How to Sing in Tune When Playing Guitar

[@tommaycock5459]

Wow, the 'reach for me' exercise was a breakthrough for me, and a huge confidence builder. Thanks!

[@chrisliepe]

You're very welcome!

[@dctp65]

Just when I thought JustinGuitar couldn't be any better, we have this partnership. For those like me learning to play the guitar by following Justin's programmes with a singer-songwriter aspiration, this is pure gold. Chris your approach just strikes a chord with me and compliments all my guitar learning here. Watching this video it is reassuring to see how your voice tracks on the tuner, and tells me how to assess my own pitching and what good looks like. Justin & Chris, many, many thanks for all you continue to share to help us to learn and be the musicians we aspire to be.

[@chrisliepe]

Right! Thanks David! Ya, everyone has a little pitch trouble according to a tuner. It IS reassuring! But also a great tool :)

[@Esse70R]

Excellent complement to your guitar course, Justin ! Thanks to Chris Liepe, too... ;-)

[@justinguitar]

My pleasure! Thanks for your support, mate. You're always here - I appreciate that! :) Have an awesome weekend.

[@Esse70R]

@@justinguitar Yes weekend ! Cheers...

[@chrisliepe]

You're so welcome!

[@Esse70R]

@@chrisliepe We ought to see each other again, sir... Great !

[@GoodxJ]

good stuff! thanks 👍🏼😁🎙

[@spaghettitaco5624]

This is exactly what I have been needing. I genuinely felt like I might be tone deaf even though I have sang most of my life, but I've never even considered tuning my voice the same way I tune my guitar. Thank you!

[@russelgill2690]

Thanks Chris and Justin. I tune my guitars everyday but it never occurred to me to tune my voice in the same way. Seems obvious, but I missed it. A fantastic addition to all the great guitar lessons.

[@chrisliepe]

So glad you enjoyed! Ya, does seem like it should be obvious, but it sure wasn't for me for a long long time :)

[@goodmaggie]

"A feel based sensation" that's gold Chris, makes so much sense. Thankyou for this lesson, perfect timing for me as I'm learning to identify chromatic intervals in Justin's Practical Music Theory and it's doing my head in. This is the piece that's been missing for me. I need to get out of my head and feel the note. Thankyou so much and thankyou Justin for sharing Chris with us. Two exceptionally good coaches.

[@chrisliepe]

Thanks Maggie!

[@bkandel1]

Thanks Justin for making me discover a singing teacher I can connect to! I have started re-learning guitar last spring after getting an acoustic guitar for my 10-yr work anniversary(!). I played classical guitar 5 years as a kid, then a bit of bass and electric guitar as student. But since then (25 years ago), got disappointed by myself every time I tried to play again. Until I discovered online courses and found yours after getting this new guitar. I went through the beginner courses in 6 months to rebuild my knowledge, and you put me back on track with strong motivation and excitement to play the guitar! As one of my goals is to be able to sing while strumming, I was also looking for online singing lessons but it was harder for me to find something appealing. I did a bit of “classical” voice training and started to learn and improve (but still don’t really sing). Now I am discovering @Chris Liepe and really like several things of his courses: the genres of music in his program I can relate to, the use of the guitar for practice, and his quite different approach to learning how to sing, focusing first on freeing and discovering your voice, and getting comfortable with it (one of my big issues being to be confident enough to dare sing in front of others, or even hear myself!). I also like the using tools that help understand what is happening, and this particular lesson is a good example of how to do that. So here I am starting Chris’s Discover Your Voice course to see where it will bring me! And soon I’ll jump to Justin’s Intermediate courses, after I have reached my 20 songs I can play start to finish... That is my 2021 plan! Thanks to both of you for providing exciting and affordable courses! (and yes I have done regular contributions to @JustinGuitar, who deserves it, and bought apps and song books to support his tremendous work!).

[@chrisliepe]

Sounds like a fantastic 2021 plan! Excited to be a part of it with you!

[@fazec0pped58]

Very Cool, Justin.

[@justinguitar]

:)

[@russr1338]

Outstanding! Thank you Justin and Chris!!!

[@chrisliepe]

You're very welcome!

