Playing guitar and singing

[Garp]

one thing i can't do it tap my foot for rythm and play/sing. i've seen people do it, super ambidextrous they are

I have completely the opposite problem. I find it nigh on impossible not to have my foot doing the beat when playing and singing!

As for ambidextrous, the only reason I can do it is because rhythm is entirely instinctive to me. I'm often not even concious of the fact that my leg/foot is doing it!

At one stage it was useful as I was playing with a drummer who'd only been playing for 6 months and he had a habit of slowing down during songs. My foot tapping was visible enough for him to use as an external time reference.

 

[CircleFaust]

I have completely the opposite problem. I find it nigh on impossible not to have my foot doing the beat when playing and singing!

As for ambidextrous, the only reason I can do it is because rhythm is entirely instinctive to me. I'm often not even concious of the fact that my leg/foot is doing it!

At one stage it was useful as I was playing with a drummer who'd only been playing for 6 months and he had a habit of slowing down during songs. My foot tapping was visible enough for him to use as an external time reference.

well this is the thing, short of getting a metronome i dont know if im slowing down or speeding up during songs (i expect im doing one of these)

 

[Garp]

well this is the thing, short of getting a metronome i dont know if im slowing down or speeding up during songs (i expect im doing one of these)

Ahh well.. now theres the rub. Even with my good sense of timing I still slow down and speed up slightly. I have a metronome that I play along with when I'm working on timing.

 

[Soul Rider]

Ahh well.. now theres the rub. Even with my good sense of timing I still slow down and speed up slightly. I have a metronome that I play along with when I'm working on timing.

Many of my friends don't agree with my method, but i tend to load up a simple beat in cubase, and play along. They tell me i need to play with a real drummer, i say "show me a drummer with such perfect timing and time to spare and i'll practice with them."

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Many of my friends don't agree with my method, but i tend to load up a simple beat in cubase, and play along. They tell me i need to play with a real drummer, i say "show me a drummer with such perfect timing and time to spare and i'll practice with them."

The ironic thing is that since computerised sequencers came out, there have been tools/algorithms to make the drums speed up and slow down like a real drummer does.

 

[Garp]

Many of my friends don't agree with my method, but i tend to load up a simple beat in cubase, and play along. They tell me i need to play with a real drummer, i say "show me a drummer with such perfect timing and time to spare and i'll practice with them."

There isn't a musician alive that can play with strict sense of timing, IMO. Thats one reason why click tracks are used so much for recording (it also helps for splicing tracks together)
The Edge found that his use of delay pedal forced him and Larry Mullen Jr to become a lot tighter, and I've certainly found similar when I use mine.

 

[Dave]

I did it for years but it means you can't give everything.

I'd agree - when we play live I sing the backing rather than the lead (usually) so I can concentrate more on playing. There's a couple of DT songs where even the backing vocals make me go temporarily malcoordinated (that Portnoy is too good . . . ) but then again there's some songs that I find easy to sing lead and play drums on.

The only thing I tend to find is that when you're playing the drums sometimes your voice tends to wobble a bit if you're moving around a lot on an energetic part!

 

[SexyGreyFox]

My singing while drumming quote

I did it for years but it means you can't give everything.

can also be backed up with singing and guitaring.

The band I've been with for the last six years doesn't require me to play instruments. I go on stage and I give a 1000% with my voice and stage presence.
About 4 years ago our rhythm guitarist was leaving and we tried at least 30 replacements but nobody could touch him.
I took over and did the rhythm/singing but it quickly became apparent that even though I could do it, my singing wasn't now 'over the top' because something had to give.
After a month he came back and I could give it all.
The thing is that I've been singing and playing guitar since 1968 (semi pro from 70) and up until 6 years ago it wasn't a problem. Since I've just been a singer I've been able to give a lot more and going back doesn't sound right.