Singing bassist roll call

[bonzodog]

Slightly OT but I find BV much harder than lead vox. I like to think I have a decent voice and when guitarist harmonises with me it sounds great. But when he sings lead vox and I have to harmonise I struggle to keep in tune.

And it definitely me going out of tune. He has an amazing almost pitch perfect voice

Edited August 26, 2015 by bonzodog

[Lozz196]

Backing vox here, as many as possible. Alos do a couple of songs on lead vox in a band I occaisonally play with, doing punk covers. I apparently sound the most yobbish, so I get to do the Sham 69 songs.

[odysseus]

Jesus, I can't even string a sentence together when playing, let alone sing. Mucho respect to all you guys who pull it off!

[dadofsix]

I am a singer who is blessed to be able to play bass while singing and do both well. I am doubly blessed in that I can do it well whether I'm on the keys or playing the electric guitar. I would count myself as a musician, however, if I was completely tone deaf when it came to vocals. Hell, one of my sons plays a killer harmonica. He can't sing because he's blowing into the harp. I'd be hard-pressed to tell him he's not a musician because he doesn't sing. lol

[Bassjon]

We don't have much choice when it comes to heroes do we? Lemmy, McCartney, Sting, Pinnick, Lynott, Lee er...... the bloke out of Asia?

[41.2Hz]

BV here. When I was young I'd never entertain singing and playing bass. My voice is quite good (I can carry a tune at least!) but I could never manage to sing over any bass line any more complex than root notes. The band I'm in now insist on plenty of backing vocals so my hand has been forced somewhat. I've found that learning the backing vocal line at the same time as the bassline helps, rather than learning the two parts separately. Practice, practice, and then some practice!

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='odysseus' timestamp='1440626277' post='2852577']
Jesus, I can't even string a sentence together when playing, let alone sing. Mucho respect to all you guys who pull it off!
[/quote]
This, though i have managed to start doing BV on simple songs that really just play on the root like 'Use Somebody' Kings of Leon, but i only do it in practices as i think my voice is crap and our singer is amazing and our drummer does BV way better than me

[leschirons]

Lead vox & BVs for me. Was in two classic rock trios on bass and lead vox although Jail break was always a no-go area for me. Stephen Hawking would have made a better job of that one

Edited August 27, 2015 by leschirons

[Basska]

If I can shamelessly get to 200 likes on my Facebook page, I'll do a video tutorial on how I sing and play

From root notes to all the virtuoso goodies. (Slap, Tap, Complicated rhythms, Any suggestions)

[url="http://www.facebook.com/chrislbarronbass"]www.facebook.com/chrislbarronbass[/url] C Bass

Edited August 28, 2015 by Basska

[tom skool]

I'm going to be the lead singer for the first time tonight. And not just one but two gigs!I usually do b.v's and sing lead on the odd one but this is something else, I've got to transport and work the p.a AND talk y to the crowd.I just hope my voice holds out.

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1440639914' post='2852641']
We don't have much choice when it comes to heroes do we? Lemmy, McCartney, Sting, Pinnick, Lynott, Lee er...... the bloke out of Asia?
[/quote]

Roger Waters, Jack Bruce, Rick Danko, Greg Lake, Gene Simmons, Mark King, Les Claypool, Glenn Hughes, Suzi Quatro - no great quantity but a good mix.

[blamelouis]

http://youtu.be/CxG-6EvacZg

ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO SING AND PLAY THE BASS !!!

[AndyTravis]

I used to be the singer in a band but playing guitar, and now I've got 2 singers so the opportunity rarely arises.

I do tend to do 'sing throughs' when we're doing a track they're not over familiar with...

We've got a Motown gig coming up, and I admit it's nigh on impossible to play jamerson and sing.

[Norris]

I went to see Martin Turner "playing the music of Wishbone Ash" last night. Now there's a great bassist/singist

[White Cloud]

Yup....guilty as charged. I warble and pluck simultaneously.

[KK Jale]

Struggle even with BV's myself, but just popped in to mention Joey Spampinato from NRBQ...

Ooh, and the very honourable Nick Lowe. Have a gander at this. The relaxed bastard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZZtkYTI3o

[steve-bbb]

i cant even think about talking whilst playing without turning apopleptic

[12stringbassist]

After a number of years playing, I worked my way from being embarrassed to try a backing vocal up to 50% if the vocals in my band.

With the band I am in now, I am lucky to get a quarter of the vocals as the drummer considers himself the singer until his voice starts to go, then my songs tend to get called a bit more!!!

[Huge Hands]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1441024900' post='2855400']
i cant even think about talking whilst playing without turning apopleptic
[/quote]

Funnily enough, I find talking a lot harder than singing when playing bass. When I try to say something to my band mates, I always end up sounding like a demented ape with a speech impediment....

[bonzodog]

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1441885369' post='2862558']


Funnily enough, I find talking a lot harder than singing when playing bass. When I try to say something to my band mates, I always end up sounding like a demented ape with a speech impediment....
[/quote]

Think that's fairly common. Most singers would probably agree that talking to the audience is a lot harder than singing to them

[tauzero]

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1441885369' post='2862558']
Funnily enough, I find talking a lot harder than singing when playing bass. When I try to say something to my band mates, I always end up sounding like a demented ape with a speech impediment....
[/quote]

I have the same problem. Perhaps speaking with the rhythm you're playing would help, as demonstrated here speaking while playing bongos:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akK4mzEZVRU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akK4mzEZVRU[/url]

[blue]

[quote name='BobVbass' timestamp='1440355549' post='2850068']
Yes lead and backing vocals here, it takes a lot to do walking baselines with vocals in different time but it's great fun.
[/quote]

Backing vocals here, it's a struggle. Seems like sometimes making the separation is easy and sometimes not.

Blue

[Deep Thought]

Yeah I'm the lead singer in our band. I'm not the World's greatest singer but I am loud. The drummer does a couple but he struggles to sing and play at the same time sometimes-so do I, I've just spent several days learning Pump it up by Elvis Costello, but I've pretty much sussed it now. Some basslines I just can't sing over though.

[Deedee]

[quote name='Paultrader' timestamp='1440400238' post='2850262']
I also find that quite often it's easier to sing if I play with a plectrum - I've no idea why.
[/quote]

Same here for some reason.

In our band I sing bv's only and I always play with my fingers. However, I do enjoy singing and used to share lead vocals in my old band (and we still do the occasional gig). However, when I am singing lead and playing with my fingers, on some songs I feel almost too 'attached' to the bass and playing with a pick seems to help separate my Vox from the bass lines.

A bit weird really!

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1441885369' post='2862558']
Funnily enough, I find talking a lot harder than singing when playing bass. When I try to say something to my band mates, I always end up sounding like a demented ape with a speech impediment....
[/quote]

yes talking definitely more awkward

one gig i recall i was thrust up the front away from my usual position of lurking around at the back with the drummist, and a nice lady guest from the crowd came up and was aking for a request right in the middle of a song - i had to try and pretend that i couldnt hear what she was saying because i couldnt actually speak with any degree of intelligble coherence