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Topic: What goes through your mind? |
Ken Metcalf
From:
San Antonio Texas USA
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Posted 4 Sep 2010 1:34 pm |
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What goes through your mind in a solo, towards the end, right before the thought pops up that says...
What key am I in and what in the hell am I doing.
Or I guess I should ask... what do you focus on to avoid the thought of what key am I in and what am I doing???
_________________
MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 4 Sep 2010 1:58 pm
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| This usually happens to me when the thought going through my mind is why in the hail am I playing this gig. |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 4 Sep 2010 4:14 pm
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I make a mental note of the root early in the tune.
As George Carlin said, "Home, we're going home...".
_________________
Lawyers are done: Emmons SD-10, 3 Dekleys including a D10, NV400, and lots of effects units to cover my clams... |
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Barry Hyman
From:
upstate New York, USA
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Posted 4 Sep 2010 5:45 pm
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That only happens to me when I've been smoking something, which I don't do anymore.
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I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com |
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Jason Hull
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 2:18 am
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| Nothing. Clear your mind and listen! |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 4:34 am
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Being "39" I have those senior moments when I forget what key we are in. Doesn't happen often but it does. But, I'm not the only one, our lead guitar player who is also a retiree like me and "39" has them too.
Playing in the wrong key, just makes the band sound "fuller"  |
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John Roche
From:
England
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 4:51 am
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| What goes through my mind I wish that lead guitarist would shut up |
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Don Sulesky
From:
Citrus County, FL, Orig. from MA & NH
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 6:22 am
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If I know the lyrics I try to think of them and the chords or chord that is coming next.
Being also 39 I find myself drifting off the key and have to work myself back.
Sometimes it sounds interesting and other times it sounds like (well you know). 
John you are right about some guitar players.
They wish we were not part of the band and will play during our solos.
Don |
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Michael Robertson
From:
Ventura, California. USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 6:48 am What goes on in your head?
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For me improvisation has always been a struggle, I’m not sure why but I seem to fall back to the melody of the material as a safety net.
I would follow the chord progression of the material and maybe find a note or two within the chord that would follow the melodic intent and phrasing.
I have submitted the following question too many steel players as well as other musicians.
“Just what goes through your head when you play?”
The professionals I asked and somewhat to my surprise got back to me by email or PM here on this Forum. This forum is truly a wealth of access to those in the know.
I was privileged to have them reply to my question and was somewhat surprised to find most of them gave me similar advice.
I was advised to compliment the “musicality” of the song with whatever I felt I had to offer.
To utilize whatever chops, riffs, licks, runs that I knew and could execute correctly would be my best.
I was told that after learning more chops, riffs, licks, runs and a thorough understanding of chord inversions and application I would start to have more fun and satisfaction.
With that advice I started to relax and listen to the song as well as letting the song”breathe”.
As I forced myself to NOT play something “fancy” and merely insert notes and passages in what I felt was a complimentary time, then things really started to come together for me.
As for getting “fancy”, the more passing chords and moves I learn, the more I feel I can contribute at the correct time and place within the “musicality” intent of the material.
I need to express a ton of thanks to those of you that answered my emails and PM’s.
You have proved to this old dog that I am still able to learn something new.
Thank you
Michael
California |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 7:08 am
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For me, the challenge is always to stay in the moment and not become an "observer"of my own playing...not even to think "hey, this is going pretty well (or badly)" because once I split my mind like that, I'll start making errors...easier said than done.
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www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com |
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Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 7:18 am
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Jim,you're starting to stutter so let's clear our mind and try to FOCUS.
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Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night. |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 7:46 am
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| Jim Cohen wrote: |
| For me, the challenge is always to stay in the moment and not become an "observer"of my own playing... |
I'm not sure what "in the moment" means.
Don't you find it valuable to be an observer (listener), and to imagine that it is someone else playing but this time you can have some influence over what you are listening to? I do. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 8:08 am
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| Our brains do multitask. There is always a lot a parallel processing going on. But some things are difficult or impossible. For example I find that many kinds of problem solving do not interfere with simultaneous working out of pick blocking, pedals & knee levers, etc. But I cannot speak while playing. I reckon that this is because I use the same part of the brain for playing and speaking. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Geoff Cline
From:
Southwest France
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 8:44 am
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| Play from the heart; not from the brain. Albert King told me that. Everything got a lot clearer after that...Best music lesson ever. |
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David Griffin
From:
Jimmy Creek,Arkansas via Cowtown, USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 8:55 am
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Like the mighty Bovine,I cannot talk while I'm soloing.I also have a hard time listening to someone talk while TRYING to solo. Which makes trying to decipher what the the drunk in yer face is requesting all the more fun!  Can't you see I'm tryin' to work here  Seriously,if this is not too Zen:try to think of nothing. When all else fails SLIDE!
