Improving your playing?

[Alistair]

What are the 2 or 3 things you could improve in your playing of your chosen instrument?

Mine would be (for guitar):

- learn some scales

- learn proper finger picking

[Steve]

Hhmmmm...I think I would rather choose another instrument! There is always room for improvement in the instrument you play, and I guess this stops when you die. Practice is the key! Something I have been rather lax about lately.

[FinnArild]

What are the 2 or 3 things you could improve in your playing of your chosen instrument?

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Guitar:

- eletrical: speed, swipes, scales

- classical - include pinky in speed-fingerpicking.

Bass

- slap techniques

Keyboard:

- Playing without looking at the keys all the time

- Solos

- Impove my drum programming. Maybe just buy this

[hariossa]

for guitar:

- develop my 3 note per string pentatonic technique.

- improve my soloing over chord changes.

for voice:

- be able to sing in tune!!

for keyboard:

- ...there's too much to be done!

for drums:

- I bought this thing to play my sampled percussion, and I must say that I barely use it... I'm too used to write drums with the mouse, I use it mostly to play sixteenths or whatever and then use that to match quantize the written rhythms... So I should use the damn thing more!!.

[john]

Hey

Voice:

Regularly do my vocal exercise to keep my range transitions smooth.

Continue developing my conversational vocal phrasing

Improve my Soul vocal fills

Guitar:

Improve my Jazz lead

Work more on my lead/rhythm combination playing for blues, funk and folk

Return to developing acoustic Delta Blues

Piano/Keyboard:

Improve my left hand chords and arpeggio

Improve synchopation by learning more ragtime

Exapand my classical repertoire

Mandolin:

Buy a new one (it's broken )

Violin:

Buy a new one (sold them when I was broke)

Improve my bow technique. It used to be very good, but it's been so long it'll sound like I'm slowly strangling a cat!

Bagpipes:

Buy a set of uilean pipes

Didgeridoo:

Perfect circular breathing

Bass:

Buy one. I can play but I've never had my own, just loans.

Drums:

Learn to play tabla drums

get a few Bhodran lessons

That should be more than enough for 2005! Probably 2006 as well...

Cheers

John

[hariossa]

by golly!! I must be the dumbest nerd in music history!!

do you really play all that stuff?

[FinnArild]

by golly!! I must be the dumbest nerd in music history!!

do you really play all that stuff?

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Actually, I play the flute as well - but badly. Wanting to improve it and take up violin and saxophone as well - but that's just me dreaming ...

[Songstuff]

by golly!! I must be the dumbest nerd in music history!!

do you really play all that stuff?

Hey Hari

Yep, although some I haven't played for a while, and there's a few more I tinkered with over the years I didn't mention...

I started piano when I was 4, violin 7, singing 8, bagpipes 12, drums 13, guitar 14, bass 16, mandolin 17, bhodran 24, didgeridoo 30. Others I tinkered with range from the mouth organ to bugle, in fact lots of wind instruments when I think about it and a few other string instruments.

I guess my passion has always been creating Music, especially writing, arrangment and production. Playing lots of instruments is great for getting different perspectives on Music, and for understanding the limitations and nuance of individual instruments in an arrangement.

My main instruments are now guitar, vocal and keys but most of my instrument time is spent on songwriting.

Cheers

John

[hariossa]

I started piano when I was 4, violin 7, singing 8, bagpipes 12, drums 13, guitar 14, bass 16, mandolin 17, bhodran 24, didgeridoo 30.

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You're a nice orchestra !!!

now seriously, those instruments make a beautyful palette to writte for.

[ATom2]

I won't go into how many instruments I have learned to play over the years, but I will say the most important thing that I have tried to do with all my musical endeavors is to make sure no matter what I am playing, I truely listen to how it fits with all of the other things that are going on in a piece. *gasps for air*

I learned this at a very young age playing in 5th thru 12th grade band and I carried this with me into my band days as a keyboard player and singer.

I've always said, I don't care how fancy a guitar player or a drummer can play, I want them to blend in and think about the total sound, not how much they can play leads or drum solos.

Makes for a much better experience for the listeners.

Tom

[john]

Good points Tom.

A list maybe, but I didn't say I was any good at them!

Playing a large number of instruments shouldn't be that impressive. Anyone with a Musical ear, and time, can learn an instrument. Learning the next one is easier, and so on, although mastering almost any instrument does take work and dedication.

Cheers

John

[FinnArild]

I've always said, I don't care how fancy a guitar player or a drummer can play, I want them to blend in and think about the total sound, not how much they can play leads or drum solos.

