The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #51

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    This is how most guitarplayers proces dissapointment:


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #52

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    You're lucky of you have regular jazz gigs. I was struck by a comment from Pat Martino during an interview. He said sometimes when he thinks he's smoked the room, people will ask him if he's feeling OK. Other times when he feels he performed poorly, people will come up to him raving about his performance. Everybody has probably experienced this, but it's interesting coming from a technical master who rarely played a bum note. I'll listen to a recording one day and think that was average. Another day, the exact same recording blows me away. Mood and perception are fickle. It might help to remember that. Of course, if you crashed badly and it's obvious to everyone, that's another story but it happens rarely. Remember, if you make a mistake scowl at the piano player.

  4. #53

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    I've had a couple good friends who are (one) or were (the other) notable opera singers, bass-baritone and tenor.

    Bass-bari has done much of Europe and US including numerous Met performances up to Wotan in the Ring. Tenor was to the Dramatic voice also, noted for Othello and other powerful roles.

    Both have noted that disconnect thing.

    Some nights you feel your FLYING and the audience and maybe even your on stage peers seem falling asleep.

    Another night you think you SUCK and the audience goes ape. Though as long as the others on stage feel the same as you (hey, you're off, it happens, look at at audience like WTF???) it's ok. Mostly.

    But when you think you suck, the audience is going ape, and your peers are staring in awe, that's mentally brutal. Very disorienting.

    You live for the nights when you know you're flying, the audience is ENORMOUS, and your peers are struggling to keep in character and remember their entrances until they get so involved with the show they're flying also.

    And the whole show goes AMAZING.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

  5. #54
    I remember my first pro session in Nashville when I was pretty young. I made some mistakes and wanted to overdub them to correct them.The old country producer looked at me and said " son,the farmers dont know and the teenagers dont care". Whoever said how well you dress and only you hear most your mistakes is right in my experience.When the cash register is ringin the band is swingin . I have heard one old jazzer say there is no such thing as a wrong note if you resolve it correctly. Well,maybe in a solo at least.Ha Ha!!!

  6. #55
    [QUOTE=Marcel_A;1126311]This is how most guitarplayers proces dissapointment: Looks like Prince with somebody else rare borrowed vintage guitar see captain kirks guitar stories episode 10 YT
    El Kabong Lives On!!!

  7. #56

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    Last night I was playing Tarrega's "Prelude in E Major/Andante Sostenuto" on CG and played it as perfectly as possible until the very last note: an octave harmonic on low E/sixth string/12th fret. I didn't miss it, but it didn't ring as clearly as it should have been played. And, my immediate thought was: if I were playing this for a live audience, would it have been noticed? The answer for 99% is "no." Only another musician would have heard it. So . . . . performance anxiety can be summed up very easily:

    If you are afraid of mistakes . . . don't play live.

    Play live . . . Marinero

  8. #57

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    The musician's proper direct answer to how to handle disappointment after a bad gig is to develop a strategy and method of not producing subsequent bad gigs. This is different from seeking self rationalizations so one feels better about it (convincing oneself that the audience doesn't really hear the music, etc.).

    The context here is mistakes (of which there are a few categories), but of which we are focused on mistakes of execution and musical judgement. The question becomes, why are mistakes occurring and what is to be done so they don't occur. One can practice until mistakes don't happen - following the idea:

    "Amateurs practice until they get it right;
    Pros practice until they never get it wrong
    ."

    However, something is left out of that, which is that the practice setting is not the performance setting. Things that you can do perfectly every time during practice may be subject to mistakes during performance because of various influences effecting focus, attention, memory, hearing, and anxiety (mood, distractions, nervousness, ambiguous sound stage, and self/audience awareness).

    Those that have played the guitar for a while will have noticed when practicing that some things you play you always get right, and some things you play you don't always get right. Part of practicing is noticing this and focusing time on the things you don't always get right, until you do, at least when practicing.

    Getting something right is not just for "set things" - specific lines or chords you do the same way each time (where a wrong note or wrong chord would be a "hard error"). There are also "soft errors" involving choices among multiple ways to do something (improvising/comping)... For example, you invent an exercise in which you take a song you know and you play through the progression chords. Then, you play through it again but this time you use a different form of the chords for each (a "neutral reharmonization", not changing the chord types, but just deliberately voicing them in different inversions in different positions). You do this to learn how, but also to learn which of the multiple choices best express the tune's harmonies. An eventual "soft error" here would not be playing the wrong chords, but mis-choosing an ugly or awkward sounding version of a chord instance within the context of the song progression. Getting it wrong is not just hard errors of executing wrong notes or chords, but also soft errors comprising various slips of musical judgement resulting in poor choices.

    So, what to do if getting it right in practice every time is not enough for sure performance, and musical judgement relies so much on sharp focus, strong attention, firm memory, quick hearing, and minimal anxiety, all these factors subject to the variations of disrupting influences of the performance setting?

    I suggest a path forward is awareness, assessment, management, and development of personal limits and levels:

    "A man’s got to know his limitations."

    Notice that "limitations" is plural, which may suggest levels of limitation. So something like this is how I see it:

    Level 1 - What can I do perfectly every time within even the worst of circumstances?

    This is how I would perform on stage in spite of having the flu, and something wonky going on with my instrument, and having just gotten bad news, or any number of other issues. Each of us has this intrinsic primary level of performance which is impervious. The point is that this minimum limitation level must be developed to the point where the audiences are satisfied that they experienced a good show... in effect, when at one's worst, what is produced is plenty good enough.

    Level 2 - What can I do perfectly every time when all is going well?

