The journey from beginning musician to intermediate is tough, but extremely rewarding. Except for those of us who was born to hold and instrument and play music, the start of that journey seems close to impossible. You hold the guitar (or fiddle, or mandolin…) and say “How the heck can anyone get this thing to play music?”
With desire and practice, you do learn though, and what was impossible becomes quite doable. This is a great feeling, so you do it some more – learn new songs and your enjoyment grows.
Be warned – this is a trap!
If all you want to do is train your fingers to go to certain places at certain times, you’re missing some of most rewarding aspects of playing music.
Nuance
There’s playing the notes, and then there’s really playing the notes. Listen to the pros – they play the notes (the same ones you can learn to play), but they will add subtle nuances that you might not notice at first. These might take the form of a clever lead-in to the melody, or some hesitations or syncopation that will breathe new life into songs you’ve learned well. You’ll love it!
Ensemble
Almost certainly, once you started learning songs, you began playing in jams, and this is terrific fun. But it’s even more fun when you use the ensemble itself as an instrument. Listen carefully to the other players – can you match or augment the rhythm? Can you find the spaces to let each individual instrument shine, both in attack and timbre? Now, this is a participation sport – if you’re the only one in the jam thinking and acting on these principles, it won’t be as rewarding as a group where everyone’s in on the plan. Experienced players build “ensemble think” into their playing.
Emotion
Any song (or tune) worth its salt has an emotion in it. Sometimes, the melody alone conveys the emotion, and sometimes it’s the combination of the lyric and the melody. Don’t lose sight of this when learning to play these pieces. Bluegrass has wonderful stories, evocative of times and places most of us can’t immediately identify with, but related to broader themes we all understand. So, think about these things and your emotions will color your playing and you will like the results!
So, once you’ve learned the notes, learn how to make those notes make music that moves you, and anyone who listens!
