I
have never been more interested in musical phrasing than I am
now. Perhaps it is because I have recently been hearing young
technically astounding players with chops up the yin yang and
I am not satisfied. Why? I have been asking myself. And I think
the answer is that, to me, it appears they are not 'in the music',
they are simply showing off their astounding technique. "Look
what I can do!" in other words. This is not the way of the
peaceful warrior.
I
am quite convinced it takes a good amount of experience to get
past the playing. We HAVE to get past the playing in order to
say anything of real substance. It is not about chops or those
amazing altered lines that we can play over dominant chords.
These are the pursuits of the music college student. Which by
the way, is perfectly ok and valid. But if one wants to really
make a statement musically, and really say something of substance,
it has to be about the music, not the musician.
And
this does not go for just guitar players. It goes for all artists
with any instrument, any field for that matter.
If
you want to impress another guitarist who is learning, go ahead,
rip through some changes and show them stuff they can't do.
But if you want to grab the attention of someone who knows nothing
about your instrument, then you have another challenge on your
hands, because someone who is impartial to your instrument wants
to be moved, not impressed.
Let
me put this in no uncertain terms; we need to intrigue the listener,
not impress them. We are not performing monkeys, we are artists
and until we understand this basic rule, we are simply not artists.
Now,
this may seem tough but I want to suggest that I am talking
on the highest level here. Everyone needs to go through school,
practice with Jamey Abersold records, play through changes,
get repertoire together. But there comes a time when we have
an audience to play to. And many musicians simply don't understand
why they do not communicate.
An
audience wants to be moved by the music. They do not need to
know what you went through to get to this place. They simply
want to be moved. And the way you move them is to make a pure
musical statement based on the song you are playing, not based
on your immense vocabulary that you might have amassed.
And
when you come to not only realize this, but think about these
things in a live playing situation, then you will become a great
artist.
So
how do we get there?
There
is a great quote from MIles Davis, who was talking to John Coltrane.
Trane asked Miles Davis's advice on how to end a solo because
Trane was having difficulty finding a place to end. Miles answered
in his raspy whisper, "Take the horn out of your mouth."
Space is the place - Take the horn out of your mouth!
And
here lies complete genius. Miles knew, for he thought about
this for many years.
Space
indeed IS the answer. Phrasing is the key. I have an assignment
for you. Play a solo over a song you like to play. Play a phrase
to start off your improvisation. Simply play a short phrase,
maybe two or three bars, then end that phrase. Instead of picking
up another phrase immediately after, I challenge you to wait
at least two extra bars before you play again. This indeed will
be a challenge because leaving that much space would be akin
to us feeling like our audience believes we have nothing to
say. We are used to making ourselves fill in the spaces because
we feel we need to be saying something. But one thing that is
important to realize, the audience does not hear it this way.
And
I challenge you to record many solos this way. Whilst you are
playing, you may be uncomfortable with this, but when you hear
it back you will hear yourself in an entirely different way.
Don't forget, where there is space in your solos, there is music,
because the band is still grooving, hopefully making you sound
good.
One
little drawback with the guitar is that we don't need to physically
breathe. Unlike a saxophone we can technically play endless
phrases without a breath. The piano is the same. But we need
to breathe. Music needs to breathe. When the music breathes,
so can the audience, and when the audience can breathe, you
have them in the palm of your hand!
Don't
be afraid to take the horn out of your mouth, if it's good enough
for Miles, I believe it is good enough for us.