Learning How to Sing and Play Guitar Simultaneously

For some people, it is only natural to sing and play guitar simultaneously. For most people, it can be a struggle in coordination. Learning how to sing and play guitar simultaneously  means not just making sound with your lips while plucking strings with your fingers, but giving the proper timing to each note sung and played. It is almost as if you're doing two different rhythmic tasks with only occasional rhythmic overlap. Take a look at all you have to be able to learn to coordinate as you learn how to sing and play guitar simultaneously:

·        Staying vocally on pitch

·        Picking the right guitar note while hitting a different vocal note

·        Staying on strum rhythm while singing notes of varying durations

·        Moving your mouth and both hands in different directions at the same time

·        Keeping a consistent timing throughout the music

Don't let all of these overwhelm you before you get started learning how to sing and play guitar simultaneously. While it is complicated when you break it down and think about it, the human mind is capable of doing more with the human body at one time than we can fathom, once it knows what it should be doing. So let's look at how you can learn how to sing and play guitar simultaneously.

Break Learning How to Sing and Play Guitar Down into Simple Steps

If you want a quick lesson in frustration, try practicing singing and playing at the same time. Better yet, choose a really complex song with sophisticated guitar accompaniment. You'll be doing well if after a week of practicing you can do either the vocal or guitar part well. Now you're humbled enough to learn how to sing and play guitar simultaneously by breaking the process down into simple steps.

Start with a simple song that you can already play or sing. Practice each on its own until you have it down. Then practice adding a few measures per day of simultaneous singing and guitar. If that is too challenging, try at first to simply hum along as you play guitar. Whatever you do, don't try to put the whole thing together before you've mastered the guitar part. If you can hum it through while playing the guitar part flawlessly, you're probably ready to add in the vocals.

You probably could get to the point where you're just making a few guitar and vocal errors if you try learning how to sing and play guitar simultaneously before you have mastered either, but it will be much harder to correct the errors later. More importantly, if you put it together when you have mastery of each it will make it easier to get it together perfectly and to learn future songs with less effort.

Be Creative, Within Your Imagination

Since your brain must be trained to do all of these at once, you should utilize your imagination. Imagine yourself singing and playing guitar simultaneously. But, always focus your imagination on yourself with proper posture and vocal support. Imagine your fingers being where they're supposed to be and on rhythm.

Now, start playing the guitar part, while imagining yourself singing along with it. When you have it going perfectly in your head, reverse it and sing while imagining yourself playing guitar. You should be able to visualize your fingers on the strings as you sing.

Once you think you know how to sing and play guitar simultaneously on this simple song, record yourself doing so. Play it back and correct any errors you notice before moving on to another song.