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How do I sing and play at the same time? I find myself wanting to just move my right hand along w/ the melody. I've been playing for about a year.

What style of music are you playing and are you writing or covering songs?

Have you had tuition or are you self taught?

I do know what you mean and for some it comes easy, for others it takes real hard work. What I would recommend is comitting strum patterns to muscle memory. What I did myself was when sitting watching a movie/tv show or something, I would dampen my strings either with a cloth or just with my hand, and repeatedly play the same strum pattern (rhythm) until it was totally ingrained.

This goes for 'standard' acoustic guitar playing really. For more technical stuff like metal or jazz, it will take a lot more work and it helps to go back to playing really simple stuff first to get the basics down.

Simple answer is that you just do it ...


... more prolonged answer is practice. Especially if the song has a more advanced rhytm, you cant just expect to play and sing, just like drummers cant just sit and play independently with all four limbs.


You slow it down a lot and then you look at what your right hand is supposed to do where in the lyrics and you practice that and slowly take it up to speed.

Singing and playing aren't independent things you just do, you need to practice them together so you get 'em linked.

Once you've learned a few songs and gotten some experience, you will give the impression that you do both independently, but in reality your voice and hands are interdependent, you've just build up muscular memory and facility.


Dont know if this is particulary clear, Ill elaborate, but its late here in Scandinavia, so this is what I can come up with quickly

You slow it down a lot and then you look at what your right hand is supposed to do where in the lyrics and you practice that and slowly take it up to speed.

No disrespect, but I would advise against this. For learning riffs and rhythms this is a good practice but for learning to play and sing it's not a good idea in my experience.

What style of music are you playing and are you writing or covering songs?

Have you had tuition or are you self taught?

I do know what you mean and for some it comes easy, for others it takes real hard work. What I would recommend is comitting strum patterns to muscle memory. What I did myself was when sitting watching a movie/tv show or something, I would dampen my strings either with a cloth or just with my hand, and repeatedly play the same strum pattern (rhythm) until it was totally ingrained.

This goes for 'standard' acoustic guitar playing really. For more technical stuff like metal or jazz, it will take a lot more work and it helps to go back to playing really simple stuff first to get the basics down.

I get lessons once a week. I'm mostly just covering songs but I guess I'm definitely interested and have tried to come up with my own stuff too.

I get lessons once a week. I'm mostly just covering songs but I guess I'm definitely interested and have tried to come up with my own stuff too.

What you can also do, is find songs whose guitar rhythm is somewhat similar to the vocal melody. A good one to try is Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town by Pearl Jam.

It's probably just a matter of practice. I think it definately would help to have practiced the individual parts first (singing and playing).
I'm just a lead guitarist though so I dunno, could ask my rythm guitarist (who sings) for some tips I guess

and have tried to come up with my own stuff too.

If you're not studying theory, I would recommend getting at least a basic knowledge. It will do wonders for your ability to write music.

No disrespect, but I would advise against this. For learning riffs and rhythms this is a good practice but for learning to play and sing it's not a good idea in my experience.

Why .. I mean it is not 'fun', but it gets the job done, you actually might want to break it down more and just practice singing and right hand strumming without also having to use energy on chord changes (damp the strings as you say)


I've played guitar for 25 years ... I mean, it is the same if you where to clap and sing, while most can clap on two and four while singing, I'm pretty sure that if you try anything more advanced, if you have no experience with music, that you'll fall flat on your face. Would you not advice linking the song to the claps, but just advice trying untill you know how to with that exercise ?

Drummers are the ones doing it most .. you know .. right hand playes quaternotes, left hand learns to play two and four .. then left hand learns to play up beats .. then you add the kick on 1 and 3 etc etc .. you don't just go, hey I'm going to do this all at once.

I get lessons once a week. I'm mostly just covering songs but I guess I'm definitely interested and have tried to come up with my own stuff too.

Tbh .. in that case, ask your teacher ... it will always be easier when someone shows you how to, instead of reading something and then trying to implement

Why .. I mean it is not 'fun', but it gets the job done, you actually might want to break it down more and just practice singing and right hand strumming without also having to use energy on chord changes (damp the strings as you say)

My issue is with slowing down and learning to link vocal with strumming. I think learning that way will leave you somewhat constricted when it comes to mixing up how you play and sing. I think it's much more efficient to have the guitar playing be almost subconcious because when you're singing and playing, vocals are the lead and the guitar is merely a backing.

Someone who learns to sing and play by doing them together all the way and completely binding them is going to have a far more difficult time being expressive with their voice and a great vocal with a 'standard' guitar backing will sound much more pleasing than a mediocre vocal and mediocre guitar in a restricted, bound way.

How do I sing and play at the same time? I find myself wanting to just move my right hand along w/ the melody. I've been playing for about a year.

Just keep trying, sooner or later your voice and your guitar playing will just split apart.

Well I was contemplating writing a longer post about it, but assumed it was one song, but it does really matter. Anyways, if we are to do it correctly, then you might want to take a song and learn a real simple rhytm like four down strokes a bar.

Then you take that song and play a different rhytm like dunno .. maybe the upbeats, so you get four upstrokes a bar .. then you do something else etc etc etc etc.


Now luckly we are constructed in such a manner, that if you learn more than one song, dispite linking stuff, it translates from song to song, as you make more links

the act of being free come from have a lot of small little licks (or links) that you mix.


So yeah, if you want the grand model, then you work with one song and lots of different rhytms you link to it, which in turn sets your free, that is like masterplan way of doing it


Or you can just learn a lot of songs and your body will take care of it for you anyways.

this is one part of playing guitar that I still haven't bothered trying to learn (past simple stuff). then again I can't really sing either

If you're not studying theory, I would recommend getting at least a basic knowledge. It will do wonders for your ability to write music.

Yeah definitely not studying theory. Is there a good book you would recommend? I should get on this...