Here are the notes we discussed in our second session of Playing Well With Others
Ideas for song/set leaders
Communicate
Name of the song (e.g., Summertime)
Whose version (e.g., Janis Joplin, Ella Fitzgerald)
Key
Concert key. (e.g., F not capo on third fret playing in D)
Rhythm
Time signature (e.g., 4/4, 3/4, 6/8)
Straight time, shuffle, swing, calypso
Chord progression (e.g., C, F, G or 1, 4, 5)
Nashville numbering system for chords (e.g.,1,4,5)
I – V – vi – IV or I – vi – IV – V or vi – V – IV – V or I – bVII – IV – I or IV – V – I – vi
Follow up on standard chord progressions in another session
Dynamics (loud/soft)
e.g., Go loud in the chorus
Tempo (deliberate changes)
e.g., Go to half time in the bridge
Don’t speed up!
Structure and Sections
e.g., Verse, Chorus, Bridge or AABA “Somewhere over the Rainbow”
Who gets to solo and when
e.g., I’ll give you a solo after the second verse, or solo over the second chorus
You don’t have to give a solo to every accompanist in every song
Picking the right song
· For the audience
· For the players
· For you
Ideas for Accompanists
Listen!
Your job is to make everyone else sound great
Arranging on the fly
Avoid playing in the same range or role as others
If two people are playing the same thing, one of you can stop
Don’t step on the vocals!
If you can't hear the vocalist, you're too loud
If you can't hear the soloist, you're too loud
Not a place to experiment (depends on the style of music)
Don't noodle around trying to figure out the song
"Let me know when you find the note you're looking for."
You don't have to play all the way through
Not everyone has to play all the time
Ideas for everybody
Honour the song
Respect the audience
Support the others on stage
On stage, it's not about you
Chick Corea's Cheep but Good Advice for Playing in a Group
Chick Corea's Cheep but Good Advice for Playing in a Group
1. Play Only what you hear.
2. If you don’t hear anything, don’t play anything.
3. Don’t let your fingers and limbs just wander–place them intentionally.
4. Don’t improvise on endlessly–play something with intention, develop it or not, but then end off, take a break.
5. Leave space–create space–intentionally create places where you don’t play.
6. Make your sound blend. Listen to your sound and adjust it to the rest of the band and the room.
7. If you play more than one instrument at a time–like a drum kit or multiple keyboards–make sure that they are balanced with one another.
8. Don’t make any of your music mechanically or just through patterns of habit. Create each sound, phrase, and piece with choice–deliberately.
9. Guide your choice of what to play by what you like–not by what someone else will think.
10. Use contrast and balance the elements: high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, tense/relaxed, dense/sparse.
11. Play to make the other musicians sound good. Play things that will make the overall music sound good.
12. Play with a relaxed body. Always release whatever tension you create.
13. Create space–begin, develop, and end phrases with intention.
14. Never beat or pound your instrument–play it easily and gracefully.
15. Create space–then place something in it.
16. Use mimicry sparsely–mostly create phrases that contrast with and develop the phrases of the other players.
You can download the document we used for our workshop discussion on Thursday, March 6, 2025
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