Playing from the Heart vs. Playing from the Ego
Playing from the ego
It’s performative – and only performative. It’s a performance to try to hide something. It’s shallow, not drawing from a deep well of emotion.
When you play from the ego, you’re saying to the audience “Perceive me as [this]. Look at me in this [this] way.”
It can be entertaining and flashy but not particularly interesting or vulnerable.
When you play from the ego, it’s because you’re trying to prove to yourself that you embody certain characteristics. And you want other people (your audience) to reflect that image back at you.
Playing from the ego usually takes the form of copying an established style. It comes in the form of aping the vocal affectation of a popular artist or dressing like them too.
Sometimes it takes the form of indulgent, over-the-top runs or overplaying in general.
A lot of the times ego players don’t listen to the people around them (whether it’s other players or audiences) because they’re too focused on themselves and how they’re coming off. Because at the end of the day, they desperately want the audience to perceive them in the specific way they’ve already decided they want to be perceived.
Ego players shut out the voices and feelings that contradict the idea of who they are or should be.
Their performances become too performative because it’s covering up something. It’s distracting the audience from a deeper, hidden truth the ego player doesn’t want them to see.
Playing from the heart
Playing from the heart is still performative (you are performing after all) but there’s less regard for how you’re perceived. You’re doing it for yourself.
Audiences like it when the performer’s enjoying what they’re playing – and they really can tell when that’s the case. Maybe not every audience member, but collectively, it’s very hard to fool a crowd.
Playing from the heart means playing for yourself. Playing what you want to hear because you want to hear it.
Ironically, it involves, in a way, disregarding the audience and doing whatever you want to do as a performer. And when you do that, you’re being vulnerable. And the audience can attune to you because you’re showing the real you. You’ll attract the right people to your music but only if you’re yourself.
When you’re truly playing for yourself and enjoying it, someone else will enjoy it too. You’re not playing to prove that you’re a good player or that you’re deep. You’re playing from the heart.
You believe in your performance and in turn, so does the audience. Not the other way around.
Dislaimer: Having an ego is natural and is the foundation of any performance. What determines if it’s a heartfelt performance or an egoic one is whether that performance draws from something deeper than wanting to be perceived a certain way.
Common ways the ego comes out in music
The most common indication of egoic playing is how many notes someone is playing. Do they let the music breathe or do they cram in a bunch of notes into a phrase? Do they crank up the settings on their pedals because they think it sounds cool or do they dial the pedals into a natural sound that supports the music?
Are they playing only the notes that are necessary or are they playing all the notes in the hopes that the audience likes at least some of them?
Are they letting their melody sit out there, raw, for everyone to see or are they covering it up with fancy runs?
Playing from the heart means trusting yourself to just play. It won’t all be great but eventually you’ll stumble on something magical if you trust yourself enough to keep going.
Try not to force anything by putting in too much effort. Don’t try to prove something. Just enjoy the moment and you’ll end up proving more than you knew was possible.
