♪ So what, if I'm not perfect ♪
♪ So what it's not the end of the world ♪
- Hey, I'm Nate Savage.
- And I am Chelsea Amber.
- Also known as Chelsea Savage.
And in this video today, we're gonna share
eight tips with you for learning how to sing
and play guitar at the same time.
- So the whole reason I decided to take up guitar
was because I didn't want to always depend on other people
to accompany me every time I had a gig.
So, I needed to learn to sing and play from the get go,
before I could even, actually really play.
I was learning how to play and sing right away.
So, you can do this even when you can barely play (laughing)
- So tip number one is to separate the challenges.
What does that mean Chelsea?
- Well, singing and playing guitar
is really tough to do at the same time.
So work on the guitar part first,
without even learning to sing,
just work on the guitar and then
on the flip side of that, work on the singing part
without playing the guitar at the same time.
That gets us right into tip number two,
which is to know the individual parts really well.
And, I'm sorry to say, there's no short cut for this.
You've just gotta repeat it, and repeat it.
It's repetition over and over and over again,
until it become second nature.
And what I would suggest for that is
to find the beats per minute,
which is the tempo, and then slow it down to half time.
Get it down really well at half the speed,
and then slowly build it back up,
by five or ten beats per minute at a time.
Until you've reached your goal tempo.
- And that's super annoying but,
it's gonna save you a lot of time.
- Yeah, and I would actually even suggest going
about ten beats per minute above your goal, so that
when you go back down to the actual tempo
you won't feel rushed.
It won't be like "Oh my gosh,
"this is the quickest I've ever done this!"
You've done it quicker,
now you can slow it down to the actual tempo.
- Tip number three is to keep it simple.
And I don't sing and play a lot but if I--
when I have to, I have to really implement this tip.
Do you want to kind of elaborate on that?
- Sure, well there are a few ways that you can do that.
And the first one is to just
tackle each section of the song, separately.
So, just learn the chorus, get that chorus down really well,
and then go to the verse or start with the verse,
as that's probably where you want to start anyway.
So start with the verse, get that down really well.
Then, learn the chorus.
So, wait until you have a certain part down
before you move on to the next.
So that's one way, the second way is
to really simplify your strumming pattern.
So, if you want to eventually get to a more complex pattern
first start with just down strums,
you could even just start with just
quarter notes even just,
one, two, three, four. (guitar strumming with beats)
- And a lot of times, like if you're
playing with a full band or something,
like that sounds better anyways, so.
- I do use a lot of down strums when I'm playing with a band
because you want to be conscious that your strumming pattern
isn't clashing with the drums, or with another guitar player
So, that's something to be really mindful of.
And, another way to keep it simple is,
to save the more complex guitar parts,
for when you're not singing.
There are a lot of people, like B.B. King,
he doesn't sing and play at the same time.
You know, 'cause if you're playing this really complex part
and then trying to sing over top,
the song just becomes very crowded in that--
- Yeah it could be-- - [Chelsea] Moment.
- Really confusing for the listener to not know
what to really focus on too.
- Yeah, exactly so it'll sound better,
and it'll make it easier on yourself
to just save the complex, really complex parts
for when you're not singing.
Tip number four is to avoid strumming to the exact wording
of the song.
If you're not sure what I mean,
I'll give you an example. (Nate laughing)
So, let's take the song, "Stand by Me".
I love that song, I do it a lot,
as a cover at my shows and if I were to try and
match the words exactly with the strumming
it would sound ridiculous, it would be
♪ When the night, has come ♪
♪ And the land is dark ♪
♪ And the moon is the only light we'll see ♪
See it's very robotic and doesn't,
it just doesn't sound good (laughing).
- Yeah, I think a lot of times when people are
just starting to get into singing and playing
at the same time that's something that's natural.
And it's really easy, 'cause you only have to think
about one rhythm at a time.
But it's something that, if you're just aware of
"Oh you know, that does, that's not really the way
"you normally sing and play at the same time",
that can be a really good starting point
for getting better at singing and playing.
- Yeah, and the problem with that is that
you haven't established a pattern,
you want a strumming pattern.
And so when you're just strumming to the exact wording,
♪ When the night ♪
There's no strumming pattern to that.
So, it would be better to keep it simple as we said,
if you want to just keep, (rhythmically strums guitar)
quarter notes, (rhythmically strums guitar)
♪ When the night ♪
♪ Has come ♪
Now, what I do is I often will do muted
eighth notes when I'm doing this song.
(strums guitar faster) So it's,
double time from the quarter notes,
and I think that the muted strums give it--
- And it suits the verses a little bit better, yeah.
- Yeah, and it just, it adds a little bit of style
without you having to actually do anything complicated
so you just, (guitar tapping))
put your palm here, around the bridge and,
(Guitar strumming rhythmically)
♪ When the night has come ♪
♪ And the land is dark ♪
♪ And the moon is the only light we'll see ♪
See I think that sounds fine! - Yeah, it sounds great.
- Yeah, and I was just doing simple,
(guitar strumming) eighth note down strums.
I muted it with my palm so that,
it sounded a little bit more fancy.
But I'm really not doing much. (Nate Laughing)
yeah, and then say if you want to start
making it more complex,
you can start with this, (guitar strumming)
once you have that down, then you can try
other strumming patterns if you want to go back and
(Guitar strumming quickly) up and down, you can do that.
One strumming pattern that might fit this song
would be like a down, down up, up down up down.
Down up, up down up. (quick guitar notes)
Like that? - Mm-hmm
(guitar strumming quickly)
♪ So darling, darling, ♪
♪ Stand by me ♪
♪ Oh, stand by me ♪
♪ Oh, stand ♪
♪ Stand by me, stand by me ♪
- Tip number five is to look for cues.