[@DerpEye]

I've been playing guitar and singing by myself for about a year. I have a piano playing background though. Everybody can sing. It just takes practice. A lot of practice.

[@jamesdouglas5763]

Thanks so much Chris. I made a comment looking for something like this in your last video. So... reasonable to spend a couple of months slowly working through various chords singing the route and the third in the way you describe...? First singing video I have ever seen that has actually inspired me to start practicing. Thank you

[@chrisliepe]

Right! You're so very welcome!

[@VideoNozoki]

Hey Justin, GREAT guest this week!! (I've always been slightly unsure about my singing voice. Great, concrete advice.)

[@The-Spotlight-Kid]

Good video, good approach. I've done similar on a far more low-tech basic level using just a frequency display app with adjustment of the centre line or zero Htz frequency drift mark being variable from 200 to 16000'htz & 'meter damping' a 'must' on (some) free basic apps. I also found it easier to practice singing (also with v.badic muted strum) ...songs that I've remembered the words to since a young kid, lame ones or whatever, even "3 Wheels on my Wagon" or "She'll be coming round the mountain" ...knowing all the words from so many years or decades ago, songs folk liked from their 4'ish to 10 or 12'yrs old have been sang along with, heard on the old folk's radio & been playing in your mind & became indelibly engrained melodies, your recall them fast & somehow(?) it transfers to having the right note to hit instinctively as if direct from b.old memory & without conscious effort, I found practicing to strum & sing melodies from much more-so well loved but far more recent songs that I'd not once had indelibly grained in my mind 2 to 3 decade earlier at the time of 'practicing', despite the huge time gap it didn't work anywhere near as well for me as the old best loved kiddy songs, after a tip-off of the whole above concept.

[@iagobozza]

Great lesson again! I continue to enjoy these! The lessons indeed go very well with Justin's guitar course, specially because these exercises feel easy to add to a guitar practice routine!

[@chrisliepe]

Awesome!

[@DavidJLevi]

Fantastic! Thanks.

[@ihitge]

This is super helpful! Thanks, both.

[@chrisliepe]

You're so welcome!

[@melodyomorogbe]

Thank you Justin, I can't wait to practice this

[@chrisliepe]

It's a great tool!

[@jesther7251]

Fantastic lesson! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you Justin and Chris!

[@danielaguilar9694]

Awesome! Thanks for your advice it helps a lot!

[@chrisliepe]

You're welcome!

[@jeffbriggs4268]

Great video! Thanks!

[@chrisliepe]

You're welcome!

[@thushankathimira9587]

Your vocals exactly sound like a hybrid tone between Chris Daughtry and Matthew Bellamy. Awesome!

[@chrisliepe]

Two of my favorite vocalists! Thank you!

[@johnverhines9511]

Thanks For the exercise.

[@chrisliepe]

You're welcome!

[@tigertran01]

OMG, more of this please!

[@justinguitar]

Check these: www.justinguitar.com/advanced_search?q=singing | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Community Moderator

[@zoltan567]

Great video! I'll include it into my daily practice to see how it works. Look forward to your next video!

[@RachaelBuchanan83]

Holy cow!! This is amazing!! Thank you!! ☺️🙏

[@chrisliepe]

You're very welcome!

[@avejayalvaro4177]

Thank you sir.

[@justinguitar]

Welcome!

[@chrisliepe]

You're so welcome!

[@SidChrisaw]

Thank you so much

[@justinguitar]

You're most welcome!

[@MrLuigiFercotti]

Liepe is awesome.

[@760pops]

Crazy, literally did a google search and Justin did this gem wow ahahaha

[@chrisliepe]

Nice

[@felixkortmann3830]

Great drills, thanks a lot!

[@practicerepobarrie]

I'll need to practice this when I'm half pissed, because that's the only time you'll ever hear me singing.

[@Harp_and_Guitar_Moving_Forward]

💯🎸💯🎸💯

[@GaveMeGrace1]

Thank you

[@chrisliepe]

You're welcome!

[@EngRMP]

OMG, that was one of the coolest lessons ever. I NEVER sing... NEVER, EVER. But, as an engineer, I can't believe that I didn't think of this approach to see just how bad my voice/control is.... maybe there's hope for me...

