Simplicity. Such a basic concept, but one that manages to elude so many
people in so many ways, and never is this more evident than in the field of
music. I'd like to spend this edition discussing this basic issue, and
explain why I feel that it's so important to never lose sight of this proven
formula for success.
Anyone who knows me well is constantly reminded of my philosophy regarding
simplicity, especially at the tail end of most correspondence, where I
continue to parrot the quote by legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus:
"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the
complicated simple!"
This has been my main motto as a coach for many years, for obvious reasons.
Music can tend to be a very daunting affair, with all the confusing
terminology involved. I feel that one of my primary goals lies in
demystifying the path to knowledge, no easy task given the number of players
and teachers who tend to do the exact opposite. Why is this the case?
Well, in their sometimes misguided quest to evolve, musicians have a
tendency to reach for higher and higher levels of sophistication, often
believing that the more complex something is, the better. This is certainly
true in the jazz community. For instance, it still kills me when someone
refers to a great guitar talent like Kenny Burrell as "just a blues player,"
as if it's easy to do what he does. Of course, nothing could be further from
the truth in my mind, because the entire purpose of musical creation and
performance is to emotionally move the listener, but there are still many
who fail to understand this fundamental fact. Yet history clearly bears this
out.
The real challenge, getting back to the Mingus quote, lies in achieving
something complicated but using your creativity to disguise it, so that it
still comes across as something simple. My favorite players and influences
all have this in common, and it's what I strive for the most myself, both in
performance and in composition. How do I know whether I'm being successful
with this goal? In a number of ways, actually.
When I listen to myself play, just as when I listen to other artists, if my
mind is the first thing stimulated, or if I find myself captivated by the
technique, chances are that the simplicity has been misplaced in the
process. Ideally I want the simplicity of the message and feeling to hit me
first, and the rest be a pleasant afterthought. I do the same thing when
arranging or composing. Nowadays I'd much rather be "safe than sorry" and,
if I really have to choose, to err on the side of simplicity. You've
probably heard of the "K.I.S.S." philosophy? You know, as in "Keep It
Simple, Stupid?" Blunt, but also very true.
Teaching is even a bigger challenge, due to the fact that anything can
appear complicated to someone trying to learn a musical instrument. One of
the reasons that I shy away from overstressing theory and physical technique
is that I truly believe that regular exposure to real world musical elements
(i.e. great tunes, riffs, solos, bass lines, chord progressions, etc) is a
simpler concept to grasp. There's also ample proof that many of the most
successful musicians were often somewhat lacking on the theoretical and
physical side, yet they still managed to effectively communicate the message
very well.
Perhaps "communication" is what this is all about, whether you're playing,
teaching, writing, or whatever. After all, if your message ends up being
over the head of your audience, then you've failed to deliver that message.
Keeping it simple. Definitely three words to live by!
