Do you sing?

[Faithless]

So, a lot of musicians around us, even Victor Wooten and such chaps, accent this thing - sing, what you play (when practicing/gigging/soloing, whatever..).


I was interested, in, how many of us, BCers, do actually do so - [i]sing, when playing.
[/i]
Hey, I'm not talking about singing 'Yesterday' on the top when playing bass-part... I'm actually talking about singing[i] to what you're actually playing[/i], cool?


I'm trying to do singing on everything I do - playing a scale, a solo and such.
The man, that 'forced' me to do so, was Richard Bona - his singing along to playing is a wonderful thing to me.


Oh, over some time, I've found a few interesting things, that I wanted to ask about, but, first of all, confess, if you sing



Cheers,
Faith

Edited January 2, 2010 by Faithless

[jamesbass116]

i sing along with my solos yes.

only on special occasions though...
i blame my soul band leader and my bass teacher for making me sing, but its grown on me now haha

[Cat Burrito]

Good idea but I don't know that I do. I think I do with some basslines, in my head at least but generally I lean towards no. That said I can think of a few songs in the set where I most certainly do. I guess it must be subconscious

[Dandelion]

I can`t sing unless I have had a few beers...

And then I become the best singer in the world.

[Dubs]

Can't sing, won't sing.

[crez5150]

So your on about sorta scatting.... A la George Benson and many others..... can't see the point myself. I do tend to sing melody over bass parts instead of the part I'm playing

Edited January 2, 2010 by crez5150

[BassTool]

Yes, I certainly do try to make some sort of tuneful racket to accompany the lyrics As I am am our main singer amongst my fellow musician/singers - two guitarists and a drummist. The two guitarists sing a song apiece and the drummer chips in with backing vocals to make up four part harmony, but in the main I am the frontman/bassist/showoff. Although I started band life as just a basic singer, when I was 14 and our first bassplayer got the sack (oh yes we were serious teenagers )I was told I had to make myself more useful and pick up the bass and sing as well... Guitarists sheesh, easy life man, they had too many pedals to press apparently
Anyway that was thirty four years ago and I'm still trying to marry those two totally counterpoint skills together and make some sort of coherent racket with my voice and my bass at the same time............
It's a neat trick when it can be pulled off, and the two most complex songs I think I have ever done are Rat Trap (Boomtown Rats) and Lonely Boy(Andrew Gold). The vocals and bass line in each song are absolutely miles apart and took me ages to crack. For me, McCartney was very underrated in his skills at doubling the two, Sting as well did some clever stuff and made it look effortless. Mark King got the recognition he deserved, I've seen him live and his ability to sing over complex bass lines is truly incredible, and his bass virtuosity is a bonus

Johna

[Marvin]

never.

if I try to sing ( and my singing is awful anyway ) my hands stop moving for some odd reason.

[Faithless]

What makes me curious, is why some people think, that they [i]can't[/i] sing.


Everyone can. But singing needs practice.

Edited January 2, 2010 by Faithless

[deathpanda]

Singing the notes as you play them can really help with pitching, well at least, it did for me. I can sing melodies but my voice is so uninteresting and void of any character ):

[Thor]

It's as much as i can do to sing backing sometimes, although funnily enough, just lately I've started to sing a couple of tunes (Fields of Gold - Sting & You do something to me - Paul Weller). I'd like to try and sing a bit more but I really do find it hard multitasking - ask the Mrs!!

[dougal]

When playing scales & arpeggios on the upright: yes. Helps tremendously with the pitch.

When playing Maiden covers... no. I'd run out of breath after the first 16 bars & wouldn't have time to take a breath.

[Doddy]

I don't so much sing what I play,but play what I sing-there's a difference.
The idea is to be able to sing a melodic idea and be able to play it-instantly.
It forces you to step outside of your regular patterns,because you are likely to
sing more melodic ideas than your hands would naturally play.
It also helps you with pitching,which is handy as I often sing BV's,and have been
known to take the occasional lead.

[Faithless]

yep, Doddy, I know what you mean, that's exactly, what I am after actually, but I didn't want to make it too complicated, when wrote this thread..

[Adrenochrome]

No, I never actually sing my bass lines. BUT I do song along to just about every song we do, whether it's down a microphone or just to myself.
I'm supposed to be singing the lead vocal on The Trooper (as well as the bass) but it's not easy to sing it to a reasonable standard.

