Singing can be frustratingly different than playing guitar.

*Rant On*

I am finding it very frustrating to findout how unique the voice actually is.

You see, on guitar, you just pick a song, and learn it. Not so with the voice. I have learned to play and sing some cover songs that are in my vocal range. While it's been a great tool for learning, I am finding that I just don't sound good singing some of those songs. And others, like Dust In The Wind, just don't sound good at all for me to sing. I can play the heck out of that song on guitar.

Ok, I had to get that out.

*Rant Over*

Chime in if you have experienced the same thing, and any tips on what you ended up doing??

Yes, I experience this all the time. My solution:

Sing whatever you want to sing on your own or with friends. For gigging or recording, try to only do songs that you know your voice sounds good in. Don't force it just because you like the song, but don't stop playing it altogether.

Start experimenting with a capo. Singing lessons can also increase your range.

dk

Lessons would deffinetly increase your range and abilities, and just like guitar, practice practice practice

I'm the lead singer in my band, I do play guitar and could play well enough on stage, however a 30+ year seasoned vet of lead guitar and singing told me "don't play guitar if you can help it, just sing the piss out of your voice. Doin' them both at the same time is like flyin' a 747 and doing open heart surgery at the same time."

I only sing now.

Ah yes, the wonder that is the human voice. Unlike inanimate objects such as instruments, the voice is part of the human body, which is ever changing and in a state of flux. Everything affects it…food, air temperature and quality, mood, fatigue, mucus not only in the throat but in the ears and nose as well, water levels in the body, tension, any degree of slight hearing loss, blah, blah, BLAH! And this is on top of the things that affect inanimate objects too, like an individual’s prowess with their instrument. How well you know it, how confident you are, etc. The only thing that really gets in the way of playing the guitar really well is your hands (strength and flexibility) and your level of dedication.

Even if you know a song inside out, like you do with the guitar, you may SUCK for no reason other than some tiny random factor that’s affecting your voice…it’s kind of scary to think that no matter how hard you try and how dedicated you are, your voice is never that stable. Eep! Lol I guess that’s why it’s more exciting than instruments though to some people.

In terms of singing songs not in your natural comfortable and best sounding range, well…2 things. Sing the songs in your range so you sound really good whenever you do…and for the songs not 100% best suited to you, practice until you get as good as you can possibly be. *shrug*

You know...I was lead singer in a couple bands as well, and also found the same problem. It is damn difficult (in my opinion) to sing and play guitar at the same time, even knowing how to paly both.

Doing them both is definitely challenging, but I have been doing it for about three years now. Now, if I were in a band again, I would prefer to only sing or only play guitar with occasional backups.

This thread was more of a chance to vent. I don't think any manner of lessons will really help what I was venting about...that the human voice is unique. And no matter how good I get at singing, some songs are just not going to sound right with my voice.

And I found that frustrating because you can pretty much learn anythign on guitar and it sounds at least decent. Not so with the voice.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Best advice about singing another's song: Do NOT sing with the singer. (IE: Do not sing the song while hearing it on the radio.)

Sing in your vocal range, sing with your voice and not theirs, and you'll learn that your singing sounds much better - regardless of how "different" the tone is. It's healthier for your vocal cords too.

Yes it is very frustrating and unfortunately true

You have a couple of choices - probably more but here's my take.

- transpose to your stronger key would be my recommendation. Tough when the guitar part relies on open chords that have a distinct flavor.

- don't sing them at all and find others that are better suited.

You have a good voice from what I remember...

This is what I am doing.

It's really not a problem overall, I was just frustrated to come to that realization. And, thanks for the comment. Very nice of you.

That's what my prefference is. I mean (don't laugh) there is a song I know inside and out vocally, as well as backwards and forewards on guitar and CANNOT do both at once. As strange as it sounds (because it seems easy to most) the song is come as you are by Nirvana. Can't do both, no matter how hard I try. And I only have trouble with that one song, go figure.

That part just takes time. For songs that are riff based, you find the downstrokes that line up with words. Once you have the primary words lines up you can spew out the rest of the line. The more you do it, the tighter you get at it. It's a good thing to learn because it helps you on other songs.

I sing lead and play keys and I find sometimes when doing both you just have to compromise. Either by dumbing down the key part, having someone else help out on vocals, or by not singing the crap out of the part perhaps the way you may have wanted.

Practice definitely helps...

Keys can be weird because sometimes they are like rhythm (or lead) guitar and follow the melody while at other times they are more like bass or just doing something else totally wacky - that is when it gets challenging to play and sing I find...

Rock and Roll is not an exact science and sometimes emotion can trump technique.

Luckily I have two other strong singers in the band I can rely on to get a song or two break in a set. One of the guys has a higher range as well and we give him some of the harder songs in the higher registers that I cant pull off.

Thanks I will try that Kurt always did have awkward timing.

My guitar teacher, who also sings, said he learns both parts, guitar and vocals, until he has both down without having to think about them. Then he focuses his mind somewhere between the two when performing. I know what he means, but it ain't easy. I think the advice about finding the downstrokes that work with the vocals is good. Eventually I decided to stick to vocals only on stage and leave the guitar playing to a pro. I just use the guitar for writing now.

One thing I find frustrating, though, is when writing melodies and lyrics it's really hard not to follow the guitar. I'm developing a tune our guitarist wrote and after several hours of solid work, I listened to it again this morning and decided I'm doing it again, just following what the guitar is doing instead of going for the unexpected or not so obvious choices, which is what can make a song more interesting (we do alt rock). We have an excellent bassist who comes up with great bass lines, and sometimes I find his work really helps pull my mind away from what the guitar is doing and find a different approach to the melody.