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Great point - not "how good are you" but "how good do you make others".

[hariossa]

Great point - not "how good are you" but "how good do you make others".

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Zappa once said that a band is as good as it's worst member.

[ATom2]

Zappa once said that a band is as good as it's worst member.

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That's exactly right, and if you are a solo recorder as I am most of the time, my songs are only as good as my worst part.

Nice discussion.

Tom

[john]

Hey

They're all so busy being virtuosos, as if that will make stardom. It's not all about virtuoso playing. In fact it's very little to with that. For every band with a virtuoso player, there are hundreds or even thousands of bands with a great and popular sound, that are made up of all kinds of musicians with a great deal of variety in their playing ability.

Most people are more interested in a good melody, a good rhythm, and the undefinable "something different". Strangely, these are the elements that bands tend to work on least.

The vocalist strains trying to be heard, singing their meaningful lyrics, the bass player stands off to the side of the drummer, intent on holding down a beat playing on the eighth notes, or playing so many notes that the beat is undiscernable. The drummer plays another splashy beat, waiting for his chance to play the killer fill. The keyboard player want to play with every sound he has on his mega-expensive techno-synth.

Meanwhile the guitarist poses and preens, playing some inappropriatly busy riff that sounds sort of ok because of the fantastastic preset patches on his Zoom. All the while he lurks waiting for a pause by the vocalist, then he strikes with a lightning solo to impress the friends and family who turned up to "support them". Towards the end of the track all the musicians are keen to impress the audience standing at the back of the room. Rushing towards chaos, they build to the crashing end to hear 5 people clap and a lot of people talking. If there are more friends, they might get a cheer and a shout or two.

I learnt to play several instruments partly because of experience for arranging, and partly because it's fun to try something new, and for me, to at least learn the basics that allow me to express myself with that instrument.

Most aspiring Musos seem to focus on achieving a technical Nirvana on one instrument, but techniques, and skills are primarily there to achieve something. To make something. To create, to express and to communicate.

A crappy analogy:

Imagine a carpenter turning up at your house. You asked for a beautiful new kitchen. Instead they proceed to demonstrate all the joints, carving sanding and finishing until every surface demonstrates their undoubted skill, with swirls, and notches, inlays etc it's not what most people want in their kitchen.

While you may be impressed with their amazing skill at using tools and understanding wood. But if you saw there work somewhere else, would you buy from them?

Music is a bit like that. It has to be functional. You can only break so many of the design rules at a time before it's no longer what your fans want.

There are Music genres that are very busy all the time (Rush springs to mind, or Hendrix) but they are the exceptions to the rule. I've several guitarists almost as good as Hendrix, Steve Vai etc. and none of them are famous.

Why?

They could never work in a band , as part of a team

They focused on what turned them on, not what was right for the song

Every song was a vehicle for showing off their ability

They never understood tasteful, or melodic, when it came to their or any other Music genre.

Sure you may get away with a well arranged, technique saturated song at the top, but Musicians forget:

Hendrix started as a session man, learnt the biz, made contacts and developed a reputation. So did Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck etc. They learned to be part of a band, before they took their unadulterated art to the world.

I'm knackered after all that typing. Sorry if I droned on! I'm off to bed!

Cheers

John

[ATom2]

I'm knackered after all that typing. Sorry if I droned on! I'm off to bed!

Cheers

John

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Have good nights sleep John.

You are correct in all you said.

I might post a few more thing yet tonight, but then I'm off to build a house.

[FinnArild]

Hey

They're all so busy being virtuosos, as if that will make stardom. It's not all about virtuoso playing. In fact it's very little to with that. For every band with a virtuoso player, there are hundreds or even thousands of bands with a great and popular sound, that are made up of all kinds of musicians with a great deal of variety in their playing ability.

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<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All this is, of course, true. But it doesn't mean one shouldn't try to improve on your instrument technique.

[Alistair]

All this is, of course, true. But it doesn't mean one shouldn't try to improve on your instrument technique.

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Correct - and keeping it simple is the key.

[Steve]

Have good nights sleep John.

You are correct in all you said.

I might post a few more thing yet tonight, but then I'm off to build a house.

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Is this a solo project Tom?

Watch out for those fancy kitchen installers!

[Guest olggu]

by golly!! I must be the dumbest nerd in music history!!

do you really play all that stuff?

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No Sir, that's would be me; I only have a bass and I can't play even

that, I just make some noise Klang...twang...dung..dung...crashbangbing..dung bung....