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So far, I've had three rehearsals with my ensemble. I feel like over the past 3 1/2 weeks, my playing has improved fantastically. I can't say that I'm doing anything very much differently, but I'm definitely doing what I do better than I did.
So I'm wondering.... could the things that have frustrated me about my playing been rooted more in a lack of playing experience than in any lack of knowlege or ability?
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04-04-2016 10:05 AM
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Yes. Or lack of confidence?
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Confidence and experience sort of go hand in hand, yes? I think confidence is part of it, but a good bit is just knowing what works in real-time situations, and getting those practices down to the reflexive level.
Originally Posted by henryrobinett
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Do you feel like your experience has improved your ability to play by yourself? I mean, if you're saying that you play better when you play with a certain group.... in my mind, that's an almost immediate effect a lot of the time. But long-term, it's also great experience on your general playing ability....to play with others.
It's funny how "I get worse" when there's a personnel change at a key position in the band. :-)
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I do, actually. Especially with regard to chording. And I think it's helped a lot with the memorizing. Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
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Hey that's great to hear! I love the quote by Rita Mae Brown "Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement." I take that to mean that what makes us really great at anything is often something totally different from what we are taught. We're taught to fear doing something wrong, or badly; that we aim towards perfection. But everyone I know that's touched something they find worth while has found it through making their own. In the end, you're the only teacher that really counts. That's experience. That's what they don't teach you at school.
My useless two cents
David
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David, your two cents are far from worthless. The stuff we've talked about at your hangs is bearing fruit here as well. Whenever I'm playing with this group, I'm always doing my best to play with my ears and not my eyes or fingers. I'm trying to get "off book" with the tunes as quickly as possible, and the stuff we've talked about at Westland helps there too.
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Confidence, experience...lots of things.
Sometimes too, just being around good players makes you sound better...in isolation, you hear only yourself...in a band setting, you can do more with less...I'm always surprised how good a good player can make me sound
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Originally Posted by Boston Joe
Two things,
1 - never underestimate the power of INSPIRED playing. You're probably having a lot more fun than when you're home practicing alone.
2 - You can "get away with a lot more" playing with other instruments. Something about the sound waves floating around the room, mixing with those of other instruments, makes everything sound better, even an occasional stinker..... That might be complete bs, but it's something I've noticed in the past.
Keep having fun!!!
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Certainly, I'm having a ton of fun doing this. There's no question that the excitement factor is a lot higher playing with a group than by myself. So I think that's part of it, but as I said to Matt, I do think it's had a positive effect on my playing when I'm at home. Originally Posted by vintagelove
A big part of it, I think, is that I've got a pretty strong "stopping mind." When I make a mistake, or when I draw a blank on what's next, I usually stop and try to figure out what happened, and fix it. You can't really do that in this situation. If i screw up, I just have to move on. If I get stuck, I have to either "earball it" or lay out till I find a landmark. So I may make some very obvious mistakes, but at least I'm not reinforcing my habit of stopping. And I think that knowing that I don't have that option makes me tend to be a little more on the ball, mentally.
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Playing definitely improves with other people. The "downside" though is you can't control everyone else. In some situations where another player is too loud, or maybe the bass player is not in sync with the piano player, or tempo too fast, you're stuck--have to make the best of it. I agree it's good experience, but it's also easy to get distracted and have trouble focusing on what you want to play, especially in a live setting.
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I think they do go together, mostly. Most people don't really see that. However I know there are some people who have all kinds of experience but still are plagued by self doubt. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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I can understand that. I experience a lot of self-doubt when I'm practicing and learning, but strangely enough, not so much for performances. Originally Posted by henryrobinett
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Well, one of the things that I think was frustrating me before is that my background was TOO controled. You play with a backing track and it's the same vanilla stuff all the time. Playing with people forces you to react. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
I try not to have too much of an agenda about what I "want to play." I figure that's mainly ego. I want playing jazz to be like having a conversation. I might have something on my mind, but I'm not wedded to a particular way to say it.
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I have rare bouts of self doubt when practicing. That's what practicing is about -- you and the guitar and the music. No one else is witness. I'm there to whittle away my mistakes. But when I'm playing with some awe inspiring musicians doing some song I don't know like I might or should and the tempo's at the bare limits of my comfort zone, yeah that's when I suffer doubt. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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Jazz is fundamentally not about one person playing solo, and definitely not about one person playing to a backing track. It's ensemble music. Nothing teaches you that faster than actually playing with ensembles. Nothing teaches you about comping for others better than comping for others. Nothing teaches you about soloing over an improvising rhythm section faster than soloing over an improvising rhythm section. That has certainly been my experience, anyway.
John
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Gigging with the group tonight. First time I've played out in what seems like forever. Very excited (also a little nervous).
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Best of luck! I haven't gigged in many years (and that was a rock band) but I was always nervous until we started to play, and any nerves I had kind of subsided as the songs rolled on. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
Most importantly, have a good time!
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That's usually my pattern too. I'm pretty confident in the group, so I'm sure once we get swinging it'll be fine. Originally Posted by JSanta
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So the gig was decent. A little sloppy (as befits a group of amateurs who've only been playing together a month), but generally not bad.
My playing was very conservative, I think just because of nerves. I didn't push the harmony too much, I just kind of went with what was most accessible. I think this is OK for a shakedown gig, but I'm hoping to get to the point where I comfortable playing some of the more dissonant things I practice at home.
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Yes. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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Playing with other musicians is the most important learning experience.
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It's not like I've never done it before, but I've been doing more of it in the past month. Originally Posted by christianm77
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It's best to do it lots. I keep having to remind myself that. Aside from gigs which are the ultimate learning experience but not a place to work on things, one of the best things I've done recently is organise a regular weekly play. we get some great work done that would be so much less fun and a lot harder on your own. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
I think the way to look at practice is that it's just there to prepare you for playing with other players. I'm starting to see it more that way. I find it too easy to fetishise practice.
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Yeah, but not always that easy. This is a big jazz town, and the guys who are good and want to play a lot are, by and large, pros. I'm not good enough to go pro (and don't have the time/desire to live poor again), and a lot of the amateur players around, well... suck. Originally Posted by christianm77
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