Q. Is there a reason why I can't do those 2 things at once? Everytime I do, I lose rhythm for both the song and the guitar. Is it because I am a beginner at guitar? Can this be solved, or am I just not meant to do both at the same time?
A. The above answerers get close to it, though the proper term isn't "subconscious," it's "kinesthetic." You really can't make something become subconscious, but you can make it become a matter of kinesthetic awareness, or in short, muscle memory. Also, it's not so much a problem of asking two areas of the brain to work together, it's a matter of overtaxing several areas of th ebrain. As a bass player/singer, I have some experience in this area.
Here's the problem: music is a global function: it uses many areas of the brain in both hemispheres. You're working with mathematical patterns (rhythm), aural sensations (pitch), emotions, etc., all at once. Singing involves language functions as well. Playing guitar involves many of the same musical processing functions as singing, but also involves lots of gross and fine motor functions, and different actions in one hand than in the other. Really, it's a pretty complex activity, brain-wise.
So you take guitar playing, which as you know from the necessary level of concentration just to get from chord to chord as you play, and combine it with the additional brain-workload of singing, and you end up with a matter of difficulty which is pretty understandable.
So what you have to do is work stuff into muscle memory, or in other words, practice kinesthetic awareness. The way I learned to do it was to go slowly and methodically. First, I made sure I was very solid on and aware of what I was playing. Then I figured out how the rhythms of the vocal line fit with what I was playing. As I said, I did this slowly and methodically, working out how things fit together. Then I gradually brought stuff up to tempo.
The more you do this, the easier it gets, though you will probably never get to a point where it comes naturally. It's just too complex an activity to feel natural. The trick, as with so many things in the performing arts, is to make it LOOK natural, even though it isn't.
By the way, it helps to start with something rhythmically simple. Just strumming on steady quarter or half notes while singing works well. It's still pretty complex, since you have to arrange the fingers of one hand into chords, strum with the other hand, and devote lots of brain power to singing. Keeping a simple, steady rhythm in the guitar just reduces one of the many variables in the equation. Once you've got this, you might then think about playing more complex stuff.
The answerer who mentioned not being able to play "hands together" on the piano had it right -- It's a matter of what pianists and drummers cal separation: being able do different things with different parts of the body in a way that seems as though those parts of the body are largely unrelated. It's really a matter of doing that with your brain.
Have fun!
-EdM.
What kind of organ is used in typical reggae?
Q. Like the bob marley stuff. When the organ chords ar one the off beats. What kind of organ is it?
A. Its a Hammond organ-style.
The reggae-organ shuffle is unique to reggae. Typically, a Hammond organ-style sound is used to play chords with a choppy feel. This is known as the bubble. There are specific drawbar settings used on a Hammond console to get the correct sound. This may be the most difficult reggae keyboard rhythm. The 8th beats are played with a space-left-right-left-space-left-right-left pattern. The right-hand part coincides with the rhythm guitar and piano. It makes the music sound faster than it really is. The organ often also plays melodic runs and extra beats. The organ part is typically quite low in the mix, and is often more felt than heard. Examples include the songs "Natural Mystic", "Is This Love" and "Midnight Ravers" by Bob Marley.
Hope this helps:}
Anyone know a good piano improvisation tutorial?
Q. I've been wanting to learn how to improvise on the piano for a while now, and I tried googling, but it came up with all of these books and CDs that you have to buy. Does anyone know an online tutorial I can use, hopefully for free? :D
A. I searched on yahoo for 'piano improvisation techniques' but came up with the same results as you. I think that it's kinda hard for people to teach improvisation since it's such a broad subject and there is no set, defined way to do it. Sorry that I couldn't find anything for you, so I'll just post what I think is the basics for learning improvisation:
1.) Music Theory: You have to have some sort of knowledge on chords and how to find them, chord progressions, etc.
2.) Rhythm: There needs to be a structure or pattern to your improvisation or else it just sounds like a bunch of random notes.
And... I guess that's all there is really. Just work on the two and then figure out how to apply them together.
There are tons of websites on music theory. One that I like is http://www.musictheory.net/ For rhythm, I couldn't find many websites. There's this website: http://www.zebrakeys.com/lessons/advanced/improvisation/ but they haven't posted the lessons yet.
I also found this website, but I don't know if it's any good. I just saw a bunch of videos about improvisation and was like FWEEEEEEE! ^.^ http://www.musilosophy.com/
You can also try to find books at your local public library. I usually get some pretty good books there.
Anyways, sorry that I couldn't be of more help. Sorry, sorry, sorry. T.T I probably just told you a bunch of stuff you already know, lol.
Well, good luck on your piano improvisation endeavors!
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Title : How come I can't sing and play guitar at the same time?
Description : Q. Is there a reason why I can't do those 2 things at once? Everytime I do, I lose rhythm for both the song and the guitar. Is it becau...