODY is comfortable, especially the audience...