Q&A for How to Play the Guitar and Sing at the Same Time

If you feel unsure about your voice, then work on mouth formation. Round out your sound by pretending there is a gumball in your mouth. Then, bring in your guitar and try perfecting your sound. Over time, your voice will improve, and you will become more comfortable.

As long as you are confident in your guitar skills, accompanying yourself is fine. If you do choose to have someone else to play for you, make sure the accompaniment is synchronized with what you are singing. There is no significant difference as long as the accompaniment and melody match up. It is up to the performer (yourself) to be the judge of this.

Although you will have to gain a good deal of familiarity with the song in order to sing and play it, it's not so much a matter of listening to the song repeatedly as listening to it critically to understand and appreciate its construction and nuances that make it unique. As the original is likely performed by a professional with years of practice and experience, you can expect that unless your skills match the performer's, it won't sound as good. However, with practice it will sound better, and the great part about covers is giving it your own individual twist.

While the singing part poses little problem for anyone, it would depend on the person with regard to the guitar. Some may find that the pitch of the guitar bothers their ears, while fingering the strings could bother those with pain amplification issues. However, if you do a YouTube search, you'll find many people at varying levels of the spectrum beautifully singing and playing guitar.

This is quite common, but finding the chords for another instrument could bring you closer. You could also try learning the song by ear, by playing along with a recording of it.

Practice is your friend. Maybe writing your own songs could be what's best for you. Or, maybe changing an original song to fit your style is better.

This is useful for people who are able to play guitar and are also good at singing and like to do both at the same time, that is play the tune for the song they're singing.

Every skill requires practice and getting over feeling embarrassed. When you were younger, you couldn't write, but you continued and now you can. Maybe find a teacher or lessons on YouTube. But most of all, get used to learning from your mistakes and improving all the time. And make sure you know how to play the guitar properly before using it to accompany yourself.

It's not necessarily "better" than anything, but a lot of people like to write their own songs, music and lyrics, and then perform them by singing and playing guitar.

If that's what you want to do, then yes. Playing an instrument can be a great hobby.

Absolutely! Practice with whatever is comfortable for you. As you practice more and more, you can use more advanced songs.