In the first post, Andy said: "What I liked," she said, "Is that the guitar was secondary to your singing, you just used it to support the song rather than letting it take over."

I didn't mention to her that the main reason for that was that I can't do anything clever on the guitar, and that I'm possibly the least accomplished player at our club!

I think that's a great point, Andy. I like singing with guitar, but I could never develop the dexterity needed to get to the point where my guitar could accompany my singing, rather than forcing me to make my singing follow a badly-played guitar. So, I don't play the guitar in public and I sing a cappella or recruit a guitarist to accompany me. That's what works for me.

Sounds like Andy isn't a stunning guitarist, but he plays well enough to give himself a subtle accompaniment. That's what works for him.

I know some extraordinary instrumentalists who aren't very good singers, and some of them subordinate their singing to their playing in some very clever ways, without making the singing inaudible. That's what works for them.

And then there are a very few people who are remarkable in both their singing and playing. I raise my glass to them.


I think that's the trick: there are no hard-and-fast rules, so you have to find out what works for you. It's a matter of finding a proper balance, and that balance is different for everyone.

-Joe-