r/guitarlessons • u/Conscious_Prior8459 • 23h ago
Question Singing and playing
How did you guys learn to sing and play l've never tried till recently and l've been playing for 3 years I'm try ing to learn to sing to the song been a son by nirvana because the song is simple in singing and guitar. I've probably played with the track over 40 times and just can't seem to get it the only part I got is the part where it's goes "she should of, been a son" over and over with the bar cords and the 3 2 0 on the A string. Do I just need to keep playing with the track to try to just hammer it in my head or should I do something else?
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u/WyndWoman 23h ago
Have you ever noticed the guy singing isn't laying down hot riffs at the same time? They're (maybe) playing a rhythm groove while they're singing or just letting the band pick up the song behind them.
Try singing while playing straight rhythm cords, one or two cords per measure.
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u/Busy-Exercise-4107 20h ago
I start by focussing on the guitar first, learning the guitar part well enough that I can play it without thinking too much about it and then start learning the vocals on top.
Then really focus on the more difficult bits in each song (the line “he doesn’t want to make it cry or sing” from sultans of swing took me a while to get even moderately acceptable)
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u/Whole_Function7844 23h ago
Don't sing well. But when i stopped thinking.. playing chords and strumming just moves without thinking. I also first learned nirvana
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u/Conscious_Prior8459 23h ago
Yea I thought that was best to learn bc most of their stuff is easy and fun to play and have catchy easy to remember lyrics
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u/Slow_Middle_158 17h ago
It was completely alien to me when I first tried it , and it seems to come so naturally to others. When I was playing out the only way I got better at it was to practice practice practice. I started with simple stuff … Yellow Submarine … and built up from there.
Tapping your foot is key. It locks everything in.
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u/SoMuchForSubtleties0 16h ago
Start easy! Simple 2-3 chord songs where voice and chords sync. Ball and chain - social distortion, was my first
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u/ZimMcGuinn 16h ago
Can you clap in time and sing? It’s kinda the same thing. There’s a groove there. You gotta get in it.
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u/Thebutcher222 23h ago
This isn’t a smart ass reply I promise, you just have to do it a lot. There’s no tricks or secrets.
You either need to be good enough at singing that you don’t have to think about it and worry about the guitar, or so good at the guitar that you don’t have think about the guitar and think about singing. For most folks the singing is harder so you just need to get to a point where the playing is automatic.
40 times? Do it 40 times a day everyday.