Driving in a van on the way to Maine for a wedding gig. We were a trio who had played together for ever and were fairly close. Close enough to joke in a snarky way. We were listening to music passing the time. When one musicians asks the other and me. What can I do to become a better musician? In a flash the other musician says “Practice your rests”. I felt this blow come over the dude bold enough to ask the question. He was being vulnerable. It felt mean and then it clicked that it was truthful.

It is so common to use extra notes and busy up a performance. It is a flaw that affects so much music in bars.

The skill of making a kick drum bloom on the one and three, goes a long way and is under used in my observation. “Ba- Ba- pa- ba” get used too often. Let the instrument ring out. Does it’s sound get strangled by our enthusiasm? Can you play straight or has this habit developed where you find it awkward to simplify? Live performance is visual and being animated visually can influence how you play and not for the better. I think overplaying becomes a habit. It feels wrong to be on a stage and not be making significant points to the conversation constantly. Do you ever feel like “I’m obliged to play all these notes” or people wont notice me. Negative audio space is necessary for music.

Part of what I do as a producer is being the honest realist who tells the emperor he needs to put a rob on. Not once but it is a continual struggle between client and producer. This is not unique to me and you. Playing live and recording are two different animals. It is human nature to mildly feel “more me sounds good to me so there should be more me”

I’m like the mean older sister who says “Billy there is still a bit of chicken shit on the bottom of your shoe it smells bad, so you can’t visit the company in the front parlor”.

What to do?

Record yourself a lot before you do a group multitrack recording session. A good two track or even mono recording gives considerable feedback, you just have to listen. Figure out the speed of the song Try playing 8 beats at various bpm increments 5 up 5 down to count in a song. Have this absolutely understood. Practice it for at least 3 rehearsals. Everybody listen to the 2trk mixes of rehearsal. Write out your impressions don’t spend rehearsal time talking about it. Use that time to play the songs a lot.

Set a goal of playing the project’s songs 10 times or more before you do the recording. It is a rare thing to play a song so much it becomes dead. You may not feel like doing it again but that does not mean it is ready for consumpion. The most common bad habits I have to belabor are usually musicians wanting to supersize their parts, A lack of group dynamics. What I hear in most great recordings and this usually transends genes is a soloist/vocalist being supported by a group. Not dueling for the spotlight, but setting up the lead role. Ask what you can do for the song? and not what can the song do for you. Selfless vs self entertainment. Again this is recording but not specifically. The thing with recording is it is like a microscope.

Practicing to metronome is not what causes things to become sterile. What results from exercising your game to a metronome are more muscular parts with definition.

I started practicing my rests. Focusing on playing quarter, half and whole notes in a way that was clean and authoritative. Leaving out the filler. A metronome became my best practice partner. I like that improvement in my playing.

A definition of toil is to work hard and long. I will add to show up daily and let go of the results.