[JamieBenzies]

I'm probably telling many of you what you already know but I know a lot of players play what they sing so that thier improvised solos in particular get rhythms relatable to vocal lines, when you take breath it leaves pauses etc.

This makes the solo more relatable to instruments that involve your lungs and keeps some players from playing too many notes and never stopping. Finally it encourages you to play in a more melodic fashion, less step wise movement and the like. The nice part is that it actually works!

[OldGit]

If I'm creating a solo I'll often sing a line along with the backing track chords, then learn the line on the bass. This gets me out of my fingers' normal tramlines. I also add in octave jumps (Some-[i]where[/i] over the rainbow) and other attractive melody features that I've heard in vocals and other instrumental solos...

Gigging I do the odd lead vocal and BV's, normally, but I don't sing over my solos onstage. Might try it though

Years ago I used to got watch a Jazz Jam session in London where (I subsequently found out) the house band were quite famous jazzers from the 50's and 60's. The double bass player always bowed his solos and sang along like George Benson. It was his trademark, apparently.
Being Jazz he got a solo in very tune and it became a bit of a gimick and after a while got a tad tedious and samey. I just ended up wishing he'd play a pizz. one or just not sing along, now and then.

[thepurpleblob]

I have not got a clue about singing. I've never done it, I don't know how, I don't know where to start. This is something of a regret. I actually intend to take some lessons in the very near future - I think it will do me lots of good.

[thisnameistaken]

No I don't do this, I can't see the point. I know what pitch I want when I fret a note and if I get it wrong it wouldn't be any less wrong if I was singing the pitch at the same time, would it?

[xilddx]

Singing, even silently in your head, is much more free expression than playing notes on an instrument where you are constrained by technical and physical limitations. My best bass lines are always a result of what I have sung in my head, it's much more a reflection of me and therefore I am happier with the results.

It's easy enough to to sing what you play, but can you play what you sing? If you can play what you sing at the same time, you know you have a certain mastery of the instrument. That's the biggest single thing I have learned in a very long while, when Jakesbass told me in a lesson I had with him that I was singing what I was playing, not the other way round. I have a single goal now - to be able to play anything I sing without having to think about it. But it's a massive climb.

[Doddy]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='699359' date='Jan 3 2010, 11:51 AM']No I don't do this, I can't see the point. I know what pitch I want when I fret a note and if I get it wrong it wouldn't be any less wrong if I was singing the pitch at the same time, would it?[/quote]

It's not just about hitting the correct-it's about singing a melodic idea that you would probably
not naturally play an replicate it on the instrument. You are more likely to sing something that it
is more melodic and with better phrasing than what you would play,and singing gives you new ideas
to play.

[Stingray5]

I've always sung (mainly b/v's plus a few lead vocal numbers) but I often like to scat-sing with bass lines for practice and often think about using this at gigs though haven't yet.
I also scat-sing harmonies to bass lines, usually a third or fifth above, depending on the line.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Doddy' post='699656' date='Jan 3 2010, 04:25 PM']It's not just about hitting the correct-it's about singing a melodic idea that you would probably
not naturally play an replicate it on the instrument. You are more likely to sing something that it
is more melodic and with better phrasing than what you would play,and singing gives you new ideas
to play.[/quote]

I understand that, and I do try to avoid playing whatever my hands want to do and instead play what my head wants to do, but why would anyone have to sing to do that?

I don't mean to show off but I can read silently too.

[jim_bass]

[quote name='Doddy' post='699656' date='Jan 3 2010, 04:25 PM']singing gives you new ideas to play.[/quote]

I find that when I listen to music I will often sing along a bass line which I think will sound good to the music - my problem is how to translate those good bass lines in my head into what I actually need to play. I know that I'd be capable of playing them, but hit a brick wall at much beyond playing roots, 4th's and 5ths.

This is definitely my weakness!

[Tee]

[quote name='Faithless' post='699058' date='Jan 2 2010, 08:33 PM']how many of us, BCers, do actually do so - [i]sing, when playing.
[/i]
Hey, I'm not talking about singing 'Yesterday' on the top when playing bass-part... I'm actually talking about singing[i] to what you're actually playing[/i], cool? [/quote]

You mean like this chap?