I'm new here

[Matty Boom]

Hey all, I've been reading posts here and doing my best to play Dave's stuff for a year or so, and I thought it was about time I got on here myself. But to start a thread that I'm sure has been covered many-a-time, can you veterans give me tips on how to get the rhythm down to sing songs like Crash and Ants Marching, those are two that I have never been able to get. Thanks, and hello again.

[grock]

Hello sir, welcome to our board.

well all i can really say is listen to the songs. try to find solo recordings of the songs too. i wish i could be more help but i just listened to the song a bunch and tried to play along

[Matty Boom]

Thanks, and I just read all the posts about adding lyrics with the songs. Wow, you guys are really awesome. If I wasn't so inexperienced, I would help, let me know if I can help with some busy work.

[Buck23]

In general on this topic here's my (and probably lots of people's) advice: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE . Can you play the song without singing? if so, you've learned the hard part, now comes the tedious (but fun, since we love playing guitar) part...play the song over and over again, play along with the CD, play solo, play slow, then faster, play it until you don't have to think about it anymore. play it until you can have a conversation with someone while playing, like you hear Dave doing sometimes in his live Cds. then you'll be able to focus more on your singing, since the strumming will be basically automatic. As far as Ants and Crash, Ants Marching is a little tough...its really hard to get the rhythm down and be able to sing if you dont strum (for the reasons I just listed), but you want to be able to play those single notes too...thats why Dave's ability to use a strumming motion to play a single note is so magical, and getting that down takes LOTS of practice. but for crash, you just have those bass notes to worry about keeping clean, and the rest is a pretty simple strum. crash would be a good song to learn dave's pick/strum method, since you use it sparingly...so to sum up this long post, practice a lot and keep on playin'

[Buck23]

P.S. welcome to the board

[Buck23]

*twiddles thumbs, waits for his welcome to the board cause he's new too*

[Matty Boom]

Pardon, welcome to you too.

[DrFartbrain]

Welcome.

Try them really really slow, and gradually speed up, just like you do when you're learning a classical piece (please say yes).

[TOMAMI]

Welcome both new membranes. singging and playing will come in time with song familiarity and practice. I also had problems singging and playing. I will also warn you that Dave's songs are not easy. Try some beattles or easier strumiing tunes, like this land is your land and koombayau or what have you.

[taylordb]

Matty and Buck,
Welcome to DMBTabs!!!!
OK at the risk of repeating everyone....

I practice the song over and over again then I move on to something else for a while (I am attention deficit ). Then I make my way back to the song and practice like crazy some more. Then when I am ready to try singing with it, I do what someone here suggested to me to do...I hum along while I play. That one tip has helped me more than I can tell you. After I can succesfully hum the song while I play, transitioning to singing is so much easier.

Good luck!!!!

[NoNotThat]

greetings

[The Man of The Hour]

To add some more, practice, practice, and practice - get the timing down on the songs. After you get the solid notes down, you'll begin to notice other things which Dave does to enhance his music and you'll take pride in nailing all the details. Let singing come later, just focus on one variable at a time. Welcome you two!