Play What You Want to Hear (It’s not as hard as you think)

Imagine you’re sitting in a room, on a chair, facing another person. You’re talking. Back and forth. How much do you think about what you’re going to say before you say it?

Chances are that in a normal, casual conversation, the words just pour out of you.

When I hear people say they need to practice more, my response is always “no you don’t.”

Unless you’re a complete beginner learning the very basics of an instrument, you don’t need to practice more.

Most musicians I know would get much more benefit from listening more. Listening to themselves and listening to others. Learning to listen and trust themselves to play what they want to hear. Trust themselves enough to know when they like something and when they don’t. And finally, develop the self trust to change what they’re playing what they don’t like it. 

You don’t need to be able to play a lot

You can sound good playing one note, one string, very slowly. 

You can sound good pressing two keys on a piano, very intentionally.

You don’t need to practice more. You need to create conditions where music can fall out of you. 

Internally, this means being regulated while you’re playing.

Externally, it means being in a physical space where you feel safe and physical position where feel comfortable. 

Maybe that means you’re laying on the couch in your living room. Maybe that means you’re leaning against a tree in a park.

Knowing too much can be a problem

It’s easy to get swept up int he world of music theory and YouTube tutorials. It’s easy to forget that music is about playing and everyone plays differently. 

Beginner’s mind is a strength so if you’re a beginner, don’t try to change that.

How to play what you want to hear when you barely know how to play an instrument

You can play up to 10 notes at a time on a piano (assuming you have 10 fingers). But that’s hard. How are you supposed to know which 10 notes sound good together? You don’t have to. You only need 2-4 notes when you’re being intentional with every note. Hold down the sustain pedal and plunk one note a time, slowly. Listen closely and decide if you like these notes together. Start over, build a chord you like. Then build another chord and then play each chord one after the other. Now you have a song. 

On guitar, you don’t have to ever hold down your finger on more than one string. You can get away with this by tuning the guitar to an open chord that sounds/good interesting to you. Then explore the different sounds as you pick/strum and move one finger up and down one string. Retune as you like.

On drums, just hit the drums in a rhythm you like. Focus on how it sounds when you hit them. Hit them in a way that sounds good. You don’t have to play the whole kit. Start with just two pieces of the kit and expand when you naturally want to. Dance with your hands. Your technique will evolve naturally if you’re having fun playing. 

It doesn’t take many notes to express something. It doesn’t take speed either. It takes playing what you want to hear. 

A painting metaphor

Let’s say I’m really good at painting zebras. I paint a zebra on a canvas. It’s beautiful. I’m also good at painting lions and tigers and emus and before I know it, I’ve run out of space because I keep painting animals. I can’t help myself! I want to prove what I can do. 

That original zebra? It’s now covered up by other animals and can’t be fully appreciated. In fact, none of the animals can be truly appreciated because the painting is so visually crowded.

What I’m trying to say is when playing music, try to lock in in 1 or 2 notes you really like and staying with those for a while. And then if you’re compelled to, add more.

This is not only easier to do, it lets the listener (or other players) hear what’s at the core of what you’re playing.

Conclusion

Accept your technical limitations and play what you want to hear. As long as you can pluck a string or plunk a key, you can play music. You don’t need to practice. You need to play.