How To Play Live With Other People In A Handful Of Easy Steps

I found a really interesting blog by James Lee Stanley. In one of the posts he expands about playing live with other people or as I call it - the art of listening.

When you are playing with other people, you play less. There are more of you making music and so, for it to sound like you all know what you are doing and, for there to be less train wrecks on the songs, play less. I like to listen to a verse and a chorus of someone else’s tune before I do anything. Try to get some idea of the form of the song, before I begin to contribute. I believe that listening is one of the most important things you can do when you are playing with other people. Listen to what they are doing, what they are trying to do, what the song is saying, what mood is being created and then try to serve that vision.

He expands further and says

Listen to what the other folks are doing and see if you can bring something to the song that makes it better, not just louder. Another thing to watch when you first are playing with other people on stage and it’s a song you don’t know: avoid the third of any chord. You know, do mi so. Avoid the mi. That’s the note that determines whether the chord is major (happy days) or minor (da da da dom). This is especially true if you can’t quite hear the chord. Avoiding the third goes along way towards not making you the train wreck that showed up. And if you can’t quite get the chord progression, don’t try to fake it. Answer it. That way, it is played first and you haven’t stepped on it. The conversation thing is really apt. If everyone is talking at once, you don’t have a conversation, you have cacophony. Listen and respond and respect the other players.

All this is so true. It takes the music from a place of ego to a whole different level. Playing alone is great but there is nothing like taking off on other peoples musical thoughts and expanding them!