When You Quit Playing You Have Time to Learn What Kind of Player You Are

[CEB]

I quit playing. Last show was January 21st. It seems forever.   For two weeks I didn’t do anything other than Monday night blues thing.   Now I play a lot. I play everyday. I can play whatever ever I want. Apparently given freedom to play anything I want  I find what I really am is an unpolished wanna be half assed Jazz Pianist.  Maybe I ought to get a one hour program down and play some Nursing Homes for free.   Maybe I could earn a discount on future rent. 
 

Maybe I will make this a blog on my descent into piano insanity. 😀

[timwat]

1 minute ago, CEB said:

Maybe I ought to get a one hour program down and play some Nursing Homes for free.   Maybe I could earn a discount on future rent. 

Wait...if that's a thing I gotta get on it...

[CEB]

Today I did read a nice article on Chord Substitutions in I IV V Blues Music. I can honestly say I didn’t learn about anything I didn’t already do. But I did learn a lot about proper vocabulary and terminology around the things I use.  A lot of it was how I try to play between the cracks. And what the article call median voicings, which is one of my ways of emphasizing color and staying off the roots making that space the guitar’s domain.  It’s what I always call 357s. 

[KuruPrionz]

I've taken breaks, always seem to come back refreshed and more enthusiastic.

 

I made a promise to myself when I started playing that I would work hard to become "me" and for a long time I never played anybody else's licks at all. 

Similar often enough but I just allowed music to flow through me. Now I sound like me, that's all I wanted. I can make Folsom Prison Blues my own while still emulating the original enough that it can be identified. 

 

I draw the line at Sweet Home Alabama, that song can go away forever as far as I'm concerned. 

2 minutes ago, CEB said:

Today I did read a nice article on Chord Substitutions in I IV V Blues Music. I can honestly say I didn’t learn about anything I didn’t already do. But I did learn a lot about proper vocabulary and terminology around the things I use.  A lot of it was how I try to play between the cracks. And what the article call median voicings, which is one of my ways of emphasizing color and staying off the roots making that space the guitar’s domain. 

I stay off the roots as well, that's the bassist's gig, no?

[o0Ampy0o]

4 hours ago, CEB said:

...I find what I really am is an unpolished wanna be half assed Jazz Pianist.....

 

4 hours ago, CEB said:

... I try to play between the cracks. And what the article call median voicings, which is one of my ways of emphasizing color and staying off the roots making that space the guitar’s domain.  It’s what I always call 357s. 

 

Good voicing and phrasing and staying off the roots goes a long way. A few songs come to mind where this is the memorable part that haunts you in a good way. It seems to be particularly effective at evoking emotion. Maybe this is just how it plays in the songs I have in mind. Coincidentally you have realized this at the end of your performing life. It also happens to be effective at the end of songs often fading out providing the frame to recall what has transpired in the previous portion of the song.

 

I would give a listen to someone going by "The Unpolished Wannabe Half-assed Jazz Pianist." ...especially if they came to my nursing home and performed for free. :-)

[aronnelson]

>Good voicing and phrasing and staying off the roots goes a long way

 

I played with a jazz saxophonist from New York. We had the most top notch players in the band. Fantastic bass player and drummer and he constantly yelled at me to play the bass notes on the piano. I was using standard jazz voicing without the bass. It was ridiculous. He wanted me to pound the bass with my left hand. Lame gig.

[Al Quinn]

While I haven’t completely stopped gigging, now that I’m in my mid-60’s I only play out a few times a year. Once a month is probably the sweet spot for me now. I’m only realizing now how much the gigs distracted me from practicing purely for the art of making music. So, now I’m practicing what I want to practice, feeling good improvement, and loving it. Interestingly, if I don’t play for several days the arthritis in my hands acts up; conversely, when I practice everyday it’s not a problem. 
 

About not playing the root when playing with a bass player: I’ve learned not to take this too far— not to make it an absolute rule. Sometimes the root is nothing more than another one of the 88 drums we call keys on a piano; i.e., when used primarily for rhythmic content. Doing this has not only never bothered a bass player I’ve played with, many actually like it.

