It is my profoundest opinion that playing music in a band cannot be accomplished without delving into its philosophical side. In fact, I was getting concerned enough that JJ and I were making too much progress without having any differences that I finally prodded him into speaking up. I assured him that I expected confrontations and that I would not quit now no matter what he said. Today is a chronicle of what was revealed, often resorting to said philosophy.
Music is an industry where you can have a lifetime of experience and still be dead wrong about even being in a band. The point is that my background as a band manager easily encompasses most anything a musician can tell me about music, but it never, never, never works the other way around. Without exception, no matter what musicians know about music, it does not apply to playing in a band unless they’ve approached it from a management point of view. It’s the one reason bands come and go, but managers and agents live forever.
This describes some fundamental divergences between JJ and I. Allow me to detail this subject as a kind of “inside” on bands that you can’t get from any course, book, school, or apprenticeship. Do not conclude JJ and I are arguing, we just comparing opposing viewpoints. JJ’s perspective is that of a musician, mine is that of a musician PLUS that of a band manager. Having done both effectively, I never confuse the two, whereas 100% of all musicians I’ve ever met conclude they are one and the same thing. It’s like musicians have never noticed that foot soldiers don’t make good generals. I’ve never had a band fail that allowed me a free hand.
JJ believes with the right sheet music one makes the most money by playing virtually any song the audience may request. Aha, the traditional stance of an experienced musician. My background says that you cannot possibly please everyone and that no band that ever existed can do a good job of too many pieces of music. Aha, the standpoint of a manager and musician. Note how my position covers both disciplines.
Most musicians only think they know about management. That’s why there are many startups and few successes. The old saying goes there are no bad bands, just bad managers. You better believe it or you will in no way understand what I say next. I say the most money comes NOT from having a vast repertoire, but from doing an outstanding job on select music that showcases the talents (plural) involved. You will not disappoint the worst audience IF you have crackerjack material. Even the wrong crowd will listen to a good job, but fake it and you are toast. I suggest those who disagree should try it my way before talking back.
Here’s an example of a situation where management and labor differ. JJ and I readily agree that someone making a request will appreciate you at least trying, which represents the conventional musician’s inflexible thought pattern. As a musician, I get it. But now step into my office, where a request is a strong signal that somebody is bored. It is unwise to feed one dog in a pack--unless he’s waving a hundred dollar bill. My counter-claim is that I’ve played rooms so well that they were anxiously curious what I would spring on them next. Nobody dared make a request.
Next, why don’t I believe in sheet music? It can never capture the feeling of a song, and today we put that to the test. Let me back track a little to say I underestimated JJ’s age. He has been playing professionally for more years than I have been alive. His opinions are to be respected; we put music, not opinions to the test. I had him show me how he accompanies the auto-chord. Then I asked JJ to turn that function completely off.
Thence, I showed JJ how I would play a country style pattern without any accompaniment if I was a keyboard player. He was wide-eyed. He tried to play what I just did but could not, his fingers would not obey. There you go. He asked me to write it out and I was ready for that, too. He went wide-eyed again, shocked that there were only five notes on my chart. I was careful to assure him he would, with practice, be able to do what I just did. Less is more, but it requires restraint.
As a manager and a musician, I know what has to happen better than taking just one side. (Boxers need trainers, right?) I still have cards I didn’t play, for I have Grade 8 in classical piano. Experience, by itself, cannot explain why JJ, with 50+ years on the job, could not play that five-note riff. I should mention I was polite enough to use two hands.
[Author’s note: It is partially because it was a guitar riff, and not many people consider that the logical array of guitar notes is from lowest to highest, due to the nature of the way that instrument is laid out. To play guitar on a piano, you have to mentally lock out ever playing a note lower than the last one, and the fingers won’t abide by the brain without a little unlearning.]
I was further careful to assure JJ that once he began to play such patterns, he would quickly prefer to turn off the generic auto-chording. I was surprised he agreed so readily. I went on to show him how by taking away each layer of music, first the drums, then the lower keyboard notes, then the auto-chord and so on until he was playing only a sparse right hand, that we could do a fantastic version of the song that the audience wasn’t expecting. He’s always assumed a rhythmic and busy piano line was all that was ever needed. Wrong.
I’ve belabored often to anyone who will listen this business about working hard to capture the feeling of a song and keep it simple. I may have a convert, but mainly for the negative reason that he could not naturally play the riff. Myself, I don’t make a good keyboard player because of an ancient wrist injury and the fact that I can’t get musically expressive enough (for contemporary music) due to my Mozart background.
In conclusion, a lot of turf was covered in our two-hour meeting today. I was ready with my compromise of not faking 200 songs without actually refusing to do so. It was that we stick to learning 40 tunes along the lines of these new piano riffs that he finds fascinating, using the process to garner knowledge of the other guy’s style, then only at that point begin faking music, which he can see we would, by then, be rather damn good at it. We rehearse again tomorrow.
Why is philosophy so hard to put in writing?
