| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Solo Piano | |
| Adam1226 -- 08/08/2005, 20:19:38 -- #17418 | |
| Do you think it's necessary to play with others to eventually become a good solo player? | |
| Scot -- 08/08/2005, 20:21:56 -- #17420 | |
| It depends on what kind of solo piano you are into. If you want to be well rounded and play solo piano with good time and feel, it doesn't hurt to play with other people. Plus, playing with other people expands your musical vocabulary and mind. If you always play solo piano, then you will always sound like you play solo piano. Why not just mix it up and play in all sorts of different musician set ups? | |
| Ole -- 08/09/2005, 08:15:01 -- #17426 | |
| playing together with a good bassplayer may give you new ideas for reharmonization and help you to build good bass lines in your solo gigs. | |
| SolArt -- 08/10/2005, 14:49:11 -- #17486 | |
| I say playing with others is immensely beneficial and enlightening. It's very annoying to hear a band in which the keys player seems to think he's all alone. Playing with others gives you all sorts of ideas you may not come up with otherwise. Plus often when I play I vividly imagine the other instruments, often using my mouth at times for the bass or drums! I wager the listener's minds may fill in too if they're hip & your notes suggest this. I may have a different slant than most as my accompanying favorite is a goooood acoustic guitarist. | |
| Mike -- 08/13/2005, 12:35:55 -- #17550 | |
| Conversly it can be annoying for a solo pianist to hear pianist giging as a solo pianist playing just as if there were an entire band obviously having taken no time to study or show respect to the great traditions of solo piano piano playing. Some of the greatest pianist of all time were very reluctant as solo pianists because they knew they had not practiced the traditions of solo jazz piano and were really ensemble pianist. Bill Evans was one of these. | |
| 7 -- 08/13/2005, 13:46:15 -- #17562 | |
| Do you think it's necessary to play with others to eventually become good at playing with yourself? ;) Playing with others gives you ideas that you wouldn't necessarily come across all by yourself. As a source of new ideas, playing with others is invaluable. Playing with others is also an excellent way to get a feel for rhythm. Having heard many solo pianists in bars and restaurants all over the world, it is surprising how many of these solo players have absolutely zero sense of time. While this is not a problem for the typical uncaring non-listening audience member, it drives me nuts. | |
| JHMurray -- 08/13/2005, 18:19:40 -- #17576 | |
| Necessary? Maybe not. But it sure can't hurt. My question is why would anyone want to play only solo? | |
| skhlentzos -- 08/13/2005, 21:43:48 -- #17579 | |
| Playing with others regularly is my greatest problem. Im just gonna finish my final exams... not much time till they're over... Due to my classical piano (always solo) performing, and my lack of playing with others, I'm one of those solo players 7 mentioned with a pretty sloppy sense of time. I find myself looking at the keys and then i look up and im out... :( Whats a good way to practice playing in time? Apart from the number one way, playing with others of course :P does playing with a metronome help at all? Because my jamming opportunities are pretty scarce at the moment... | |
| 7 -- 08/13/2005, 21:56:24 -- #17580 | |
| My question is why would anyone want to play only solo? Because typically you make more money. Whats a good way to practice playing in time? Yes, playing with a metronome helps (although I hate the damn things). Other options are playing with a drum machine, or with a computer program like Band-in-a-Box. Recording those sessions will also help you to hear trouble spots that you might not have noticed while in the heat of playing. | |
| Mike -- 08/14/2005, 13:34:53 -- #17588 | |
| Playing in ensembles can be the one final obstacle to making a decent living in music. I was never able to make a living playing in ensembles. I know there are probally some here who have. But musicians are in general the most unstable and unreliable professional people in the world. When you have to depend on a group of them showing up at gig after gig for years to make a living... good luck to you. I know it has been done. But very few solo pianists ever found they could not make a living at music because other musicians are unstable, unreliable, socialogical misfits. | |
| SolArt -- 08/14/2005, 14:24:36 -- #17591 | |
| "Having heard many solo pianists in bars and restaurants all over the world, it is surprising how many of these solo players have absolutely zero sense of time." 7, would you elaborate? | |
| 7 -- 08/14/2005, 14:34:19 -- #17592 | |
| What's to say? If you hang out at piano bars and places like that and really listen to these guys is generally a real disappointment. They speed up and slow down for no reason at all. If they sped up and slowed down with intent, that would be fine. But these guys aren't even aware that they're doing it. And what's more they don't care. A lifetime of bad habits is hard to break, and if I were audacious enough to suggest to one of these guys that he ought to invest in a metronome, it would just tork him off. And what if he said to me "Let's see you do better"? They're making their money, the boss is happy, the audience is happy - who could ask for more? And then there are those keyboard guys who do everything with machines. They've got the whole business sequenced from the drum parts, to the bass, horns, strings, etc, etc, etc. You have to assume that those guys can keep time, but you'll never know will you? Because most of those bozos couldn't play their way out of a wet paper bag if you took all their crutches away. | |
| SolArt -- 08/14/2005, 18:06:57 -- #17598 | |
| "And then there are those keyboard guys who do everything with machines. They've got the whole business sequenced from the drum parts, to the bass, horns, strings, etc, etc, etc." I know whatcha mean. Heck, might as well get a jukebox! What disappoints me with others is I often of course prefer my own playing! | |
| Mike -- 08/14/2005, 23:22:01 -- #17613 | |
| It's funny that "Confirmation" which I certainly mean no disrespect to this incredilble tune is on the list of almost every "Serious Player". Yet I consider myself an ok player and have definitely played many gigs where I was the weakest player with great great players all around me. Yet out five thousand plus gigs I have done No one has ever called Confirmation on one of my gigs And of those five thousand gigs I have only played for a handful of audiences that would not have struggled to listen to it and would not have wanted to leave given the chance. | |
| Mike -- 08/14/2005, 23:22:52 -- #17614 | |
| oops posting mistake lost one | |
| JHMurray -- 08/15/2005, 03:56:45 -- #17621 | |
| I was thinking about my previous reply "...it sure can't hurt". Now that I think about it, playing with a bad bassist or drummer CAN be more of a hindrance to your development than an aid. And depending on where you live it can be bloody difficult or impossible to find decent players to jam with. I think it's best to find musicians a step or two above your own skill level. Playing with top quality players is great, of course if they have the patience, but it can also be intimidating and even frustrating if they're playing way over your head all the time. | |
| JHMurray -- 08/15/2005, 04:04:12 -- #17623 | |
| But then if they do play way over your head, you will either quit or woodshed your ass off and catch up, like Miles when he joined Bird's band. | |
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