 

Sometimes the root can add interesting / musical color to a chord voicing due to its intervallic relationship with the other notes. For example, the minor second formed by the root against the b9 in a dominate voicing makes a big difference and won’t bother the bass player. This seems to sound best when the minor second is in the inner voices. A specific example is this voicing of a Bb7 chord which includes the b9, #11, and 13. From low to high and all within one octave straddling Middle C

LH: Ab Bb

RH: B D E G

 

Additionally, the tritone interval between the root and the #11 probably adds to the beauty of this voicing.

[Montunoman 2]

Gigs are great, but can be such a time suck. I put my all into whatever I get called to do, and often times it’s a bunch music I haven’t played before, so between listening , charting out, getting the keyboards sounds set up, registrations, trying to memorize, I don’t get much technical, jazz, or classical time.

 

But, yeah, I hope one day to raise myself  from "The Unpolished Wannabe Half-assed Jazz Pianist."  Not sure what that next level will be called ?

[Montunoman 2]

On 2/26/2023 at 8:42 AM, Al Quinn said:

 

About not playing the root when playing with a bass player: I’ve learned not to take this too far— not to make it an absolute rule. Sometimes the root is nothing more than another one of the 88 drums we call keys on a piano; i.e., when used primarily for rhythmic content. Doing this has not only never bothered a bass player I’ve played with, many actually like it.

 

Sometimes the root can add interesting / musical color to a chord voicing due to its intervallic relationship with the other notes. For example, the minor second formed by the root against the b9 in a dominate voicing makes a big difference and won’t bother the bass player. This seems to sound best when the minor second is in the inner voices. A specific example is this voicing of a Bb7 chord which includes the b9, #11, and 13. From low to high and all within one octave straddling Middle C

LH: Ab Bb

RH: B D E G

 

Additionally, the tritone interval between the root and the #11 probably adds to the beauty of this voicing.

Somehow I seemed to have learned jazz kind of backwards, in that I  always avoided the root. Lately, especially after trying to play more solo jazz piano, I’ve actually find it hard to include the roots after so many years of playing rootless voicings. I’m glad I that have skill, but now I’m going back to probably where should have stated, RH melody, LH playing just roots or roots and sevenths. 

[CyberGene]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:34 PM, CEB said:

Apparently given freedom to play anything I want  I find what I really am is an unpolished wanna be half assed Jazz Pianist.  Maybe I ought to get a one hour program down and play some Nursing Homes for free.   Maybe I could earn a discount on future rent. 

On the condition you never touch the piano when you become a resident? 😀 JK

[CEB]

I’ve always relied on rootless 3-7 voicing and always used what an article I recently read called median voicings.  It’s just a cleaner more colorful sound in Blues based piano. The guitars ( including bass guitar)  dominate the roots in electric blues.  But the Jazz guys take it to huger level.  I love quarrel voicings.  Bill Evans was a god. 

[Bobbo Fett]

Thing is, for me there's basically 2 gears: Gig Mode and Practice Mode. I LOVE Gig Mode, where I don't worry a bit about how I'm doing what I'm doing, I can just let it all go and be a spectator and concentrate solely on entertaining and making music. I HATE Practice Mode, for all the opposite reasons: I'm playing things I don't do well and trying to pull them more up to speed, as well as focusing on every wart in my playing (of which there are many). I recognize that without Practice Mode Gig Mode would be MUCH less enjoyable. I also recognize that one day soon all I'll have is Practice Mode (I'll be 66 in May) and frankly I'm kind dreading that day....

[TommyRude]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:34 PM, CEB said:

When You Quit Playing You Have Time to Learn Forget About What Kind of Player You Are

Edit

[Old No7]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:42 AM, Al Quinn said:

Interestingly, if I don’t play for several days the arthritis in my hands acts up; conversely, when I practice everyday it’s not a problem. 

 

Off topic a little -- but related to the above quote, I'll share this info as it's helped my hands immensely and may help others....

 

* I used to wear wrist braces on both hands at night.

* If I did any work work with my hands over the weekend, they would ache for days.

* It greatly affected my keyboards playing.

 

Then I started taking Turmeric Curcumin as a daily supplement -- a natural anti-inflammatory that's been used for 100's of years -- and it has helped me immensely =>=> No more wrist braces, and no more lingering hand pain, even if I work my hands hard around the house or shop.  The key is to get the Turmeric which has Bioperine in it, which helps the absorbtion.

 

Old No7