Sing and Play at the same time!

Ankit

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Bangalore, India
Hello Friends,

I am novice Ukulele Player :)

I wonder how people can sing and play chords at the same time. The only time i could maintain the Tempo of a song is when someone else sings while me on chords.

Please help, also suggest if i could somehow rip Vocals of any song..is their a tool available?
 
Hello Friends,

I am novice Ukulele Player :)

I wonder how people can sing and play chords at the same time. The only time i could maintain the Tempo of a song is when someone else sings while me on chords.

Please help, also suggest if i could somehow rip Vocals of any song..is their a tool available?


This is much harder at first than people think, you are rubbing your belly while patting your head at the same time as making disciplined sounds with your mouth.

Google "Uncle Rods Bootcamp", he is a memebr here. Free PDF download on how a beginner progresses in learning to play and sing at the same time. There is a step by step procedure that makes it possible.

In a nut shell you learn the chords and switching smoothly between them first. Then you introduce the proper timing ( still no singing). Then you hum the song in your head while playing. Finally singing while playing and it will more than likely fall apart the first few times. It does for all beginners, get use to stumbling. Seriously down load and print off what Uncle Rod has to offer. I did and it was a great help
 
Just like everything, strumming, chord changing, fingerpicking, I've been working on it, and slowly improving. I think you just have to keep doing it. I've found that if I really belt them out it all works better. I think that being tentative breeds being tentative, so if you get past the tentative stage, you've made great progress. Best is not to think too much about either the playing or the singing. Just let go.
 
Hello Friends,

I am novice Ukulele Player :)

I wonder how people can sing and play chords at the same time. The only time i could maintain the Tempo of a song is when someone else sings while me on chords.

Please help, also suggest if i could somehow rip Vocals of any song..is their a tool available?

try a very simple song that you know very well.
 
philrab66 wrote :
try a very simple song that you know very well.
... absolutely first-class recommendation.

Pick a song with just two or three chords, that you can sing already, then just fit the chords in as you sing along. No need to get fancy with the strumming (yet), just one down-stroke per beat, or even every second beat, if necessary, slowly at first, don't rush !! If you can play the song accurately slowly you'll be able to play it quicker with practice. If you play the song "up to speed" with mistakes, all you're doing is learning those mistakes and you'll struggle even harder to play it properly !!
 
Keep trying!
And yes, start with a simple song that you know very well. Other folks posted excellent advice above.

I just wanted to share that I know EXACTLY how you feel.
I struggled with this for many years, in fact years ago I just assumed that it was impossible for me and pretty much gave up.
I then decided that I *must* learn to do this so I chose a song (for me it was "Imagine") and just started forcing myself to sing and play at the same time.
Full disclosure, I started playing guitar in 4th grade and started playing ukulele in 2006 - so playing was not my problem. I also love to sing, used to do karaoke, etc. But I could not sing and play at the same time, period.
I struggled for a little over a week, doing nothing else but trying to sing and play "Imagine" until it just suddenly clicked and I could do it!
What was even more bizarre, once that happened, I could now immediately sing and play off of a songsheet just about ANY song that I knew how the song went.
I dug out all my old music and started playing a bunch of songs!
Don't give up, fight through it, and you will persevere!
Good luck!
 
I must be in the minority.

I started singing along with the television when I was 2 or 3 - Sing Along With Mitch (I still can't get The Merry Wanderer out of my head - Val-der-ee!)

I was 13 when I started playing guitar (ok, TRYing to play guitar...), and it was folk music, Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Denver, Don McClean, Carole King...

And if you played, you sang.

I've been playing and singing as long as I can remember playing. The only time I don't is if I'm doing solo runs, or some of the chord-melody stuff.

I guess it is because when I started playing, they were ALL simple songs that I knew, and that was almost 45 years ago... Uke just makes it more fun.


-Kurt​
 
As I've said many times, beginners often try to learn too much at once. Hold the uke, fret the chords, strum the melody, and learn the lyrics all at the same time. Follow Pueo's advice. Find a simple song, learn the chords, then practice the tempo, then learn the lyrics. It's ok to start learning a song at a slower tempo than it would normally be played. Also, some beginners may need to use a metronome, especially if they have a hard time staying in tempo without the playing of others. Another bit of wisdom shared by another UU'er (May have been Kimo): The most important skill to have in learning how to play the ukulele - Patience!
 
Amen to a simple song starting out.

Make sure you are completely comfortable changing chords.
Make sure you are completely comfortable with strumming/finger picking.
Make sure you are completely comfortable with the lyrics.
Slow it all down when you first start putting those things together.

Repetition repetition repetition.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT give up.
 
Dowupdave: thanks I will definitely find the PDF and download.
Rllink: I tried to belt them together..but it doesn't work for me. I can't do this consciously.
Philrab66: I will definitely stick to simple songs as of now.
Kypfer: you are right, it will be very difficult to unlearn..the mistakes.
Pueo: thanks for reminding me of John lenon....and I can sing every inch of Imagine...I will select this song to practice :)
Ksiegel: I use to sing when I was a little. I have start it again after 15 years.
PhilUSAfret: I seriously lack patience but I will use it for my devotion to learn. Lack of patience enables my conscious and continuos effort to succeed. I will use it as power not weakness. You're right..I need perseverance :)
Ukejenny: I never give up on people and things I love.

Thanks all for your guidance...I am highly obliged :) I am tapping my foot now as I strum...will murmur a simple song first and then will start to rock-n-roll :D
 
Oh man, I think this was the second biggest hurdle when I first started playing. It took lots of practice and I managed to get a hang of it about 3wks later. I stuck to one song and tried to get the feel of the strumming and chord progression till it was almost second nature and I think that helped free up my mind to concentrate on the timing and words to the song.

Keep at it and it'll just "happen" one day! :)
 
This is no joke....
I never was a singer, couldn't remember lyrics at all, couldn't even understand most of em. Just really challenged. I learned as many strums and chords and chord chnages as I could.
I just started stumming the uke, and trying to sing a very simple Hank Williams song that my Daddy sang. Then one day, after a YEAR, it melded together.
I got up and cheered and laughted and cried!
Don't give up!
 
Thanks Phil Metronome is really helping me...though I m trying to murmur also at the same time.

Trinimon and Nick ...pray for me please :)

Can someone tell me...how can I rip vocal out of any song...is it possible?
 
Last edited:
Try a little KaraUkey. The lyrics and chords are highlighted with the music so everything you need to know is on the screen in front of you. I've seen it work for others and you can download it all for free. No harm in giving it a go, and if it gets you singing and playing you will never look back. http://www.karaukey.com
 
I made this at work this morning.



While it was uploading, it occurred to me that Aldrine had probably done a Uke Minutes on this, because I couldn't imagine him NOT doing one on the subject. So, I checked. It can be found here.
 
Top Bottom