How to drum And Sing At The Same Time
5 Tips For Drumming And Singing - Heather Thomas
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[Music]
your brain and your spirit
[Music]
hi everybody I'm Heather Thomas as you
just I do a lot of singing wild drumming
so I've got five tips for you to help
you strengthen your singing while you're
drumming here we go my first tip is to
start from a balanced seated position
because you're singing you need your
full breath support and you'll catch a
lot of drummers kind of like slouched
like this or or will play kind of push
forward a little bit but we really like
so we got to stay right nice and
balanced you're gonna have your mic
right in front of your face not off to
the side not like you know where you
have to reach for it or up or down you
want it right in front of your face make
sure it's out of your stick path right
but that's the first step making sure
that you're starting from a balanced
relaxed position
okay the second tip is figuring thinking
about your breathing when you we need to
breathe before you sing so you have to
figure out where in the song are you
going to be breathing and if that's in
the middle of a beat let's say you know
you start singing on beat one you might
want to breathe on beat three or four of
the bar before so you can practice that
you can practice taking a breath to the
downbeat let's say that we'll start out
with just a downbeat so if you're
playing a beat like this
I'm gonna show you what it's like to
breathe on beat four all right so you
just like practice of taking a breath in
and a breath out like in rhythm right
[Music]
right so just practicing making sure
that you can breathe in time and then
it's not gonna mess up your drum part
you can practice breathing in other
places too you know maybe you're gonna
want to breathe it depends on where your
entrance is so basically figure out
where you're going to sing and back up a
beat or so from that that's where you're
gonna want to practice making sure you
take a nice big deep full breath tip
number three is to be confident and
solid in your groove before you try
singing over it one of the things that
makes singing while drumming much easier
is when you don't have to think about
your groove when your groove is so
natural and so easy that it's not taking
up any brain space it's not taking any
processing power so if you're playing a
groove I'm playing a simple sixteenth
note groove and you need to be so
confident in this room that you could
talk over whatever it is but the groove
just not nice and steady nice and solid
and start simple start with something
that's easy for you to do if singing is
new to you don't make the drone part
super complicated it's really fun to
sing over super complicated drum parts
but that's not where you need to start
so make sure your groove is nice and
solid
now the next pirate is a little bit more
complicated because it deals with
finding out where the rhythms of your
voice line up with your hands and feet
so if you're playing a steady groove and
for instance I'm just playing an
alternating sixteenth note groove and so
you can start there when you're
practicing and figuring out what your
rhythms are maybe just start with
sixteenth notes and see how that sounds
so I'm gonna sing for you the first line
of that song it starts on beat four
which means I might take a breath on
beat three and then I'm gonna start
singing in and you know and then I'll
explain what I'm thinking about
[Music]
now what I'm thinking about there is
what hand each word is coming on so if
we start with just beat four it's a it's
a eighth note followed by two sixteenth
notes open up four anda so in a 16
though that's gonna be right right left
oh then the next one is on another
upbeat so it's oh can't you see so you
can see that rhythm written out four and
uh II two and uh and you can do that
with the entire song just figure out
where it happens and then you can
practice that practice tying what you're
singing to what you're playing with your
hands oh there I did accents on each of
the notes that way you're really
connecting what's lining up with it and
it's another form of like independence
you know how when you're working on you
know playing different patterns with
each hand eventually each of the
individual pieces becomes kind of
natural you don't really have to think
about it that's what your voice is going
to be like as well you'll be able to
just sing over the top of whatever is
happening below but it's sometimes it
takes that time to make the connections
[Music]
and so that's that's one one way to
really solidify your parts so it's at
number five once you're comfortable with
where your rhythms are lining up and it
feels like you can just kind of sing
your parts over whatever it is that
you're playing I like to really practice
the entrances if your entrances are nice
and strong chances are you'll be fine
from there because your grooves already
solid you've already practiced your
rhythms but I find it really valuable to
practice your entrances doing this in a
groove I find is the most effective way
so what I'm gonna do is just loop the
drumbeat and I'm gonna practice that
entrance and it's just gonna be open up
love that's all I'm gonna do I'm gonna
do that over and over until that part
feels so easy that that's how I'm just
gonna be able to start the song so
here's the beep
[Music]
and you'll notice I'm breathing in the
same space every time I'm always
breathing on three and if you can kind
of program that in then you don't have
to think about it and you know as you go
you're the groove will become more solid
the vocals become more natural the
longer you do it the less you have to
think about the rhythms as well like
eventually it's not gonna sound like
you're singing complicated rhythms
you're just gonna be singing whatever it
is that you're saying but practicing it
in this context in the groove is one of
the best ways to make that singing feel
very natural very integrated so there's
some tips for singing and drumming I
hope that helps you get started or clear
some things up for you if this was
something you're struggling with if you
are enjoying my music you can find it at
WWE there Thomas music calm or you can
follow me on instagram as Heather on
drums I'm gonna play you out with the
rest of the song thanks for listening
appreciate it
[Applause]
see there the hole in me gotta make me
dance I'm alive
look up there meaning every way but
you've got to focus your eyes to find
your side
[Music]
your veins so your dad's are not your
brain your spirits
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