Singer/Guitarists have it rough

Reyesnuthugr said:
Clapton hates to sing. He doesn't do it during lead or difficult guitar parts. Mostly during rhythm type stuff. He even hates to sing when he's not playing anything. He really hates it and would rather not at all unless his producer basically commands him to (source: Cream documentary)
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The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Blues Breakers, Blind Faith and Cream era Clapton is alot different then Solo and Derek and the Dominos era Clapton. Why would he want to sing lead in Cream when he had Jack Bruce in the band he hated that they made him sing Strange Brew and with Crossroads he had been doing that song before Cream. It wasn't so much of him hating it he just didn't have faith in his singing so he needed guys like Tom Dowd reassure him that it was ok.
 
tru3f4n said:
The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Blues Breakers, Blind Faith and Cream era Clapton is alot different then Solo and Derek and the Dominos era Clapton. Why would he want to sing lead in Cream when he had Jack Bruce in the band he hated that they made him sing Strange Brew and with Crossroads he had been doing that song before Cream. It wasn't so much of him hating it he just didn't have faith in his singing so he needed guys like Tom Dowd reassure him that it was ok.
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I'm not hating on or blaming Clapton, he's still great. He doesn't need to sing to be a sweet band member.

Was just explaining how scarce lead guitarists singing while doing lead (even the best ones) actually was. It's super rare for a reason

I also can tell he's still shy about singing- you can hear it in his voice. It's not his favorite at all but that's not really what I was trying to illustrate
 
You've obviously never lugged a drum set in and out of a venue. We're the first ones there, and the last to leave. I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
OeuvrePressure said:
Dave Mustaine doesn't have a hell of a range, but speed metal don't need one. He's impressively able to sing and play at the same time through staccato, intense rhythms.
Hell, he can play spider chord progressions while singing, that amazes me
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Yes! What Dave Mustaine does, the way he coordinates his singing with such complex rhythm guitar parts is amazing! The thread is about how tough it is being a lead guitarists and singer, but that's much easier than what Mustaine does. Most guys don't sing while playing lead. Aside from a few exceptions, you really shouldn't sing over the solo because the purpose of a solo is for that instrument to take the lead and the majority of the attention for the duration of the solo. You don't want to detract from a solo and in most cases, singing over the solo would force the soloist to compete for attention with the vocalist which is highly undesirable.

Playing rhythm guitar and singing can be very difficult, depending on the complexity of the guitar parts and how closely the vocal melody follows the guitar part. For example, singing Iron Man over the main riff of that song is pretty simple because the vocal melody follows the melody of the riff pretty much exactly. Usually vocals differentiate from the riff being played more than the example of iron Man, and that makes it harder to do, especially in a band like Megadeth where the rhythm guitar is so complex and fast.

If you really have trouble playing and singing at the same time, the best thing to do is what BB King did: he sang while playing little or no rhythm guitar and then he stopped singing when it came time for him to make a solo. He was always doing one or the other - singing or soloing. He was great at it too and was a truly legendary bluesman. I was fortunate enough to have attended two of his concerts and had a great time at both.
 
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My hall of fame singer/guitarists are .........



And
This is the guy who wrote "still of the night" and provided scratch vocals on the demo that caused David Coverdale to panic, train his voice for months while they waited, and then fire Sykes because of the threat he represented.



My hall of fame singer/bassist is..........



Hall of fame drummer/singer is definately the blue hair one who also can sing while playing guitar and keyboards as well as slap the crap out of a bass.

 
scott-lucas-of-the-band-local-h-performs-at-the-fonda-theatre-on-june-picture-id986897278


Scott Lucas from Local H . He's always been part of a two man band, and severely underrated.
 
These guys seem to be doing okay w/ it…





Also, RIP Schuldiner…
 
Man there's some dudes that play ridiculous leads and vocals at the same time live and nail both, with different timing to both parts.

Seems like a natural talent, even if you have to work on it. I don't think I'll ever be able to get good at it, I can barely play a basic rhythm while doing vox and even then I will mess up my vocal notes or timing...
 
I'm going to have to agree with this. A lot of musicians who also do the vocals shows in the songwriting too. Even if the gnr or acdc song is simpler to play from a guitar stand-point but then adding the task of doing both jobs, the timing can be more troubling than say a thrashy metallica song that has seperate breakdowns in the song sequence where here is the main guitar then the vocals.
 
[insert_name_here] said:
These guys seem to be doing okay w/ it…





Also, RIP Schuldiner…
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What's great about Chuck was he was musically on par with any high level soloist he had in his band, probably moreso. He did Dave Mustaine's job better than him (solo wise but Dave would sing over some complicated shit ie Lucretia. Not picking on Dave he's just noticed with being a soloist and riff writer, Chuck has him beat in the lead department and almost tied in the riff. Chuck may be the most underappreciated musician in the history of metal.
 
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I don't know how Matt Bellamy from Muse does it. His vocals are fairly dynamic, he is the sole guitarist in the band AND he plays keyboard.

I'm not a particular fan of Muse but he impresses me.
 
Anialater said:
Cobain was a terrible singer and a mediocre guitar player. Nirvana was terrible.
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He was the voice of a generation. Probably one of the whiniest and most annoying generations of the past century but a voice of the generation nonetheless.

I mean who marries Courtney Love?
 
Cubo de Sangre said:
Dude was a great songwriter. Sorry you missed the boat.
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Drumming came to me a lot easier than the guitar. Drums are entirely rythmic and you follow the song's tempo and time signature so it's easier, for me, to find cues. But either guitar there is Melody and notes that may not jive with the vocals and that would send me into a mindfuck. Cause you now have deal with tempoand melody for two instruments when with drums it's just tempo and Melody of vocals. Not sure if I'm explaining myself properly. The problem with drumming and singing is the positioning of the mic and usually people want to see a singer onstage rocking it out and moving around but with drums you're just stuck there.

Now if you're Neal Peart and being asked to provide vocals it's a different story.
 
Depends on the style. Simple punk is not that hard.
 
Tommy Shaw could sing while playing a tasty lead.
 
I play guitar and keyboards/synth and can sing. When I first started writing music I could not play guitar and sing at the same time or if I did it was some of the simplest chords and riffs known to man. What I used to do is write the lyrics and sing them when not playing the guitar. I picked up the guitar at 13 and I'm now 34 and I can play and sing without much of an issue anymore. It just took awhile for me to get comfortable with writing more intricate riffs coupled with lyrics.
 
KONG-D'SNT-TAP said:
THe bass player is the least loved out of all band members too.

It goes in this order

1) frontman
2) lead guitarist
3) drummer
4) bass

Bass players are the unsung heroes of the band and never receive the love they deserve.

They’re the equivalent of the Center in Football. Such an important position but so undervalued
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I play bass in a band but since it's my band I made bass one of the primary Melody instruments like you find in some reagee. Still for a lot of our stuff it's like you say.
 
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