Hi, I just finish Beginner Grade 1 of JustinGuitar and I would like to learn to cover songs by strumming pattern but I have no intention to sing the songs. When I look through the song tutorials at JustinGuitar website, I realized that singing is needed if I choose strumming pattern.
So are there songs where I can strum along without singing if I choose strumming pattern or must I move on to grade 2 and 3 to learn fingerstyle technique because I heard fingerstyle is for those who do not want to sing?
Absolutely do not need to sing or do fingerstyle . Since I finished grade 1 this is what Iāve been doing. Iāve watched a variety of lessons and Iām learning songs (not singing) and learning to play along to the original recordings as a backing track. Iām typically just strumming along and sometimes adding a simple riff. Iām happy doing this and if itās what you want to do then go for it. Maybe in the future you (or I) will decide to do more but itās a perfectly reasonable step. Itās consolidating what you learned in grade 1 and practicing skills like playing in time to a band.
Dawn @DxnFx
First of all welcome to the community.
To answer your question there is no requirement to be able to sing to cover a song in Grade 1 or any other Grade. You can just strum or finger pick. Yes Justin has lessons on singing and playing but the course is really about learning to play the guitar.
Hope that helps
Michael
PS When I started out I said like you I had no intention of singing but was persuaded otherwise by some prominent members of the community it was one of the best bits of advice I received.
Singing and playing is a lot of fun though. Maybe you will find itās worth giving it a try at some point down the line
Welcome to the community, Dawn
Perhaps Justinās songs and lessons app could make playing more fun? No need for singing and you can choose between various great backing tracks, so playing along will make you feel a bit as if playing in a band
Hello @DxnFx and welcome to JustinGuitar Community.
Congratulations on reaching the end of Grade 1.
Justin sings during his tutorials to provide context and enhance the guitar lessons. You do not need to sing. You can play the songs by yourself and not sing. Even better, you can play the guitar part along with the actual song and fit in as a member of the band.
Justinās Song & Beginner APp provides this function - a play-along experience where you focus on the guitar, the chords, the chord changes, the strumming etc. You can have the vocalist turned on or off - on if youāre not going to sing.
You must sing, you must sing ā¦ resistance is futile ā¦
Congratulations on working you way through Grade 1, and welcome to the JG Community, Dawn.
You raise a good question and learning to sing along while you play is something worth considering. It has its own challenges: itās not for everyone and thatās fine. I have been playing 4yrs, and my first 3 tunes were instrumentals; prior to joining JG and working my through Grades 1-3.
Some prefer to develop playing songs āfingerstyleā, where the melody and rhythm combine; although, imho, perhaps best left for now and focus on progressing through Grades 2 & 3.
I am sure some of the songs you are learning along the way are ones you know quite well.
Perhaps āsingā along as you play: not necessarily all the lyrics but ālah, lah, lahā or humming. It will also help you get into the groove with a song as you play along too.
Many people know the chorus of a song really well but are a bit sketchy on the verse. Whatever you think is best for you is fine; the focus for now is progressing with your developing playing skills.
Richardās (@Richard_close2u ) suggestions are a great way to help you learning as you play through the next few grades.
I would encourage you to attend in the audience at the JG Open Mics. They are every 6-8wks normally and you will watch people performing at every level of development; ābeginnerā through to āadvancedā.
Just a thought but how about some software like Moises in which you can remove various parts of a song --Eg leave the vocals and band but remove guitar and play along.
One thing Iād say based on my own experience is that if youāve recently completed grade 1, itās possibly too early to try to introduce singing as well. Youāre just about starting to get used to the patting your head and rubbing your belly that is guitar playing and someone is saying āhereās a football, try juggling it with your feet at the same timeā!
Iām not a singer, I do the world a favour by not singing but even if I try a few lines from songs that I know well, my playing goes to pot suggesting itās not as automatic as it needs to be yet
Like what Matt says, singing isnāt for everyone. I have struggled with singing and certainly wouldnāt sing for anyone but me (yet) or maybe my wife if I am angry at her.
