Many singers can belt out a melody while playing the guitar, piano, or even the drums. They make it look easy, but it’s really a learned skill that can be very challenging for beginners.

Singing while playing has been likened to patting your head and rubbing your stomach at once: It’s hard, and it might feel awkward at first, but you can learn to do it with some practice.

If you’d want to play an instrument while you sing, here are some tips to make the process easier:

Memorize the Lyrics

If you don’t know the words to the song, it will be nearly impossible to play and sing at the same time. Do yourself a favor and learn the lyrics by heart to ensure that you can focus on playing the notes.

Read and sing the lyrics till you can sing them without reading. Then sing the song many times every day until you can do it without much conscious endeavor.

Think about how easy it is to sing nursery rhymes you’ve learned for years. You can sing those without actually thinking about the lyrics because they are so familiar to you. It takes many, many repetitions to make a song adhere in your mind like that, but it’s worth the time used practicing.

Start with Easy Songs

You’re essentially trying to combine three skills: Singing, playing an instrument, and singing while playing an instrument. Don’t make matters more difficult by choosing a very technically hard song.

Start with songs that have easy lyrics, chords, and beats. These are much easier to memorize, and simpler to play through even if you don’t have the music memorized yet. Songs that are simple to sing and play separately will be less challenging to sing and play collectively.

Concentrate on timing your words and music. If you need help making the rhythms match, use a metronome to help you. Some people find it easier to sing while playing the rhythm only, adding in the melodic notes and chords when they are more familiar with the song.

Build Up Speed

When you start, you might have an much easier time playing through the song at a reduced speed. Try doing half speed until you get the feel for singing while playing. Then raise to two-thirds speed.

After a while, you’ll be likely play the song at full speed. Creating more to full speed helps you discover how it feels to play the song while singing, without overwhelming you with the need to play fast notes.

You can also play along to the song’s original track by using sound mixing software to lag the song. Then try playing the song on your own, and roll yourself so that you can listen to the playback.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

You want to make sure to sing the lyrics from memory and play the notes with muscle memory. To do this, you’ll need to practice – much!

Set up a weekly practice routine, and make yourself stick to it. You might not always feel like practicing, but do it anyhow. Consider how proud you’ll be when you can go along with your own vocals.

Practice singing and playing the song whenever you have extra time. If you’ve got a hectic schedule, set other hobbies aside so that you can practice your singing and playing. It takes a lot of work, but the end results will be very impressive!

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