Singing Bassist
Tips for bass players who also want to sing lead vocals.
I've been singing and playing bass guitar in bands since the mid 1980's. I started out wanting to be a lead guitarist, but when I tried to form my first band all I could find were loads of guitarists. So I quickly worked out that I could get a band together quite quickly if I learned to play the bass and become the lead singer. I knew I could at least hold a tune, and as a Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix fan I knew that you didn't need to be the best singer in the world to do the job. Plus, the other big advantage is, by taking on the two roles, that's one less mouth to feed.
By being able to do both I've managed to secure quite a lot of dep work offering backing vocals as well as taking lead vocal on some numbers if the band's main singer wasn't well. All of the tracks you can hear on the site wide player are of me playing bass and singing at the same time. Plus on my videos page there's some footage of me in action. I know I'm not the best bass player or singer in the world, but I do know that I'm good enough to get by, after all I've managed to get away with it for the last 30 years.
There are other advantages of singing and playing, you always know where you are in the song, you're less likely to get lost when you are singing. You get chance to take centre stage. The band will be tighter. It's easier to lead the band and extend songs (provided you have a good understanding with your drummer) on the fly, on the occasion that your set is running short.
I'm currently working on some basic lessons for getting you started in singing and playing bass guitar, so keep checking back when you can, hopefully these will be available quite soon.
Best Wishes
Nick