Phrase Exercises - Music Teacher Syndrome Alert
Here are three pointers that I gave one of the newer members to try as an exercise. The purpose? to widen vocabulary and improve confidence... in the end to make the music of the group sound better. Set up a very simple phrase or repeated pattern. A couple of notes or chords will be enough. Use this a base to respond to. We got one of the group members to play it but it could be done on a loop pedal or a computer etc. Leave it going. First: A useful technique to start with is
How many is too many?
Can improvised music be great with lots of players? Personally, I find lots of people playing at the same time is constricting. With a big lineup I often find myself thinking "I'd better leave some space..." so am not really focussed on what I am doing and hence it doesn't bring out what I consider to be my best playing. It can be very hard to hear what people are doing and hence to truly respond or interact with it. This maybe the same for the audience: Too much is overwhelm
Moving the Music
A problem in group jams is that we get stuck. This is a huge disadvantage to starting the jam with a strong pattern/riff that all the group lock into. A few brief notes on a topic that I'll doubtless return to: Firstly it should be said that many good pieces of music do just stick around one thing. It may be great and need nowt else! But what if this isn't what you want to do? My experience tells me that musicians often want the music to move, to change but just don't know h
Asserting Ourselves
Do we make our presence felt? Do we assert ourselves on the music - attempting to steer it to somewhere we want it to go? Do we need to ask permission for this to happen? I'm interested in the idea that group music making is a society. In Cold Bath Street I try to make sure that everyone has chance to be heard but often end up asserting myself in my own playing through volume and forceful attack to steer the music. So maybe I don't meet my aims??
