# Dr. Banks, Sing What You Play



## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)




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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)




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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Wardo said:


>


Well, I would do this in my head--I can't sing & play at the same time--even just making sounds--but it works in my head.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Yeah not everyone is going to be able to sing scales like that but the point of trying to vocalize a solo is a good one. I notice that a lot of times when I pick up my guitar my fingers will just go off on the usual stuff that they’re used to playing but the solos that I hear in my head when I’m just walking around are way more expressive; so the idea of linking the two is good un. About 25 years ago this dude I knew named Grant Fullerton used to own a bar and he was a really good lead player. I remember Grant telling me back then that playing a solo was like singing a song.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Good video.

This was part of how I was taught through private piano and vocal lessons and adapted to choral music. I had to sing my piano exercises as a matter of routine exercises for learning intervals. Later I adapted it to improvisation. Naturally, I do the same thing with my guitar students now...at least the ones willing to sing in front of me.

The more parts of your brain you have working on something the better you will learn and retain that knowledge. (ABC to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle anyone?) We grow up vocalizing before we read or write, it's our most primitive and instinctive method of communication. Using that ability to sing with improvisation or established melody makes both easier and better. In one band, I would sometimes sing along with my blues solos. It's gimmicky, but entertaining.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Wardo said:


> Yeah not everyone is going to be able to sing scales like that but the point of trying to vocalize a solo is a good one. I notice that a lot of times when I pick up my guitar my fingers will just go off on the usual stuff that they’re used to playing but the solos that I hear in my head when I’m just walking around are way more expressive; so the idea of linking the two is good un. About 25 years ago this dude I knew named Grant Fullerton used to own a bar and he was a really good lead player. I remember Grant telling me back then that playing a solo was like singing a song.


Yes--that why I sing in my head.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

On the other hand though, riffs tend to come out of no where when you're just messing around and not thinking about what you are playing.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Is it me or does anyone else play the best solo's in their dreams but can't remember them when you wake up?


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

laristotle said:


> Is it me or does anyone else play the best solo's in their dreams but can't remember them when you wake up?


For sure. 

And I've been doing it since the 70s. Only hope is that some of it bubbles to the surface sometimes.

If you can imagine it then it's there. 

I think that's what that going down to the crossroads thing was about; maybe I'll just walk out onto the Gardner see how that works ..lol


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Singing and playing call and response is another exercise that pushes you. Sing a phrase, then play it. Chase yourself melodically.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Elliot Easton of The Cars does this. He'll sing his solos then work them out on the guitar.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Like this?


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## dolphinstreet (Sep 11, 2006)

It is very effective! Highly recommended.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

dolphinstreet said:


> It is very effective! Highly recommended.


I figure that if you _can't_ sing the melody you're playing, you're probably just bullshitting through your fingers. Did that for years…


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Yeah sure it works for single notes. 

If I wake up from a dream with an unusual two- or three-part thing in my mind, I grab the guitar immediately but the "unusualness" is "usually" long gone before I can figure it out.


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