    This is the most likely scenario, and this level more represents how I think of my playing ability. This is where I'm free from issues and have the mental "head room" to raise the bar with confidence. If things change so all does not go well for a bit, I may down-shift into Level 1 until things get back to all well. The audience will consider this to have been a great show.

    Level 3 - What can I do perfectly every time when everything is peaking perfect?

    Sometimes I slip into a period during a performance when something magical happens. Everything; the rest of the band, my instrument, the way I feel, and the audience response... everything converges into a uncanny clarity and confidence; the raised bar nowhere in sight. I up-shift into Level 3 and play my literal best.

    The importance of performance is learning where these level limits apply to yourself so you know what to work when practicing:

    "Performance informs you what to practice!"
    Last edited by pauln; 06-06-2021 at 08:05 PM.

  9. #58

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    " Part of practicing is noticing this and focusing time on the things you don't always get right, until you do, at least when practicing."
    pauln

    Well written post, P!
    The above quote nails it to its core. Never practice what you can play . . . practice what you can't. I can pull a piece of music from a 1- 20 year sleep and see if I've improved since what once was a struggle now is learned memory. We all like to hear ourselves play, but there will be no progress unless you get the "clinkers" correct.
    Play live . . . Marinero

  10. #59

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    " Part of practicing is noticing this and focusing time on the things you don't always get right, until you do, at least when practicing."
    pauln

    Well written post, P!
    The above quote nails it to its core. Never practice what you can play . . . practice what you can't. I can pull a piece of music from a 1- 20 year sleep and see if I've improved since what once was a struggle now is learned memory. We all like to hear ourselves play, but there will be no progress unless you get the "clinkers" correct.
    Play live . . . Marinero
    Yes, for best results in practicing and performing:
    When practicing play what you can't get right yet.
    When performing, play what you always get right.

  11. #60

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    From an interview with Frank Gambale and others talking about Chick Corea. (paraphrased)

    Frank: I'd like to fix my solo on the end of this track before we release it, I don't like what I played at the end of it.


    Chick: Then why did you play it?

  12. #61

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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnoL
    From an interview with Frank Gambale and others talking about Chick Corea. (paraphrased)

    Frank: I'd like to fix my solo on the end of this track before we release it, I don't like what I played at the end of it.


    Chick: Then why did you play it?
    How to handle disappointment after a bad gig?-chick-corea-advice-jpg

  13. #62

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    Last night I was playing Tarrega's "Prelude in E Major/Andante Sostenuto" on CG and played it as perfectly as possible until the very last note: an octave harmonic on low E/sixth string/12th fret. I didn't miss it, but it didn't ring as clearly as it should have been played. And, my immediate thought was: if I were playing this for a live audience, would it have been noticed? The answer for 99% is "no." Only another musician would have heard it. So . . . . performance anxiety can be summed up very easily:

    If you are afraid of mistakes . . . don't play live.

    Play live . . . Marinero
    Since it was the very last note they might have noticed.
    People tend to notice beginnings and endings, what happens in between not so much.
    To quote the late great jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli
    "You must begin well and end well"

  14. #63
    When TOP was in my area I went early and got Rocco to autograph one of my TOP CDs. I dont usually do that. But he was one of the best bass players in history if you want to FUNKAFIZE!!!

  15. #64
    I remember Rocco saying I dont know why people make such a big deal over somebody moving their hands around on a piece of wood with some wires in it. Sometimes I sure agree.

  16. #65

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    Since it was the very last note they might have noticed.
    People tend to notice beginnings and endings, what happens in between not so much.
    To quote the late great jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli
    "You must begin well and end well"
    Well, for me, W,
    It didn't end to my standards which was disappointing since the piece flowed so nicely. However, there would be no problems for me playing it again with any reservations. Perhaps, mentally, I finished the piece before the last octave harmonic. However, this is why I love the challenge of playing live. Love the Grappelli quote!
    Play live . . . Marinero . . . with special attention to harmonics . . .

  17. #66

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    One of my favorites since forever is Ralph Towner. Not the cleanest player around but it doesn't seem to bother him. Maybe partly to do with his early ECM sessions that were done in a couple of days with no second chances.

    Something that causes him to make a lot of mistakes:

    I get into trouble and make a lot of mistakes if I’m performing and some kind of verbal thought enters my mind. The speed of verbal language is so slow and unwieldy compared to music. If I even have a thought like “Oh, that was beautiful” while I’m playing, I’ll immediately lose my place and my whole musical train of thought. When I’m playing, I’m making decisions so fast and it’s not about words. The tones, harmony and meter are changing so quickly. I’m conjuring these things up as I play. That holds true even if I’m reading music. When I’m improvising, I also have to be totally focused. Any sort of judgmental thoughts like “I hope people like this,” “This feels good” or “I’m feeling awful” pulls me away from the speed I have to maintain to improvise really well. So, I try not to be distracted and pulled into the verbal world when I’m playing. I feel quite strong about this.
    (OTOH, listening to a classical piece with mistakes just grates on me.)

  18. #67

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    Mistakes on a performance just gives me more specific things to add to the practice list. I hit it hard the next day, for the next couple of weeks, more or less. Sometimes I can't see the problem underneath the surface. It's more than not just knowing the head well enough or momentarily forgetting the changes, or losing the phrasing on fast tempos. That's the obvious symptom I work on. But trying to find the underlining cause is the real detective work.

    I almost never get upset though. I've played so many gigs over th years it's like water off a duck. But if you've only played 10 gigs or so, making a mistake can feel devastating.