When to start practicing with guitar...

Hello!

I am still a complete beginner with singing and am still in the first 30 day beginner series with Jonathan.

I don't play guitar at all but I would like to start incorporating an accompaniment, simple strumming on some songs that I like to sing.  Is it too early for me to start practicing with guitar in the hopes that I will eventually be able to bring it all together?

I'm finding that a lot of the songs that I like and that I've been practicing with don't have super complicated strumming paterns.  Should I wait a few months / year until I start with guitar or can I start soon?

Since I'm still learning the basics of singing I don't want to overwhelm or add another task or skill, but maybe starting with strumming and learning it separately to incorporate later might work?

Thanks!

Hi, Joe! I encourage you to jump in! Learning an instrument can really help your singing, because you're training your ear, learning some music theory, working on rhythm - all skills that will support your singing and overall musicianship. Check out the lessons we have on "singing & playing at the same time" for some practical steps to help you put the two together!

https://www.30daysinger.com/tutorial/how-to-sing-and-play-guitar-ukulele-at-the-same-time

Hi Camille!

Thank you for your quick response.  Actually, it was that tutorial that gave me the idea that I could start working on some strumming / rhythm!  

I have a list of acoustic/folk songs that seem to not be super complicated with strumming and also don't have really complicated vocals so I can work on the vocals now and maybe the strumming later.  Is there any way I can send a list to one of you or look online somewhere to figure out which song is the "easiest" to learn on beginner guitar?  

Thanks again!

joe

Great!

I'm not a guitarist myself, so I won't know based on a list how difficult the guitar playing would be. But I'd recommend - regardless of the difficulty - that you begin by practicing just the chord changes, then strum on each beat, then add in the strum pattern when you're ready. Use a metronome (at a very slow tempo, if needed) to keep yourself steady, and that'll be a great challenge to start!

I have been playing guitar for 5 months and the thing about it is everything about it takes time. In my down time (watching tv) I hold the guitar and practice chord shapes or picking patterns. But doing both those things together is another connection that needs to be made in your brain so that takes time too. Now try to do that and sing is a whole different animal. Multitasking at a very high level to sound mediocre. So yes start now it is going to take lots of time. 

Hey Joealotto, 
I'm a person who comes from instrument background (guitar, bass) and is just learning to sing. 

So for me combining guitar + singing or piano + singing is a super winner combo. Yes its true it can mess you up, speacially rythm, you will need to practice a lot. But for instance the excercises in the site have very clear instructions of the intervals, (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) doing the intervals with the guitar while I warmup helps me to intonate correctly, as a beginner catching the correct tone is a problem so guitar helps a lot. Also is wonderful to match the concepts with an instrument, this reinforces my ear training. 

One last benefit is that at some point you can start doing the warmups without having to loggin all the time, be it because you have no laptop or whatever, then you can just do the intervals at any time in the day you pick the guitar and start warming up, it saves you time and makes it easier for you to practice.  

Overall I believe piano, guitar or other armonic instrument can help a lot. Music is beautiful, so why not enjoying it double ;)