Leaving space

[SammieWammie]

Hi everybody, seeking more advice/opinions. In chord melodies how much space is allowed while playing solo jazz guitar? Well anything is allowed but how much until the audience loses track of the piece is more what I'm after.

I am thinking more about the average listener rather than a jazz musician. I've found that a musician can hear so much more in a piece rather than anybody who will just hear music (if that makes sense), so essentially different people get different things out of listening. E.g a musician could appreciate Monk's playing but many many other people just hear the dissonance and very unusual playing, so they don't like it.

Also with single note lines, how long before an audience may lose track since there's no backup?

Just curious, what have you found with this? What do you do or like the sound of, just looking for opinions and ideas so I can develop my style.

Also I just thought of this now, since backup would be keeping the beat all neat and tidy leaving a soloist to work around it, how necessary do you find it to keep the beat obvious while playing solo?

[TruthHertz]

Where are you playing? What Genre? What's the music? What's the tune?
The answer will be different depending on the situation, Sammie. What kind of music do you listen to yourself, and what does that person do?
If you're playing a crowded bar and you're competing with a big screen TV and a lot of talking, you like Joe Pass and you just want to keep things moving, then don't play Round Midnite with a lot of Monkish pauses in it.
If you're at a dinner party or an art gallery and people gather around you to listen to you or listen while they quietly appreciate the space you can give them, it might not be appropriate to play a steady stream or eighth notes with a looper, and then again it might.
Are you asking for the amount of time, in seconds, that you be allowed to use as a whole note rest? Or how much time do you wait between songs to drink a glass of water?
Where are you playing these days? What feels right to you? Don't you have a feeling for what an audience wants? Go with that.
Space is a very personal thing. It's determined by your ability to use it. Practice making your musical content appropriate and maybe the idea of space will be less of a question.
Personally, I go with the 8.3 second rule. More than that within a song and it starts to sound like I got lost or I'm having an epileptic episode; especially if it comes in the middle of my Cottontail transcription.

As far as your original posting topic: Leaving Space. It's VERY important that your re-entry angle not be to deep or you'll burn up in the atmosphere, nor too shallow that you skip off the outer atmosphere and bounce into deep space or the sun God forbid.
Good rule of thumb. Space travel, work it out really well before hand. Your life depends on it. Playing guitar, rely on your gut and some common sense: it's not rocket science.
David

[bako]

Silence in music is not the act of stopping sound, it is a meaningful part of a phrase, part of the audible content.
The music itself answers your question.

It is hard to project what will be the experience of a listener and so I start with the assumption that a person will be able to understand my ideas if I can present them convincingly.

[Jazzaluk]

Music is no different than language when you talk about space if you don't put any punctuation or speak in complete sentences then the tolerance level will go down and eventually your audience won't listen to what you have to say spaces allow the audiance to breathe as well as the player the art is a matter of putting them in the correct place

[eddy b.]

Hey Sammie I had a 4hour solo gig once a week for 3years at a pizza place,$50 plus tips and a pie, it was one of the best gigs I've had for development etc. One of the things I figured out on this gig was the illusion of solo guitar, meaning how to make it sound like the bass line is still there when it isn't, how to make it sound like I'm playing lines when I'm not how to make it sound like I'm playing chords when I'm not.I think of solo guitar as a juggling act of three or four components..the melody, the harmony, the bass line, and the improvisation...the trick is to not spend too much time on one component...and the space or pregnant pause is most effective when it is obvious that it is intended, on purpose, not the result of being lost or at a loss for an idea. You might approach solo guitar like a game of hot potato don't play lines so long that you notice you are playing lines, don't walk bass through an entire chorus etc. try mixing it up every four measure or at the natural phrases of the tune. Check out Tuck Andress to hear a true Master of solo jazz guitar. Peace and have fun!!!

[SammieWammie]

Originally Posted by bako

It is hard to project what will be the experience of a listener and so I start with the assumption that a person will be able to understand my ideas if I can present them convincingly.

Nice way of doing it.