Howdy banjer ben. I have a suggestion, as you see mentioned in the topic line. I grew up singing hymnals just like you did in church. I started out playing rhythm, as we all do. I’m learning that in my playing i was a lot more used to depending on the lyrics for timing or where I was in the song than I realized. This is my biggest issue with learning to plat-pick. I can get the technique with enough practice but my timing is always messed up because I have no vocals to indicate where I should be in the song…GGGGRRRRR. It get’s frustrating. Perhaps there is a elaborate musical theory explanation why there are no vocals…? Hmmm. Love what your doing. Thanks for all you do. C. Dobbs.
Adding vocals to rhythm tracks
2 Likes
Hi Clint! One doesn’t typically play a solo when the vocals covering the melody. I’d suggest listening to the performance a few times through to get the melody and timing internalized. Some folks here download the mp3s and listen to them when they are driving. I’d also suggest using tabledit to learn the songs. Tabledit is a really good tool and it very well covers your described desire. Another option would be to download the performance mp3 and play it back in a DAW such as GarageBand so that you could set the speed wherever you want it. Lastly, if you really want… you could add a vocal track to any of the mp3s (you would need a mic and software to do this).
Hey Clint, @Mike_R has some really good suggestions… I also grew up in church strumming the guitar and using the vocal melody to follow along. When I started middle school, I joined the band as a trumpet player and learned to read music. It was in band that I learned time signatures, which is how many beats are in each measure of a song and all the other music notations like whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, rests, etc.
You will notice that Ben’s Tabs are written using these notes and rests marks that tells you the duration that note is to be played, etc. For example, a song in 4/4 timing where there are 4 beats in a measure, the whole note gets 4 beats, the half note gets 2 beats, the quarter note gets 1 beat, the 1/8 note gets 1/2 of a beat, and the 1/16 note gets 1/4 of a beat.
Once you learn to count out the music, maybe tapping you foot for the timing (speed), you’ll be able to play the music and know where you are in a song without relying on the vocal as your guide.
Keep at it…
1 Like