(This is an excerpt from my book, “The Useful Musician” available on Amazon)
WHY IT MAKES YOU MORE USEFUL:
Doing this in rehearsal and onstage helps bring the feel, or the groove of the song alive.It makes the song jump.
WHAT TO DO:
Get the basic groove of the song into your bones—what the drums are playing, the bass, the whole overall feel, and then project that entire feel into the part you’re playing on your instrument. Whatever the big, important things are in the song, project them with your instrument. Work on this alone until you can telegraph the whole feel of the song with just your instrument.
You should be able to get the basic feel of the whole thing into someone’s ears all by yourself. Start with this: listen to the drums and see if you can imitate the beat you hear. Concentrate on emphasizing the 2 & 4 beats, trying to jump in on the feeling of them
THOUGHTS:
Here’s a metaphor, and maybe it will help:
Think of pieces of glass lying on the ground on a sunny day. Back up from those pieces scattered all around, and you see a single image of the sun reflected in all the pieces. Get down close and you see the entire sun reflected in each piece. You are one of those pieces. Great musicians are always good at this.
If you want a wonderful example of this, check out ‘Dion – The Wanderer At Lunch’ on YouTube. All they’re doing is singing, but you can feel the whole thing right there in his voice and his hands. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Here’s another one—‘Van Halen doing their huge hit ‘Panama’ on just acoustic instruments. Find it on YouTube and listen. Do you hear how they manage to telegraph the whole thing, the excitement, all of it, without any of the big equipment?
In the end, you might not change the actual part you play very much to do this, but you’ll project so much more feeling into the song. Remember—the part you play is part of the greater whole, and it all has to fit together. The audience isn’t hearing all the parts, they’re hearing the song coming at them as one instrument. Do your best to be a part of that instrument. ◆◆◆
theusefulmusician.com 