When I was a teenager, I loved the song ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ by the Arctic Monkeys.
I was desperate to learn how to play it on the guitar and sing it at the same time. However, the strumming pattern on the guitar is completely at odds with the vocal melody. I couldn’t figure out how to do it.
I asked someone who could do it for advice, and they said to practise the guitar part until I could do it in my sleep. Only then try to add the vocal in.
It seemed obvious once he told me, but it never occurred to me before. When you invest on two fronts at the same time, progress can be hard. But dedicate the time to getting one thing right, to making it automatic, and the other part comes.
When I could play and sing the song at the same time, it felt like magic, like a secret code that I finally cracked. It was an awesome feeling.