In my career as a musician I’ve been astounded by the many great bands and orchestras I’ve heard and loved, and by the amazing variety of styles of music with which they shout out their joy to the world! I love all kinds of music, and especially music with live musicians performing. I always smile when I get to hear a current pop hit that used live musicians on the track, rather than all samples. For me, the human connection, the warmth and joy brought by humans will never be replaced by a machine.
An expression that I’ve heard many times is along the lines of, “you can’t have a great band without a great drummer”, and I think that expression holds true. Being a drummer myself, I always gravitate to the drummers I hear. The consistent soul and groove that a good drummer brings to a show can’t be faked or supplied by another instrument. If I get to hear a drummer who fires up a band and an audience, I feel inspired and gratified. A drummer that plays great time, has great drum tuning and plays parts that fire up the song is a drummer that anyone would be proud to play with!!
A band with a bassist who plays strong time, who puts his parts in right slot with the other musicians and who plays consistently will always have the confidence of knowing the bottom end is solid. There’s is always a place for self-expression and fun, and great bassists know when to play “in the pocket” and when to bring a cool counter rhythm or rebellious attitude to the groove, without sacrificing the song to the bass.
A band is lucky if it has a great guitarist or guitarists who know the meaning of playing cool groove parts that work with the rhythm section, and still find the spot for soaring, singing lead guitar lines. There’s room with all instruments for the melodic and the jagged, nasty approach, but guitar is uniquely able to draw those lines clearly. Nothing cooler than a surprising and energizing guitar tone, whether it’s distorted or clean, effected or dry. Having the taste and confidence to pull a full range of emotion and to know when to play less is such a rare commodity, but the best have those abilities.
Keyboards can be the glue that holds it all together, or the cloud of joy floating above the whole band. Great pianists and electronic keyboard players have the whole range of harmony, sounds, textures and groove in their fingers and hearts. They can swim against the tide or be the thing that brings it all together, and find the spaces in a song that need additional musical love…….
The best vocalists know where the time and groove are, and sing around them whenever they feel the need to! The ability to sing a song and wrap it around your soul, using the other instruments as the backdrop for the words and meaning of the vocals is amazing. Hearing a great singer always makes my heart beat a little quicker, and brings the emotion to my heart.
All musicians play for the love of expression. Conductors, string players, horn players, percussionists and other instrumentalists join the band members I spoke of earlier in our love of playing music with joy and intention. It’s the passion of each of us giving it all we have to give during a show, that translates to the rest of the band, and to the crowd.
In the end, there’s no one “right” way with music, what a boring world it would be if there was. We bring the colors and feelings that make us the personalities we are. After all the work of learning how to play, the years of study and practice, we get to make decisions that take music to that intangible, magical place of imagination, spirit and let the inner voices speak.
Photo by: Monica Fraioli Cole
