Topic: Songs for Beginning to Sing and Play Simultaneously

[Johnm]

Hi all,
One of the ongoing issues for people getting started in this music is developing the ability to play fairly intricate guitar parts and sing simultaneously.  There is very little in the way of instructional information out there with regard to how to get started doing this, and to grow in your skills doing it.  The usual advice seems to be, "Start doing it, and keep doing it and you'll get better at it.", and that actually is good advice.  It seems as though a crucial factor in achieving some early successes in this endeavor is to pick some songs to start out on in which the vocal and instrumental phrasing are very closely linked to each other, with the vocal melody and phrasing, for the most part, sitting right on top of the instrumental melody and phrasing.
It occurred to me that it might be helpful to create a list of tunes with the sort of closely linked vocal and instrumental statements of melody that were cited above, as an assist to folks who are starting or who would like to start singing and playing together.  Here are a few songs that conform to that description which might be good candidates for starting to sing and play simultaneously:
   * My Creole Belle-John Hurt
   * Louis Collins-John Hurt
   * Hop Joint-John Hurt
   * It Ain't Gonna Rain No More-Mance Lipscomb
   * Silver City Bound-Mance Lipscomb
   * Saturday Blues-as played by Shirley Griffith
Can anyone think of other songs in the style which seem easier to sing and play because of the vocal melody sitting right on top of the instrumental statement of the melody?  Or are there other songs that don't conform to this type that are nonetheless easy to sing and play simultaneously for some other reason?  Compiling a list of such songs might be of real value for folks getting started singing and playing.
All best,
Johnm   

[Mr.OMuck]

I think Big Joe Williams' classic "Baby Please Don't Go" is a perfect choice. One chord and the truth! Work that Pinky now! : )

[Johnm]

Boy, you're right, Phil, "Baby, Please Don't Go" is a perfect choice.  That's a good one.
All best,
Johnm

[mr mando]

I remember that Willie Brown's "M&O Blues" worked nicely for me. The guitar figure seems to have a very similar phrasing to the vocal line.

[Norfolk Slim]

I find the rhythm of that really hard to maintain under a vocal even now!  Different things will work for different people I guess.

I found Richland Woman Blues somehow worked for me when I was really struggling to sing and play together.

[funkapus]

I'm at this point in my relative beginnership, really, and I'm happy to see this thread!  Mississippi John Hurt's "Do Lord Remember Me", via Tom Feldman's clip on Youtube from one of his SGGW videos, has been really helpful.

[blueshome]

I've always thought Key to the Highway and similar with the I/V change at the start were quite easy to sing along with, the chord changes are simple and go pretty much along to cue the vocal.

[Prof Scratchy]

I think Blind Boy Fuller's version of Careless Love is one of those tunes where the guitar and vocals sing along with each other. But maybe things with fairly simple guitar parts are easiest to sing along with, memorizing a melody first with a simple chordal backing. I'd put RJ's slow songs in A in that category perhaps.

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[Lyndvs]

"delia"/"take me back"/"pallet on the floor" etc..Always think these more melodic"pre blues" raggy feeling songs are easier to sing.

[Johnm]

But maybe things with fairly simple guitar parts are easiest to sing along with, memorizing a melody first with a simple chordal backing. I'd put RJ's slow songs in A in that category perhaps.

I was thinking the same thing, Prof.  "Me and the Devil", in particular, has a really spare and simple guitar part behind the singing, just keeping time.
All best,
Johnm

[waxwing]

Similar to the RJ songs in A, Lightnin's Goin' Down Slow was one I remember feeling like the vocal flowed easily over relatively simple timekeeping backing, but in between the vocal parts all those expressive Hopkins response licks help the more advanced guitarist just learning to add vocals keep their interest up.

Really glad to see this kind of discussion here, Johnm.

Wax

[joe paul]

Great idea for a thread. I always think of Mance Lipscomb's Sugar Babe and I Want to do Something for You as songs where the vocal and the guitar part fit seamlessly.
Mississippi John Hurt's Joe Turner blues too, although as I listen to it I can hear it's a lot more subtle than just the guitar playing the vocal line. His Spike Driver's Blues too. I think these songs are just so present in my mind that they make perfect sense, how everything falls together. John Jackson's Boat's up the River too.

[Norfolk Slim]

I'd cast a word of warning on Spikedrivers.  I'm working on that at the moment, and its proven harder work than I expected, especially getting the vocal out properly without messing up the rest.

[Laura]

There've been a lot of John Hurt songs mentioned and I wonder if that's because many people start out playing his stuff as an introduction into listening/playing country blues and so have been playing them such a long time they now find them easy!?
Some of his songs - especially the gospel ones - (Do Lord Remember Me, When I Lay My Burden Down, Farther Along, Here Am I, Lord Send Me)  do follow the melody line very closely - I find these easy songs to sing/play simultaneously.  However, one of the first CB songs I tried to learn was Hurt's Stackerlee but I still can't sing it whilst playing.  Simon mentioned Spike Drivers Blues.  I find this a killer to sing! It doesn't follow the melody at all - it's always ahead or behind it.
Another thing which might be worth mentioning is for a female singer, someone like John Hurt has such a low range and it can be difficult to find a good key to play in.

[Prof Scratchy]

Here's one of the first songs I learned to sing and play back in the 1960s. This video gives you the words too!