Play what you sing, sing what you play!

Hey everyone! Here’s some cool ideas for learning to play music on guitar (or any instrument).  It will come in especially handy when playing solos and melodies.

There’s two parts

1. Play what you sing
2. Sing what you play

Why?

1. Allows you develop your ear
2. Helps connect more parts of your musical brain
3. Helps you phrase you melodies and solo in a more lyric way
4. Lots of great guitar players sing and play guitar.  Developing your singing will probably help your musicality.  Some examples of great guitarists that sing: BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Eddie Van Halen (backup vx), almost all blues musicians, Larry Graham (bass), Richard Bono (bass), ….
5. A great way to learn songs and music – you can first learn it singing in the car, while you’re walking on the beach, etc.  Then you remember the song and learn it on guitar.
6. Learning to sing will help to understand how to work better with singers
7. Singing will probably improve your musical imagination and memory

Play What You Sing

Basic Examples

Play what you sing? Here’s 4 examples, from simpler to more complex:

1. Sing 1 note, then play that note on the guitar.
2. Sing 2 notes, then play them on guitar.
3. Sing 3 notes then play them on guitar.
4. Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star“.  Now play it on guitar.

Note: Before singing, pick a note on the guitar as a guide/pitch note.  Then start.

Sing What You Play

Basic Examples

Now try singing what you play:

1. Play a note on the guitar and then sing it
2. Play 2 notes on the guitar and sing them
3. Play a simple melody on the guitar, and sing it
4. Play part of a scale
5. Play a scale on the guitar and sing it

Vocal Range?

When starting out, try to pick notes that are easy for you to sing!  This means notes that are in your range.

Be careful! Don’t push your voice – you can sing very quietly and/or hum.  Again, when you’re starting just sing notes that are comfortable to sing.  Once you feel more comfortable, you can learn more about vocal range and taking care of your voice!

You can also learn to sing up or down an octave, so you can sing a part that is too high or too low.

More Advanced Applications

1. Favorite Songs
2. Cool Licks aka Transcribing
3. Compose By Singing
4. BeatBox to work on groove
5. Arpeggios
6. Learn songs by singing
7. Learn Solos by Singing
8. Sing Bass Lines

Amazing Examples

YouTube Videos Explaining Concepts

Check out these YouTubes Videos to give you more ideas and better understanding about Play What You Sing/Sing What You Play.

Practice Makes Progress

I hope this helps!  I know it’s helped me recently. Please leave a comments, questions, and ideas below or send them directly.

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