How to Become a Better Musician, Part 5: Thoughtfulness

OK—if you've been following this series, I hope you've also been working on improving your discipline, practice, adaptability, and listening skills. No doubt, you're eager to showcase new ideas, licks, abilities...

...But now, I want you to hit PAUSE.

This is the point where you'll be sorely tempted to showcase your chops—but ask yourself:

"Am I serving the moment the right way, right now?"

Too many times, I hear instrumentalists and singers overpower a moment, phrase, and mood with too much fluff; there's an unconscious need for recognition that manifests in distraction for other listeners. 

On the other side of the coin, I also hear playing that is lackluster or doesn't follow the arrangement well, mostly because the player or singer would rather stick to comfort than push themselves to rise to the occasion and tailor their approach to the broader needs. 

Today, we'll explore the balance of over- and underplaying through intense thoughtfulness, combining everything we've learned so far in how to become a better musician. 

Don't Overdo It

Have you ever seen someone order food and just drench it in Ranch dressing? Don't get me wrong—I love me some Hidden Valley, but a little bit goes a long way. (Bear with me, we'll to get to the music soon enough.)

The flavor of a dressing should do exactly what it says: "dress" the food to which it's applied, accentuated and elevating the natural flavors, binding it all together into a pleasing experience. But too much of it makes all the food taste the same.

The same analogy applies to music, especially in a worship/praise band context. I've shared this before, but I was such an overplayer in my younger days. I was processing a huge amount of information, and I wanted to put that new information into use. This mostly looked like trying to fill every musical hole with fast, bluesy licks, or drenching my rhythm parts with tons of delay and pulsing lines. 

It was like I was drenching the music with the Ranch dressing of fast licks and effects—one flavor that dominated each song, making it all sound the same. I was unaware of this until I started recording on other artists' tracks, and this exposed my overplaying. Initially frustrated that the parts I was asked to play were too boring, I dove into what my session heroes were doing on tracks that I loved to listen to. I noticed that the same thing permeated their playing: restraint followed by intentional, thoughtful phrases that perfectly complimented the song. 

Each of these players could craft countermelodies and harmonies that fit within the song to elevate phrases sung by the artist. One of my favorite guitarists of all time, Steve Lukather (Toto, Michael Jackson, Boz Scaggs, and many others) said this about playing on "Human Nature":

"Quincy [Jones] called me... and said, 'It's too pop-py; it needs some glue...' What you need to understand is common tones... it percolates it along and I'm not in anybody's way... I was really good with coming up with that stuff... that's why I got hired. 

(You can watch and listen to more of his story here.)

For me, I changed my mindset of playing challenging parts to a new kind of challenge: How could I scale all of that back into the essential part that was satisfying to play AND satisfying to listen to? I cut all of my busyness by around 60–70%, and saved all the "juicy" bits for moments where they could really shine. It elevated my playing by showcasing ability and restraint in a package based in thoughtfulness. 

Go for It!

Like I said earlier, I sometimes hear players settle into comfort rather than pushing themselves to learn and apply new things. I think this is based either in fear of making a mistake, or there's an indifference to the material at hand. 

Some of my best leaps in making progress have been made by simply "going for it." This usually happens in personal practice and rehearsal, but sometimes, there's a moment of inspiration during the service where I trust my intuition and preparation, and I attempt the idea that is incubating in my thoughts. There's almost always a feeling of fear that precedes the attempt, but 90% of the time, I stick the landing and a special moment is experienced an shared by everyone who's there. For the other 10% of attempts that are unsuccessful, I go back and analyze what went wrong. It could've been a misplaced fingering, or maybe a vocal line was just outside my range. Then, I fix that in my personal practice time and try again later. 

The thoughtfulness component in this application is being willing to step outside of a comfort zone and pursue ideas that enhance the song, rather than sitting back and letting it all ride. Sometimes, maybe that easing back is exactly what's needed for the song—and that's 100% OK! But at other times, make use of the imagination that God gave you and apply it tastefully. 

The Takeaway

The key to this, like I've mentioned in many of my other posts, is that moderation and balance are paramount—and thoughtful playing is no exception to this rule. Find your balance in restraint and eagerness, carefully planning where you'll push ahead and where you'll lay back. In the end, you'll find that your own stylings will emerge, and your musical identity will be very clear in your performances. 

Be blessed 👊✌️