Play For The Song - Beyond the LessonsPublished Feb 16 2010 It’s not about you -- it’s all about the song. Whether you are a budding new musician or a veteran, this article will take you beyond just music lessons to the art of fitting properly into your music and band. Learning your instrument is just 25 percent of what you need to play good music. The other 75 percent begins where the lessons leave off. The greatest musicians are not necessarily great due to their instrumental expertise, vocal talent, or songwriting brilliance. They are great because they have learned the art of "playing for the song." Playing for the song means that whatever your role in a band, you play what truly compliments the song regardless of your stylistic preferences, your musical background, your creative ideas, your desire to be heard, or even your musical ability. While these things are all important, they should not trump giving the song what it needs — nothing more and nothing less. Playing for the song is a "music first" mentality, while many musicians default to a "check me out, I rock," mentality. Countless extraordinarily talented musicians and songwriters do not accomplish much on account of their inability to play to the song. It is not wrong to want people to hear your music and tell you it's great, but if this admiration is the main reason you play, you will miss the true joy of music. Furthermore, you will likely have difficulty working with others! 2 groups of musicians do not play for the song: The Experts First there are highly talented musicians and singers who primarily play to be heard. This group obviously has advanced abilities but tends to play up their skills rather than what nicely compliments the song. These “experts” often overplay. The Beginners Secondly, inexperienced newer players cannot play to the song for different reasons. These musicians are not yet tuned-in to the importance of listening closely to other musicians and sounds. If you are a new player or singer, it is crucial to learn playing for the song – the sooner you master this the better. It is much harder to fix bad habits once they are well established! Here’s 2 tips how to become a strong contributor to the music regardless of your skill level. 1. When playing a song with other musicians, always listen closer to their sounds than to yours. The common tendency is to listen to yourself first, which results in bad habits. However, when you hear other instruments first, you are naturally in a better position to compose the best compliment to the song. Listening to the other musicians is a bit counter intuitive — it takes deliberate intentionality and practice. For those with naturally louder instruments, this listening principle can be difficult and therefore even more important. This does not necessarily mean you need to play quieter than everyone else. Rather, regardless of how loud your part needs to be in the mix, you train yourself to carefully listen what the other musicians are doing. 2. Understand the simplicity and “feel” of the song. Simplicity and “feel” (emotion and passion) run hand in hand. Usually the more complicated your part the more difficult it is to play with passion! There is a danger in getting really good at your instrument – you can easily lose “feel” when you are skilled enough to play a lot more notes. There are a select few who can combine “feel” and complexity, but for most, simplicity draws out more emotion. So do not worry about how many notes you play, rather, play each note like it was your last! While “feel” does come more naturally to some than others, just about anyone can learn to play from the heart. If you continually grow in playing your instrument with listening and with feeling, you can be a great musician whatever you play, whenever you play, and with whomever you play. Whatever your role in music, strive to play what truly compliments the song and always put your heart into every note! |
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