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http://www.myspace.com/davidagriffin |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 9:00 am
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| Geoff Cline wrote: |
| Play from the heart; not from the brain. |
But if you don't use your brain, won't you end up playing the same things over and over again like a blues guitar player? |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 11:05 am
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The heart and the brain serve different functions. The brain is an analytical device, the heart an emotional one.
The brain is used to discover new approaches, and to clarify various interlocking pieces of a musical (in this case) puzzle. By its very nature, it's analytical.
The heart is most often used to express in an emotional manner what is already codified in the data storage systems of the brain. If the chord progression, scale/harmony/melodic positions, etc. that your brain knows will work in a given situation, the heart takes that information and tries to best communicate the story you want to tell to the audience.
A singer can't emotionally express the story of the song without knowing what the lyrics mean. Learning a song phonetically in a language you don't understand is not full communication. I believe a problem that many people have with opera... considered by many the least accessible discipline in classical music... is because they don't speak Italian or German.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 11:53 am
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Herb wrote:
| Quote: |
| A singer can't emotionally express the story of the song without knowing what the lyrics mean. |
To play the blues you gotta pay your dues...
(sometimes she has a name)
That'll find the heart in ya.
_________________
Lawyers are done: Emmons SD-10, 3 Dekleys including a D10, NV400, and lots of effects units to cover my clams... |
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Duane Reese
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Posted 5 Sep 2010 7:21 pm Re: What goes through your mind?
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Finally someone feels my pain!
| Ken Metcalf wrote: |
What goes through your mind in a solo, towards the end, right before the thought pops up that says...
What key am I in and what in the hell am I doing.
Or I guess I should ask... what do you focus on to avoid the thought of what key am I in and what am I doing??? |
Well, first thing I do when I get lost is hold the note and coast to a stop in my solo, hopefully not for a conspicuously long time — like no more than a bar if I'm lucky. Then, if I can't find out what to do or how to come back in, I usually go back to the root and do something fairly generic, if possible.
Then, over the next few hours or months, I keep reminding myself of how bad I sucked that night, and contemplate burning my steel. I never do though, and somehow I always get roped back into playing for somebody somewhere...and the cycle continues.
Now, if someone can tell me how to cope with having dove right into something at full volume in the wrong key, realizing it after a few notes and going deer-in-the-headlights and having your bar go wherever the hell with the volume pedal still floored — laying down a giant 10-foot-wide green grape on the stage — you'll save me from having to get counseling.  |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 6 Sep 2010 5:12 am
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When I get hopelessly lost (probably because I'm thinking about beer or the pretty blonde on the dance floor  ), I just get my hands off the strings, get composed and come back in. Otherwise, some pretty bad train wrecks can occur.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Roual Ranes
From:
Atlanta, Texas, USA
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Posted 6 Sep 2010 5:30 am
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| Sometimes, not only the key but the song is in question..............uuuuuhhhhhhhhh what were we discussing............. |
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Zane King
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 6 Sep 2010 5:53 am
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Oh my goodness I didn't know "thinking" was involved in soloing!
Seriously, I "think" very little. Which probably explains some of the crazy "out" things that I do. To me, the solo comes from the soul. From within. The notes are in mind a split second before I'm playing them. I rarely think about the key signature or even the notes I'm playing. A very good teacher once told me that the key to solos was to learn everything you can about your instrument and music. Then when you are ready to play just forget everything you know and PLAY. There is some real wisdom there. Honestly if you have to think about anything other than the music that's happening in your head and heart then you are already behind.
My favorite musicians of all time are those that rarely play the same thing twice. I get so bored hearing a musician just do the same thing over and over. Some people like and aspire to that sort of thing. I suppose some of it comes down to taste and maybe even ability. Take the roller coaster for example. Once you "ride" it you get familiar with each curve and dip and it becomes routine. So usually I have to find another coaster then to create new excitement. That's how music is for me. I MUST play even "Crazy Arms" different every time or otherwise I would go insane. Of course, some think I'm already there but that's another "thread". LOL.
Great thread by the way!
_________________
Zane King
Email: zaneking@me.com
Last edited by Zane King on 7 Sep 2010 2:55 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Bill Ladd
From:
Wilmington, NC, USA
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Posted 6 Sep 2010 6:10 am
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"I basically think about my financial situation. I count every like beat I play, every note I play and I figure out how many notes I give into the space, you know, out into space, for how much I'm gettin' paid.
I am workin' cheap."
Apologies to National Lampoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6jPN8kjrD0&feature=related |
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