However, singing loosely and quietly along as you play, or even humming, is really a lot more fun than I ever expected. It fills in the melody in your head and is just joyful.
It is pretty early to be thinking about it too much. It is pretty hard to play and sing at the same time. As soon as I even try to sing, it suddenly is like my brain loses complete track of what my strumming hand is doing.
I like classical playing, which is often not with words, and fingerstyle and chord melody to play melody without voice, but there is no right or wrong. If those are directions you care to go, they are there for you when you are ready to advance to them. For now, gather your basics, play with the app or backing tracks, and most of all have fun!
I added classical guitar after about a year with Justin, fingerstyle maybe two or 2.5 years in. Probably too early.
You definitely donāt need to sing or play fingerstyle to play guitar. In most bands / live concert, there is the singer (who may play guitar or not), but there is also another guitarist or two who play. Most records involve more than one guitar.
Start with the app, it has cool backing tracks just like if you were the guitarist in a band. And after 1 year or two, you may move to making your own backing track with software like Moise which remove the guitar from a band track so you can add yours. You can see how it can be fun here in grade 3 Math07 JG Rock Songbook Project (10 out of 15) - 3 songs added 3 June
As mentioned by several Community members above, this isnāt true. Lotās of fingerstyle songs have lyrics - this may have been misconstrued because many if not most songs need āmoreā than just strumming but fingerstyle (with itās often intricate patterns) can hold the listenerās attention without lyrics a bit better.
I also recommend Justinās appā¦ I use it for the playalong/guitar karaoke aspect. Itās built-in backing tracks that are specific to many of the recommended songs in Justinās lessons makes it easier to learn. One of the best features is the built-in capability to slow the BPM (beats per minute) down - really helpful for songs that are kind of fast for a Grade 1/2 students.
Congratulations on finishing up Grade 1 - I advise spending a bit of time consolidating before moving on to the next stepā¦ Good Luck with your Journey!!!
Actually, itās true in a way. Most solo guitar instrumental pieces are played fingerstyle.
So, if thatās the kind of music the OP is interested in playing, it might be a good idea to think about fingerstyle. (but probably not at the earliest stages of learning)
When I started playing I had no intention at all of singing. The first song I learned my wife would sing and I would play and I was quite happy with that. One day, quite by accident, after Iād played the song 50 or so times, I started singing along in the chorus and my life changed after that. Singing is good for the mental health, apparently it stimulates the vagus nerve and itās fun, it makes it easier to memorize where the chord changes are, etc.
and maybe Iām overthinking this one - BUT the comment I quoted earlier taken in context with the rest of what the OP said (remember that sheās new to guitar)ā¦
ā¦makes me think that she believes fingerstyle is primarily for non-singers. I would argue that most Folk & Bluegrass is fingerstyle WITH singing - I can think of at least a dozen artists offhand that use primarily fingerstyle arrangements. Yes, they strum & play solos as well but the melody is usually played fingerstyleā¦
There are many reasons to sing but your last point of relating chord changes to the lyrics is very helpful when playing a song from memory, something I do all the time.
You mention singing a song 50 times.I probably do it into three figures, initially with the original then with a karaoke version. Ok as. I have said previously on the community I do take singing lessons but a lot are not that I would ever play and sing with a guitar.
Thatās a guess of how many times Iād played it at that stage. Justin has a detailed lesson on singing and playing at the same time. His lesson, in my view, makes it more complicated than it was for me. It ended up being quite easy, accidental is a better description.
Itās so very worth it. My voice has improved a lot in the time since then. Like any muscle that needs exercise, so does your singing voice. Donāt worry at the start if your voice doesnāt sound as good as youād like it to. It will improve just like your guitar playing does.
In most bands / live concert, there is the singer (who may play guitar or not), but there is also another guitarist or two who play. Most records involve more than one guitar.