And again I don't sing and play that much
but this is something that really helps me
when I have to that but,
I'm not really good at it so maybe you
could give us some tips on how to actually use this.
- Sure, well once you've established your strumming pattern,
you have that, and then you've also practiced your lyrics,
then you can look for places where they naturally
come in alignment together.
What words have down strums, what words start
on the very first beat of a bar,
and the same time that your strumming pattern is starting?
So, you have to be careful not to slip back
to tip number four, which is where you're just strumming
to the exact wording of the song.
You want to avoid that, but look for land marks where
the strumming pattern, as it is,
naturally lines up with the lyrics.
So I like to think of my hands,
if one hand is my lyrics, and the other hand is my strumming
when I put them over top of each other,
I see that my thumbs don't match up,
eh, that's okay, I'm not gonna worry about that.
But my fingers line up, so I'll use those as my landmarks.
So, an example of that, the very first song I ever learned
was called "Every Move I Make",
and the first line, (guitar strumming slowly)
♪ Every move I make I make in you ♪
Or something like that? - [Nate] Yeah.
(guitar strums slowly) and so the strumming pattern
goes down, down, up up down down.
Down, down, up up down down.
So I learned those separately,
and then I figured out okay where do these
fall together naturally so knew that on every "move"
I have two down strums.
♪ Every move ♪
and then I knew that on the word "make"
I have two up strums, and I also have to change my chord.
So there was a lot of time in between that (laughing)
where I was, I'd go,
♪ Every move ♪
and then I'd pause, I'd fix my fingers, so I do it
♪ Every move I ♪
And then "make" came so I was like okay, I need to do
two up strums.
♪ Make I make in ♪
and then on "you", I have to go to the D.
So then it would take me some time,
♪ You ♪
(both laughing)
so, just figure out, and yeah it's tedious at the beginning
but then it starts to become second nature.
We talked about muscle memory,
if you have, like I have that strumming pattern
memorized now so I can pretty much sing
anything over top of that strumming pattern,
because it's second nature now.
I don't even need to think about it.
- If you're just starting to get into singing
and playing at the same time, kind of like me.
I have a really good tip for you,
tip number six is a simple singing and playing exercise.
And, if you're just starting this,
you may have trouble patching pitches.
So if I'm playing the E chord, (guitar strumming slowly)
a really simple exercise to get into actually
singing, vocalizing and playing at the same time is
to just play a chord, any chord, for one measure.
One, two, three, four. (long strum on guitar)
And try to sing the root note of that chord.
Since this is an E chord, (guitar strumming)
You want to sing this note,
♪ One, two, three, four ♪
and then maybe you switch to an A chord,
♪ One, two, three, four ♪
and you don't have to sing it,
you don't have to count out loud,
you can just sing the note right.
(Nate vocalizing)
That's a B, so I'm singing the root.
And then back to the E (vocalizing).
That just works on getting your ability to match pitch,
and then your coordination of actually having something
come out of your, you know, your voice
and playing guitar at the same time.
That's like step number one, ground zero.
- Tip number seven, is to be aware of the beat.
And this is especially important,
if you're playing with a band.
Because if you're timing is really poor,
then it's gonna be impossible for them to follow you.
So the way that I do this, is I often will tap my foot,
I'll move my body, I might move my head.
But I really get into it, and music is about feeling.
I mean, that's why we listen to it right?
So, why not feel it while you're playing it,
not just when you're listening to it.
So, yeah I get into the groove.
- And we had a really interesting situation,
yesterday we were playing a church gig together,
and we play with click in our ears,
with in-ear monitors, and this is why
it's really important to develop your timing as a singer
and a player, and something really bad,
I won't get into the details, (Chelsea laughing)
but something really bad happened with the ear situation.
- Technical glitch. - So, we had to
yank our ears out and we just kept going.
I doubt the audience knew anything happened,
but it's really good to have an internal sense of time,
not only with a metronome, but without too.
Tip number eight is to record yourself.
And it doesn't have to be anything fancy,
just use your phone, or your computer,
whatever you have available to you.
And just watching and listening to yourself back
singing and playing at the same time
can provide some really valuable feedback.
And some things for you to work on too.
- Yeah, an example of that was,
I uploaded a YouTube video recently,
where I thought that my playing was fine,
while I was, I was playing to a metronome,
it felt, it felt like I was on time!
And then we recorded it and I listened back
and I was like oh my gosh my timing is awful!
(both laughing)
So I had to go back and practice it.
I practiced it for another week!
And then we were able to record it after that.
And it was fine after that, but yeah it was,
I had to go back to the drawing board.
And that was due to me listening back,
and I should have listened back before that.
It would have saved me some time but,
it's all right, live and learn!
- So those are just a few practical tips
to help you get into the world
of singing and playing at the same time.
And again it's gonna be tough at first,
just like when you were first learning to play the guitar,
but it is worth it because you're not gonna be relying
on anyone, to make some awesome music,
and you're gonna be able to do it any time you like.
It's gonna be a load of fun.
Set a goal, and work toward it, you can do it!
- So we want to know, what song are you learning
to sing and play at the same time?
Leave a comment below, and also don't forget
to like and subscribe to Guitareo on YouTube.
- And if you need more help with the guitar part of things,
you can click the link below this video
to get the free beginner guitar starter kit.
See ya later. ♪# Sun in my eyes ♪
♪ My soul is weak ♪
♪ My lips are dry ♪
♪ I keep holdin' on ♪
♪ But I can't help asking why, why, why, why, why ♪
♪ Why, why, why, why, why ♪
♪ Don't give up, don't shut the door ♪
♪ Get in the game up off the floor ♪
♪ It works out in the end ♪
♪ Don't you back down, don't be afraid ♪
♪ Don't let a wall get in the way ♪
♪ It's not over yet ♪