When we marvel at musicians’ prowess, we talk of their hands, as they move, fleet and sure over the musical instruments. Or the purity and pitch of their singing voice, with flawless precision and inflection. As we strive to emulate these musical masters, we concentrate our efforts on the hands and voice, trying to close the gap between us and our heroes. Generally, hard work in those two areas will yield very pleasing results!
When I have had the good fortune to play with (or even get close to) professional musicians, though, it’s neither the hands nor the voice that impress me most – it’s the ears.
Just as a great athlete sees everything on the field at once, great musicians hear everything at once. And it’s remarkable. Obviously, when you’re playing music, you have to hear what you’re doing, and you have to some awareness of the what the other players in the ensemble are doing.
But what the best musicians are hearing transcends mere awareness. They constantly, seeming unconsciously, assess the blizzard of notes around them, and adjust their playing to complement it. Get yourself a group full of players of this magnitude and they will be able to fine tune that blizzard of notes into something sublime.
Several times, bands I am in have had themselves critiqued by professional musicians, and it’s alwaysbeen helpful. Good musicians will learn to play the right notes, and at the right times, but those with that deep musical sense will hear the whole of the sound and have good suggestions on how to optimize the sound. The advice we’ve received never fails to make us better.
It’s a little nerve-wracking, having a Laurie Lewis, or a Pete Wernick listen to your band, in a private setting, and offer suggestions to fine tune the band’s sound. I once thought (mistakenly) that playing bass would shield me from scrutiny. After all, who really can tell what the bass player’s doing, unless it’s egregiously bad, right? Wrong! Laurie noticed I was a playing a regular third on a walking bass pattern over a minor chord – what was I thinking?
She was right, of course. I just flattened that one note, and it was a major improvement. The note was a passing note, for heaven’s sake, but to her discerning ear, it was the not the right note, and it’s a fact, Jack!
Speaking of great hearing, here’s a story I heard. It may be the apocryphal stuff of myth, but I liked it. The story goes that Earl Scruggs paid a visit to Doc Watson at his home, and after talking a bit, they decided to do some picking. Earl had not brought a banjo, but Doc told him there were instruments in an adjacent room, including some banjos. As Doc tuned up his guitar, Earl wandered into the room to select a banjo. He saw a couple cases, chose one and undid the latches to take the banjo out.
“Not that one, Earl,”, Doc called out from the other room. “”Git the other one!” Doc knew from the sound of the latches which case was being opened! Truth or legend? I hope it’s true!
