Letting go

The period between Christmas and New Year's has been traditionally a time for me to get some practicing in, and now, with a new lockdown as a possibility, there are even less demands on me than ever, due to no gigs!

Anyway,

I stumbled on to a couple of 5 and 7 beat things I liked, within both 4/4 and 3/4 time. (I might put them up on a future post).

And your next question should be "SO WHAT?"

That is a truly valid question, because as I was developing these ideas I was struck by the fact that I may never play these live. Maybe in a solo, but the likelihood of playing them within a group context is extremely low. But yet I still persist, because…..

-Any of these overlapping metre things help me tighten up my time, no matter what I'm playing.

- Finding new grooves and orchestrations perpetuates itself, and keeps the flow of new ideas going.

-Hearing long odd phrases helps my concentration and keeping track of time signatures and forms.

And here's the thing. If any of these things work their way into my playing on a gig, it will have happened organically. The days of me trying to justify things I've worked on to satisfy my ego are over, thank God!

So, if I'm on a gig and they call "Back In Black" or a Country Waltz, and I try to shoehorn this stuff in, I'M BEING A TOTAL DOOFUS AND WILL LIKELY NEVER PLAY WITH THAT BAND AGAIN!!!!!

And, if I'm on a gig and I attempt to play the AC/DC tune or a Country Waltz, and it sucks, GUESS WHAT THE NEXT THING I PRACTICE SHOULD BE?????

Find your role within what ever the music you're playing is, and then play the crap out of it!

Also, Happy New Year! :)