[@justinguitar]

Give it a shot! Also; check Chris 3 rock vocal tricks! www.justinguitar.com/modules/singing-lessons | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Official Guide

[@notsosure7757]

Sing in tune when playing lol. Damn. I'd be happy if I could even speak and play 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@geofixated]

@Seaworth It's called auto-vibrato. :-)

[@DC180]

speaking and playing is just as hard, it's like rap while playing... still hard

[@pathiggins9288]

Never dawned on me to use a tuner as you demonstrated. Tried it on my laptop (pro guitar tuner- app) and it actually works fairly well. Thanks for the Pro tips! Might even be able to crow on pitch someday, with what you shared with us.👏

[@chrisliepe]

You're very welcome... ya, its one of those things that almost all of us have laying around and can use this way, but we don't think about it for some reason.

[@HRJ1411]

gonna try this

[@chrisliepe]

Good!

[@BlazertronGames]

Vocal pitch monitor is a good android app for monitoring pitch!

[@scottakam]

Chris is great.

[@bubbajeph]

I know I cant sing that’s why I took up the trumpet in junior high school back in the 70s I would just wanna play acoustic and rhythm be in the background.

[@chrisliepe]

If you can play trumpet, you've got a great understanding of support and airflow control!

[@spiderman4657]

Hey its Chris, I have seen a few of his videos. Cool collab Justin!

[@chrisliepe]

Happy to be here :) !

[@billyjoechurchwell9988]

Great video! Is Chris using a Bedell mahogany guitar?

[@chrisliepe]

It's an old Tacoma guitar. I don't think they even make them anymore, but they sound amazing... so full!

[@JA-xx7vw]

I was just listening to johnny cash yesterday and notice that on his lives he often does something similar to the second exercise

[@chrisliepe]

Yep... Johnny cash is a great person to listen to for simple, accessible pitch 'exercises' for sure

[@andydejong]

That was really interesting. I like the idea of using the chromatic tuner.

[@himanshuvora1980]

Awesome

[@bkandel1]

And now a question: what is a normal pitch variation around the true note when targeting a specific note?

[@chrisliepe]

Vibrato plays a big role!

[@garrystevens8793]

I’ve learned so much on guitar from Justin and I’d love to be able to sing on a basic level to the songs I play without making jaws drop in horror. I think I get the idea of training the muscle memory to learn to sing in tune, so I hope that with practice it could help me sound bearable. What is the software being used for the vocal tuner on the computer?

[@kennethpierson82]

GTR3 I believe. 49.99 at Sweetwater guitar. At least as of today

[@chrisliepe]

It's a tuner from Waves. Inside Pro Tools

[@kennethpierson82]

@@chrisliepe thank you for clarity. You're the best

[@petmoxey2177]

Great approach to clearing up intonation problems! Out of interest, why is the difficulty felt with the 3rd of the chord mostly?

[@MongIAMTauYah]

I sing better in key with listening to the key pitch in the chords in my guitar playing

[@sunangel-rivka]

Interesting that he veers sharp. I used to sing in a choir, and we were fairly experienced singers, and we tended to veer flat, at which time the music director would stop everything and start yelling. Lol. I can't remember a time we were sharp in error. Maybe it's different in a group setting.

[@slowpro5201]

Do you have any more videos on singing in tune or melodies why playing the guitar

[@SjonnyBB]

Very interesting

[@wiraaung11]

I play fingerstyle because I can’t sing 💀but now I aint running away.

[@littlelarry2912]

When you hit the top string, I would never think my voice would need to sound like yours did to match that. It sounded much higher to me. I guess I'm tone deaf. But I guess you could memorize the notes and pitches Do singers match to each chord that is being played in a song? G, C, D, etc.... I can play guitar is why I'm asking. Just can't sing. never really tried to get better

[@justinguitar]

Singers usually sing in the key of the song and guitarsts usually play chords that ocnsist of notes in that key. Usually, not always. I think you might want to take a look at this lesson: www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/chords-in-a-key-diatonic-triads-mt-421 | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Official Assistant

[@littlelarry2912]

@@justinguitar thanks, I really appreciate it

[@Aries_Alpha]

I'm a decent singer and I have been playing guitar for almost 25 years and something weird happens when I pick up a guitar and play............I lose complete control of my voice! I have tried many things and exercises as well as 20 years of practice but never been happy with the results. Voice on its own good/decent, guitar is always good singing or not but together I'm never happy. Maybe my expectations are the issue lol.

