Duke Ellington's "Most Important Thing" For Musicians
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2024
- There's a problem with your music... you're not paying enough attention to the art of listening. And if you think: "But I DO listen!" then this video explains why that's probably not the case...
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Chapters
0:00 You're missing something that's vital for your music
0:24 Duke Ellington's "most important thing"
0:45 You think you're listening - here's why you're not
2:47 Why this improves your playing
4:14 Why it helps with nerves
5:34 An extra tip for improvisers
7:15 How to put these ideas into practice
8:18 What comes next?
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All to right. We play and do our own thing; in a group (what ever it consists of) or on your own, as I do on an organ but often we fail to hear or imagine what the listeners are hearing. John R. ALCM
Yes, it is important to be connected to the music. I wonder if it is easier to do the more familiar you are with a piece.
This is true in life. Not just music. Listening & being present for both yourself & others. Also, practice not paying attention. I listened to this video twice. Thank you.
At time stamp 6:50, I relly like the exercise of continuing a solo started by another player !
this is so true and easier said than done for people struggling with their instrument or the music they are trying to play. Even without struggle there are people who do just their thing, but being able to interact with band members through true listening is so much more interesting also for the audience.
Great reminder, especially important in smaller combos (trios, quartets with vocalists/soloists). Hard to do in a Big Band!
Absolutely vital advice. Well done for pointing this out. My whole experience in music has been because I understood from the very beginning, the importance of listening to hear what is happening with the sounds/tones/notes...etc. Cheers!
Glad you enjoyed it. And great that you've been keyed into active listening right from the very beginning.
Yes! Listening is a skill that you can hone and practice. And you can apply it to all the music you hear, even pop and rock. If you make it a practice to hear all the chords in the music you listen to, and identify them by their scale tones and their functions (Tonic, Dominant, and Subdominant) you can exercise this "muscle" of listening. Just get into the habit, and it will take you far. And listen to the melody notes too. Eventually, every piece of music will lay itself out in all its dimensions of melody, harmony, and rhythm, just in the act of listening to it.
Yes, it's amazing how much detail lies beneath the surface if you take the time to explore.
Great advice!!!👍❤️
Glad it was helpful, Cecilia!
Marsalis said in his book that Jazz was about musical dialogue. In other words listening then speaking! Like any language however it can sometimes take a lot of listening before you can speak & be understood.
Absolutely. And I'd suggest that a lot of us aren't always that good at listening even in a "normal" conversation...
I hear you, but I also try to hear me. I am an amateur (mostly) jazz pianist. I seldom perform for others. I play solo piano at home for my own enjoyment and mental challenge. For years, I have tried to listen to myself to improve what I am playing, but the focus required to hear the sounds in my head before I play them divides my concentration on what I hear as I play them because I need to continue planning ahead. I set up a sound system with microphones so I can record myself. So THEN, I can playback and focus entirely on what I did. That's when I'm most likely to catch little irregularities with timing and problems with articulation. So, yes; listen to ourselves while playing as much as possible without interfering with the next phrase we need to play but set up an easy way to record what we are doing and review that with full concentration.
When I have played in small groups (in my past), I had to listen to the other musicians and play in response to what they were doing. That is an entirely different thing. I remember being quite inspired by what others were playing, and that fed back into what I was playing. Playing in a group is an intense mutual conversation, and you can't have a good conversation without being able to listen.
When you're listening to yourself you're not trying to listen for mistakes and judge whether it's good or not. Like you say, recording yourself and listening back later is a better tool here.
What you do want to do, though, is be very aware of what you just played so that what you play NEXT can relate to it rather than being disconnected.
Exemples please!
Examples of what, exactly? I could record a video of me listening carefully vs not listening, but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference because it's going to look exactly the same from the outside. The difference is inside my head! I'd love to find a way to demonstrate that, but I can't immediately think of one...
@@PlayInTheZone No offense here. I was trying to figure out what it means to "listen". However, I have found that jazz players have a better "ear" and play in osmosis with other players. They don't just play in their little corner. There is a constant give or take relationship in the building of harmony. Not a sermon, just a thought!
You can look and look but not see. You can listen and Listen and not here