House of Drumming.com

"The best musicians are not the best players, they're the best listeners."

http://www.tedkurland.com/news/when-mel ... nce-begins

Mr. Metheny has studied and quoted Miles Davis. Miles Davis:"Don't play what's there, play what's not there. Don't listen to what's there, listen to what's not there. Don't play the idea that's there, play the next idea. The best musicians are not the best player, they are the best listeners." Paul Tingen wrote a great book called Miles Beyond http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Beyond-Electric-Explorations-1967-1991/dp/0823083462 in which you can find these quotes. Miles Davis was a great listener.

said one panelist, Jamshed Bharucha, a neuroscientist and the incoming president of Cooper Union, who is also a violinist. "The vast majority of stuff that goes on in our brain we do not have conscious access to," he said. "It's automatic."

But music requires "years and years of practice in order to make what is conscious unconscious," he said. Plus, improvisation is not just free-form playing – there has to be a mastery of structure and discipline. "If you want to fly off the edge of a cliff, you have to know where the cliff is," he said.

he was quoting the 5th stage of learning "conscious competence of unconscious competence" which indeed takes a very long time to get too

Miles use of space was extraordinary. I like what he said, to the effect of 'if you are making mistakes, you aren't playing'

Josiah wrote:he was quoting the 5th stage of learning "conscious competence of unconscious competence" which indeed takes a very long time to get too

Miles use of space was extraordinary. I like what he said, to the effect of 'if you are making mistakes, you aren't playing'

Don't you mean, if you're not making mistakes, you're not playing? Miles was not scared of making mistakes because for him, I think, there were none...

haha yes! i typed that fast. it is if you are NOT making mistakes, you are not playing.

i think Miles was such a master, you couldnt tell if he had made a mistake or on purpose. im sure we've all been playing and stumbled on some cool idea from not executing the one we wanted the way we wanted.

Don't play the idea that's there, play the next idea

That's all well and done for Miles and that genre of music...try doing this on a pop gig.
I think we all gravitate to such notions, but it is not practical for most. Maybe Keltner
is one of the few that can get away with this and still work often. jmo

MIles played in an idiom that let him be creative.

Pop music generally requires one to be concise, and may not offer as much of an outlet for self expression.

Riddim wrote:MIles played in an idiom that let him be creative.

Pop music generally requires one to be concise, and may not offer as much of an outlet for self expression.

Go tell that to Vinnie..!

The article linked to concerns improvisation, not playing Lady Gaga or Kay Perry music.