[@nethikafernandowork2844]

What,s thevsong at the beginning

[@coops1959]

Thank you Chris, Justin for this. As a 62 year old “newbie”, to this guitar and singing lark, I am totally fascinated by this whole new world, and can appreciate so much more when listening to music now. Question please, I do have limited financial resources, and as mentioned elsewhere, you Chris are using Waves for the tuner, so am I correct in saying I would need an interface and condenser mic to connect to my MacBook to be able to try this technique? Or, is there a cheaper way? (I do have a dynamic mic and amp at the moment). Thanks guys

[@chrisliepe]

You should be able to use the internal mic of your Mac as the interface for this exercise.

[@DaLiJeIOvoImeZauzeto]

What's that song you sing in the introduction called? Great lesson, btw.

[@cesarquiros875]

Great lesson. I understand these exercises as exercises. But i get lost on relating this to a certain song. Say ring of fire, in the key g , should i them just practice the exercise in the key of g, c and d since that is what the song is, tho melody may be other notes within that key. Thanks. Great lesson

[@chrisliepe]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@Kevs_Music]

Is there a way to try this without a DAW? Sorry, complete newb in this.

[@justinguitar]

There are hardware vocal trainer tools as well, if you prefer to leave the computer out of it.... like the Roland VT-12 | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Official Assistant

[@panda_cap]

Mine isn't the pitch it's playing the guitar on timing while singing. Also lately I've been extremely numb. So I can't feel the emotion I use too while I sing. Which makes it hard. Coz I feel like I can't think at all.

[@jx14aby]

One thing you didn't mention: Stand up. You sing better when you can use your whole body, instead of being bent-in-the-middle.

[@Benry1]

yes! it's so disorienting when i learn to sing a song in the car and then try to stand and sing it with a guitar. totally different feelings

[@jx14aby]

@@Benry1 I'm a firm believer in singing in the car. At full volume. Learning a song is more than just the breath, it's also learning the lyrics and timing.

[@hmepasG]

But how you sing a chord? It's not a note it consists of several of them? Which pitch you should tune your voice to sign along to chords? Watched the video, still don't get it.

[@danielvernonlee6781]

Part 2: how to play in time when you sing

[@Bobby8270]

Ahh. That why I sound like a zoo on fire.

[@molekyyli]

Gonna watch this on whole tomorrow... But I do know I'm not tone deaf. If I were, I wouldn't know that my "singing" is so out of tune as it can possibly be...

[@geofixated]

Where is the part where you go into the back room and close the door?

[@chrisliepe]

Let everyone hear your wonderful experiments. It'll keep you less self conscious! :)

[@mspirit]

RICH FOR ME PLEASE YES

[@nickgreen4731]

I got lucky... I grew up with a singing teacher for a father, so was pretty much singing in tune as soon as I could talk. But yes, you still need to practise or the voice fades away...

[@MikeDonatello]

Great video! But what if it's not your pitch, but the timbre or quality of your singing voice that's bad? I sound like a dog that swallowed glass.

[@jx14aby]

I've found some keys better than others, but generally around Bb. I try to use a capo, or key change, to help, and it works - sometimes.

[@chrisliepe]

I can help you with that too :)

[@crsrecordingstudio]

Nice video, but for me, I'm italian, Singing always "LA" when you change note is no so good. But it's an interesting video.

[@gordonbezanson4710]

Good lesson. Voice well not so much . Cant say your is soothing.

[@chrisliepe]

Soothing or entertaining isn't the point here. The point is learning to use tools and mindset shifts to improve our pitch. Judging accomplishes nothing in this context.

[@alenzlikovski4237]

Am near end of the video , i have a strong desire to hit myself in the head with a brick.