Playing with Silence: The Value of the Rest. Part 2.
“Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there.”
-Miles Davis
In part one of this series I touched on the importance of focusing attention the resting places in music. I’d like to go a little further by musing upon a practice that has dramatically changed my experience of playing music. It involved a simple shift in focus that can greatly help with tone, relaxation and nerves during performance and has allowed me to be more present and connected when I play. While performing, instead of thinking about what specific tricky phrases or busy bits come next, try to make any rests or breaks in the melody your sole – and soul – focus. I suggest this not only to improve the music (as mentioned in part 1) but now as a way to cultivate ease and confidence in the player. Of course, you will first have to memorize and work through a piece. Learn it. Nail down the tricky spots. If you really get the tune down properly from the beginning, you shouldn’t have to control it with your mind anyway. This practice goes to work for you once the melody is already “in your fingers” and best of all, it will really help to keep it there. A performance belongs in our hands and in our ears, not in the head where we can psych ourselves out and get in our own way.
“Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
When we look forward only to the pauses and “enter” the tune by way of the spaces, it helps break the habit of imposing our will and getting caught up in what we think we should play. This is a Jedi mind trick to keep from “bracing” for the hard parts or getting nervous about what comes next. In this way, we enjoy building into our playing little respites and jumping-off points. Emphasis on the long notes and rests becomes an oasis and will take the pressure off. Then, we can just listen and in a relaxed way, enjoy all the other stuff in between. The true beauty of this technique is that you’ll realize that the tune can play itself. The mind works best when we leave it to do its job. Just like the heart. You don’t go trying to make it beat. So don’t try to “beat” the tune. Leave it alone. Try letting your attention sharpen only during the holes in the tune, and soften in the busier sections. It will be as if you’re viewing the piece through a a bunch of little windows with a proper view. Back your attention off and soften your focus until the next long note or pause. In this way, even though you’re at work, your mind will only ever really be taking a series of relaxing lunch breaks. And you will get paid well while you’re at it. The more we practice this shift, the more spaciousness we can hear in the tune and even better, within ourselves as players.
“I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendos
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.”
-Wallace Stevens
Tags: improvisation, jazz, mandolin, meditation, Music performance, Music practice, Silence in Music, stillness, yin yang