Rusty Mike Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Hi all. I'm going to NAMM for the first time since 1986! My friend Glen Stewart convinced me to go, and I'm expecting news about my ticket in the next few days. Exciting to say the least. Here's why I'm nervous. I haven't played professionally in close to 20 years, and am really only a semi-serious hobbiest at this point. Glen hangs out with some heavy duty players and he is already pressuring me about playing. I'm not really concered about playing ability, as I play to my skill level and just say I'm a minimalist . My anxiety is really about something much more mundane. I'm not good at memorizing songs. I have literally a handful of songs in my head, but really need to rely on chord charts to play nearly anything. For example, I've been playing "I Can't Get Started" since I was about 15, and still forget the chords to the bridge. It's a problem I've always had. I know there was a thread here a bit back that talked about having music on stage. I have always had a book with me, even when I was playing professionally. For NAMM, I'm thinking about writing up some cheat sheets for my iPad, or possibly writing up index cards for my back pocket. My concern is about how dorky it's going to look pulling out cards everytime I sit down to play a keyboard. And I hope to play a lot of keyboards! Any advice? Am I setting myself up for ridicule? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 My advice about NAMM would be to just have fun. Who cares if you blow the bridge to something? Just dig checking out the gear! My advice about learning tunes is a little more esoteric, and would probably require more than a couple weeks of work. That would be to learn how songs sound - to hear the changes instead of learning the changes. When you learn stuff this way, it is no longer an intellectual pursuit, but instead becomes an organic reaction, the side effect being that transposing changes becomes more natural because you react to the sound of the changes instead of thinking in numbers or focusing on figuring out what | C-7 C-7/Bb | A-7 b5 D7 | G-7 | is up a minor third on the fly. Once you 'get it" it becomes natural. Getting it takes a bit of work, but it's well worth it. A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Are you going to NAMM just to check out gear? If so, I'm sure no one will notice nor care if you know entire songs. Just act like that's all you wanted to play of that and move on either to another tune or another board. Besides, if you want to compare boards, you just want to play the same key parts on each. Kanker's general advice is great, but he's right. It does take work. I ain't there yet. "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 no one will notice nor care if you know entire songs. ^This^ I've been to so many NAMM shows you can't believe. Just have fun - pretty much no one will pay attention to what you're playing. Besides, more times than not, you may find the board you're checking out has headphones attached to it - more so you can really hear it than anything else. dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elsongs Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 NAMM is noisy and equates to sensory overload for the first-timer. It's NOT a music competition. Also, a lot of instruments have headphones hooked up to them so people can check out gear privately. Just have fun, meet your heroes, and get collect tons of literature and free swag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 NAMM is noisy and equates to sensory overload for the first-timer. Recommendation: Wear earplugs, removing them only when you stop to check something out. I used to be completely fried by the end of a NAMM day, now I get through long days with ease. Oh, and wear black- you'll fit in better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Mike Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Thanks for the input everyone. The message here is to just relax and have fun, and I appreciate the reminder. I had planned on bringing my own isolating ear buds with me, but bringing some ear plugs is a great idea. I would imagine that those soft foam things would do the trick. Kanker, regarding your advice, I have tried that on some tunes and it does work well. For example, I was able to memorize "Invitation" by looking at the chord structure as a series of variations on the II-V-I progression. It's this understanding that makes the song more intuitive and fun to play. (Songs like Dolphin Dance, of course, are a different story). But you're right - I need to be abetter musician and feel the changes and not just try to memorize them. Another approach I've used is to work out voicings so that my hands just flow from chord to chord. I've used this with my big band for some of the stranger charts and it works well. The downside (for me) is that once I'm comfortable with the voicings I forget what the chords are and just play by muscle memory. As long as I dont't have to solo or carry the melody I'm OK. Thanks again everyone for helping me to keep it in perspective. It's all about having fun. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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