| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Looking Up | |
| JHMurray -- 08/01/2005, 19:09:39 -- #17143 | |
| I'm sure many here have long since learned this, but it's a lesson I'm just now experiencing. I've recently come to realize that I've always depended too much on sight while playing. That is, I'm always looking at the keys. Lately on my solo gig I'm making more of a conscious effort to look around the room and I'm surprized at how much I can still play. I think if you can connect visually with the audience, the music too, will reach better. I find if I'm looking down constantly, it's easy to get lost in my own little world. This is even more important when playing in a group. Naturally the more you can watch the band, the more together you're going to play. Intuition just seems stronger. Reason number two, on my gig especially, there are stunningly beautiful women walking by all the time and to miss any of them would be a shame. That in itself is sufficient musical inspiration for me any day, as long as I'm careful not to lose my concentration. Jim | |
| Scot -- 08/01/2005, 20:36:24 -- #17144 | |
| If you know a tune, look down or closing your eyes is a great way to disconnect from both your audience and your band. I have to get out of the habit of closing my eyes. I rely on my ears to hear what is going on so much that I forget to look around. Both Bill Mays and George Cables mentioned this to me last week. George Cables also said that using music on paper is a great way to disconnect from the music as well. Then when I asked him how he approaches memorizing tunes, he said he plays them a lot then simply removes the music paper and plays them without it. It sounds simple, you know, but I would go about a more methodical approach in the past. But in the last day and a half I've picked up a dozen "new" tunes that I needed to use the music on in the past. I played them a few times with music, then took it away and struggled through them a few times, but then all of a sudden I knew the tune. Kind of a side track, but when you know the tune, you can keep your eyes on your band mates and/or the audience better. | |
| Mike -- 08/02/2005, 01:10:13 -- #17156 | |
| also you can not sight read if you have to look at your hands when you play.... Solution any music you can play from memory ... when you are practicing play blindfolded. This will break your habit of being dependent upon looking at your hands while playing, greatly improve your ability to scope out the babes on gigs and ultimately therefore improve your pickup per gig ratio. | |
| JHMurray -- 08/02/2005, 08:11:37 -- #17159 | |
| Scot, it's funny you mentioned Bill Mays and George Cables. They are two players that I just "discovered" lately. Also it's interesting that you went to Port Townsend. I was just there in April for the first time, visiting my sister who lives there. I had no idea there was that jazz workshop there. | |
| SolArt -- 08/02/2005, 17:04:24 -- #17205 | |
| It can get damn hard when you have a real jumping around involved left hand to play a complicated right hand over it without periodically checking out what each individual hand is doing. At least I find that to be the case more often than not. Ha ha, when you see a pulse-raising woman play some flowery grace notes & other ornamentations to reflect that! Or break into YOU MUST HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL BABY, THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA (oh how I love her so madly...)etc! | |
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