WHY IT MAKES YOU MORE USEFUL:
When you embrace a song, no matter how simple, you set yourself up to play the best possible version of that song for your circumstances.
WHAT TO DO:
Drop the posing and respect the song. Simple songs, good simple songs are hard to write, and deserve respect. Don’t believe that you can improve the song by adding something really clever and complicated—you probably can’t. Relax, play simply, play only what’s needed, and enjoy the music. Concentrate on making the song feel good. If you’re not enjoying the song, chances are your audience isn’t either.
THOUGHTS:
Complicated doesn’t = good, simple doesn’t = bad. That’s missing the point.
One night at rehearsal I said to my band, “This weekend let’s play ‘Wild Thing’ by The Troggs. There was eye-rolling, and ‘come on, man’, and ‘Jeez, Ed—that song is just so dumb.’ But I held my ground, and that weekend in front of a crowd I turned to the band and said, “We’re doing Wild Thing. I got a feeling about this one.”
To the audience, I said, “We’re going straight for the gutter.” And then I turned my amp up loud and played the opening chords—loud, raucous, utterly devoid of finesse. I hit the guitar strings so hard they rattled on the fretboard. The reaction was electric. Chairs scraped back, people jostled each other to get out on the dance floor and the looks of joy on their faces was, well—it was just so much fun. Playing a complex song onstage, and playing it well is satisfying, no doubt—but it’s not NEARLY as much fun as someone leaping to their feet and saying to their neighbor, “Oh, I LOVE this song!!”
This is an excerpt from my book, “The Useful Musician”. Available on Amazon
theusefulmusician.com 