Preferences on attractive playing

[Jimmy Smith]

I was having trouble with getting in the zone and playing music that I thought had merit even though I'd execute stuff reasonably. I realized that I was neglecting whole devices that I think make organ playing attractive and just going through vanilla motions. So I thought duh, make a list of all the things that make organ playing expressive / interesting / exciting to you and then practice doing them and then combine them in performance. So here is my list of my preferences of attractive playing, adapted for organ.

1. Good time / time feel.
Non - negotiable! It has to have good time. Steady tempo, precise rhythms, flexibility to play off the established tempo for effect pushing or lagging within phrases.

2. Some fast rhythms.
I know some people say just play good music, it doesn't have to be shreddy. Never using any fast rhythms doesn't do it for me. I want some shreds and rhythmic excitement. Especially for organ since there's not much expression in the tone creation like sax or even guitar or piano.

3. Cool, crisp, pretty chords.
I like the sound of lush Hammond chord movements.

4. Expanding the harmony.
Being a Monk fan, I contemplated if I should try to learn to play with a conservative pallet of tonalities / colors or if I should make it a rule of thumb to bring the Monk / expanded harmonies to every tune. I decided that yes, I definitely want to make it a rule of thumb to try to expand the harmony more or less on each tune. Doesn't always have to be maximum Monk and spooky, but I think I want to make it a rule of thumb to be creative with the harmony and adapt its use for the tune.

5. Bluesy riffs and lines.
Definitely have to have the blues vocab down for Hammond.

6. Angular stuff.
I like angular lines like stuff that incorporate wide intervals or shifty pent etc.

7. Sequencing, getting into it, and hyping it up.
I find simply sequencing ideas is a great way to get into it.

8. Being emotive or dramatic.
I debated whether to try to play with restraint like some straight ahead players do. But I realized it's definitely more my style to throw some emotive stuff in since that's how I am.

[pauln]

When one wonders what should be played and how should it be played, the common answer is something like play the right thing and play it right. The key to the right what and how is musical judgement with respect to some perspective that provides foundation for discrimination among the devices, techniques, methods, approaches, etc. I like the ancients' three transcendentals (Truth, Goodness, Beauty) with respect to Jazz Music as a foundation (at least a starting point) for musical judgement.

Truth = Authentic (conforming)
Goodness = Appropriate (suitable)
Beauty = Alluring (attractive)

[Christian Miller]

If you can’t improvise something nice, compose something nice. Or steal something.