Tok

hey. ive heard a LOT of people say that you can tell a great musician because they can sing and play guitar at the same time. if you think about many great guitarists did sing and play (eric clapton, hendrix, billie joe armstong :P). also many guitarists didnt sing and play at the same time like slash and joe perry. was this because they couldnt sing well or they couldnt sing and play at the same time? i cant multitask to save my life and therefore cant sing and play. there are probably a few people on ug who are the same. does that make us bad musicians? bad multitaskers? or does singing and playing not make any difference to your skill as a musician?

any thoughts?

Johnljones7443

It only means you haven't practiced it enough.

Being able to sing and play at the same time is a measure of a musician.

garett

Greatness means different things to different people.

There's a TON of factors you can consider when trying to decide how good you think someone is. Some guitarists don't sing at all, ever .. but people still consider them to be 'great' so ... whatever... it's an old topic and really who cares.

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happytimeharry

*sigh*

Anyway, I don't think not being able to sing and play at the same time makes you a lesser musician, it just doesn't give you as many options. That's why I'm learning to sing as I play, so I don't limit myself to just being a guitarist.

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abs_n91

meh....I dunno
I mean, Slash doesnt sing, John Frusciante and John Petucci dont sing much. Yet they all are great, great guitarists, and musicians.

It's kinda like the question of how you can play with "emotion". I mean, are you supposed to play the guitar and cry your eyes out?

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The Science Thread V.2

HorridxHopes

Yeah, Jimmy Page isn't a great musician. Limey bastard can't sing at the same time!

Kid_Thorazine

i think mosty musicians that are relatively good can sing and play, but i dont think its a measure of a good musician, because all you have to do is memorize the song really well. Also a lot of people that dont sing and pla at the same time do it because they cant sing that well or dont have good voices.

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stjoe55

Please don't include billie joe armstrong in the same sentence as eric clapton and jimi hendrix when your talking about great guitarists. Thank you

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Bodom

I cant sing and play it puts me outta wack. Some songs I can like a couple Weezer ones.

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Dirtydeeds468

Possibly because there was no need for it. Steven Tyler and Axl Rose are both really excellent vocalists.

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sargasm

It doesn't mean anything. It's really fun to be able to sit down and play a song complete with vocals though. It's worth learning how to do it.

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guitar?

I can sing and play guitar at the same time, while hoping on one leg. That must make me god.

Mr_Jubby_Jubs

i can only sing and play if i look at my guitar half thhe time...

Punk_Ninja

I can sing and play guitar on somethings, pity i cant sing :'(
On black sabbath a lot of its easy to sing along to, Paranoid, Iron man, War Pigs, Evil Woman
And Obviously a lot of green day but its usually stuff where the guitar goes with the words, if you're rythm then yeah its not so hard but if you're lead or second lead then its harder, like singing to black sabbath, some of it's hard as Iommi was the only guitarist and he never sung

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hyroglyph!c

Guitarist and a musician are different...all guitarists are musicians but not all musicians are guitarists...its good if you can sing..

but your a musician if you can sing(and play), but a guitarist if you cant sing (while playing guitar..)..thats my opinnion

wokketywok

you mentioned billie joe armstrong but not kurt cobain..?

go die :O

Unscathed

i dont think its a measure of how good you are at all. i think it's better to play and sing at the same time cause that means you can expand your musicality, but it doesnt mean your a worse musician if you cant sing and play at the same time.

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RadioMuse

Many people that play guitar very very well but don't sing probably do so because they're in bands with superior singers, or they're a little lost for words when it comes time to write lyrics.

You can't tell me Steve Vai or Joe Satriani aren't "great musicians" yet Vai pretty much never sings and Joe's vocal performance have been very few and far between.

I'd say it's more to do with the kind of music and such. It's true that you have to practice longer to sing while playing a part, and that's really the only difference. I have a friend who can't sing and play very well for that exact reason, I'm afraid he doesn't practice very well ( healthy habits and all that) and thus doesn't get the part for the hands down well enough to think about the voice. That's all it really is. I find I (generally) respect singers who play an instrument more than those who do not, but vocal abilities rarely affects the way I feel about someone's musical talents with an instrument. The ability to sing is a bit more natural and/or god given (if you believe in such things) where as the ability to play and keep time and such can be "learned" more, I guess that's why I judge them differently on that account.

oh and Jimmy Page is a very good musician, on acoustic guitar, on electic he's possibly the best rhythm guitarist ever but his soloing abilities are rather iffy for someone so legendary.

schecter1971

I outta shove my headstock down your throat for that one.

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