Tuesday, January 16, 2007
When you play with another musician, LISTEN to them. ...and on striking a balance between changing too slowly and changing too quickly

When playing with another musician, the most important thing is that you work together. Optimally, both players will understand each other. However, you can't control your partner, but you can control what you do. So, instead of putting all your energy into figuring out what YOU are going to play and doing it well, try to invest a significant amount of your energy into hearing and understanding how your partner is playing so that you may react appropriately.

If your partner is rambling about, you may not be able to predict what it is they are going to do, so you may need to ask them to settle down a bit. On the other hand, if they settle down too much, they aren't playing anything very interesting. So, there must be a balance between being too static and being too dynamic. Read tomorrow's tip for an idea about how to accomplish this.

 

  

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