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#16
09-28-2014, 07:55 AM
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I started playing in a band when I was 12 - we only had one mic and that was for our female singer. My voice changed first, and we needed someone to sing the Eric Burdon (The Animals) songs ("In this dirty ol' part of the city, where the sun refused to shine, people tell me there ain't no use in tryin'..." I found my voice. Pretty soon we were doing 3-part harmony, and the vocals became the thing we were known for. Later bands, I was the lead singer.
In my 20s, I did a couple years in a duo, a fabulous keyboard player and me on guitar; I did almost all the lead vocals, he added harmony. We were working up a new song, I was nursing a cold, but still trying to hit all the notes... I said to him, "Why don't you do more of the singing?" His response: "If I could sing, I wouldn't need you." He had a point - his piano playing ran rings around my guitar playing. Next band I was in, we had three strong vocalists. And a much better guitar player who didn't sing. Got to play to your strengths.  When it comes to guitar playing, I am a decent rhythm player; and these days, play solo to back up the vocal. If I had to rely on just the guitar playing, no one would recognize the songs.  Captain Jim 
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#17
09-28-2014, 10:25 AM
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I don't sing. I don't perform, either. For my own pleasure, I fingerpick and like to come up with versions of tunes that can stand on their own without vocals.
If I could sing better than I can, I probably would sing. I like playing the blues and there are lots of songs with the same chord progressions and similar licks that sound pretty similar as instrumentals, with the lyrics really setting them apart as distinct songs. My repertoire would expand substantially if I sang. Probably as a result of being a non-singer, I really focus much more on the tune than the lyrics when I listen to music and actually find myself wishing the performer would sing less and play more if I like their playing. Pretty much everyone thinks they can sing, it seems. Although there are a good number of talented singers around, there are also lots of people who sing but shouldn't. It seems less common to find people who don't play well at all but think they're killer players, except maybe at Guitar Center.
__________________
Bob DeVellis
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#18
09-28-2014, 10:42 AM
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For a long time I thought I couldn't sing. Then someone showed me the 2004 version (the musical one) of The Phantom of the Opera. I fell in love with the music, and after trying to imitate that style of singing (theatrical) I found I wasn't half bad at it.
However, that style of singing generally doesn't mix well with acoustic guitar, and I get much more enjoyment out of guitar. I feel that the guitar is truly my creative voice, more so than my actual voice.
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#19
09-28-2014, 10:57 AM
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I got kicked out of a choir as a kid because I couldn't sing. My goal after learning the guitar is to learn to play harmonica and use that as my voice.
BTW - there is a legion of famous singers that have "questionable" voices but it never stopped them from churning out the hits.
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#20
09-28-2014, 12:32 PM
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I not only can't sing, my voice doesn't understand that "key" thing someone mentioned in an earlier post.
I never thought of my finger style playing being "my voice" but maybe that's how some would think of it. Since I'm just playing other people's arrangements isn't it more realistic to say I'm trying to play their voice? Dave
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