I can sing Blackbird and play it perfectly, but I can’t seem to do both at the same time. When I try to sing, my voice follows the bass melody instead of the vocal melody. The vocal melody starts with the root and the fifth, but the guitar goes up by half steps and jumps to the octave. This keeps happening throughout the verses. Any specific advice on how to fix this? I can sing while playing other songs, even fingerstyle ones like Homeward Bound, so it seems like the harmony in Blackbird is throwing me off. My ears and mouth can’t stop following the guitar melody instead of the vocal one.
Don’t worry too much about the guitar if it’s messing you up. Just focus on knowing where you are in the song on the guitar so you can stay in tune.
Try humming and playing slowly. Practice singing and playing one line at a time. You could also try playing along with the song and singing along to the recording. Another way is to record yourself singing and then play along with that recording.
There are some songs that are really easy for most people but tough for me to sing and play. ‘Come As You Are’ is one of those. It’s simple, but I can’t seem to get it right. I can play and sing more complicated songs, but for some reason, this one just won’t click. What helped me with other songs was learning them so well that I could play them from muscle memory. After that, singing just came naturally. I still struggle with ‘Come As You Are,’ though.
It’s just chords and a funny finger position. Did you get the finger dangle right?
It’s like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time. You just have to keep practicing until it clicks. Maybe try putting earplugs or noise-canceling headphones on while practicing, so it’s easier to separate the guitar playing from the singing.