As a bassist I’ve formed a Punk band and we’re going off a great start. The only problem now is that there aren’t any singers who can play guitar and vice versa, so our rhythm guitarist, the drummer and I found a consensus to switch between main and backing vocals.
The problem with me is that I can’t sing and play bass simultaneously. Mostly I fuck up my bass playing* together with singing out of tune.
*= I have a similar playing style compared to Matt Freeman, Mike Dirnt, Mark Hoppus, Fat Mike, etc. All melodic and riffy players.
I’ve been thinking in going Gene Simmons style: Short scale bass. I’m gonna try one out this saturday, but I believe the following:
Shorter scale = less focus on stretches and long reaches = more divided focus between singing and bass playing.
Am I right in this case? If yes, tell me how a short scale helped you.
If not, please let me know. No matter if it’s adjusting my technique (I play fingerstyle), get some kind of vocal coaching for guitarists/bassists who sing, or whatever!
Also I don’t mind if @JoshFossgreen makes a good video out of this!
Yeah, there are 2 simple remedies for this issue. The easy way to practice till the playing is just on autopilot then focus on signing.
The next is also simple enough, switch to thumb or pick, the motion would mimic the guitar strumming which is not fighting so much to the brain. I can’t play and sing but when I jammed with my daughter and sang our duet on this song, I did exactly what he did. Sting does the same thing when he sings and plays.
@Al1885 has it right. I am an experienced singer, but I also struggle to sing and play bass at the same time. I have long scale, medium scale and short scale basses, and I have never found the scale makes any difference to the challenge. In addition to what @Al1885 advised, it can also be helpful to figure out — and even note down on paper — exactly which syllables hit on the one of each measure. That helps keep your vocals and bass lined up, and easier to get back on track if you falter. Otherwise, it’s just practice bass and vocals separately until you have it cold, and then practice them together.
oh, and some songs and some bass lines are just easier to do both. So do those, and let your bandmates handle vocals for songs with trickier bass lines.
I can sing and play, strumming guitar, finger picking guitar, piano, drums but not bass. Then I stumble upon that the down only motion, then now I can do harmony part, . Every time I have to sing I often imagine my inner Esperanza.
I’ve always been a singer. I started as a kid being a singer/songwriter.
Years later, I played bass in a three-man rock/blues band, and the lead guitarist and I took turns singing lead, depending on the song. Either way, one or the other of us sang harmony, too.
Regarding your question, I played a short scale bass, with a pick. Not having to think about wrangling the stretches and weight of a full scale made singing easier. I definitely recommend trying a short scale. It can’t hurt.
If it’s the songs you have “in the bag” it doesn’t matter how you play, you can sing even in syncopation, sadly so far I only have 2-3 songs that I can do that, which speaks volume to how much these pros practice their crafts. You can sing or have a conversation with you buddy while playing a complicated piece like this
Oh mind you while playing a solo on a 6 sting no least,
One word of caution. Shorties are addictive! I bought a Gibson SG after a left shoulder impingement injury made the reach to the first fret on my Fender Jazz a little painful. I now have more than 10 30” shorties, a 27” Valiant Mini Jazz, two 17” Mayones Cali’s, 2 medium scale Dingwall SP1’s, plus a couple of 34”ers that I don’t use. And then there’s my pride and joy Marco Marcústico fretless. Note (fret) spacing is short scale, but it uses long scale strings.
Newbie here. Mine is a short-scale because I have short fingers. Maybe it’s because I’ve been a guitarist for some time now that the stretches don’t bother me. But if I had a long- or mid-scale bass, good question. I’ve been forcing myself to use the shifting that Josh shows in the lessons, and it makes some stretches easier (i.e. if I’m going from a root to a major-3rd on the same string, a stretch of 4 frets). But most stretches, if I can do it on guitar I can do it on bass. But then again, the fret width of my bass is barely wider than the fret width on my Ephiphone Firebird.
I can see how they could be, for some players, but I went the other way. After starting with short scales to do B2B, once I got my first long scale, a Sire M5, I never went back to shorties.
I prefer playing my long scale basses far more. But everyone’s different. Just my experience. YMMV
. Every time I have to sing I often imagine my inner Esperanza.
