Bringing Excitement into a Performance with a Band

How do you get ALL of the members of a band involved with a soloist? Here are two great tools a soloist can use…

1) Repetition - When a soloist starts to play a repetitive phrase, after it's played 2x (especially if it's a 1 or 2-bar lick), the other musicians have a sense that they're going to keep repeating… either exact or a sequence (a sequence is where the lick is transposed… scale degree for scale degree… up or down to match the new chord). Once this is known, the band can do things to help bolster the soloist… playing in unison… playing in harmony… bass player thumping' on the root note… drummer playing more actively (since the melody part is essentially inactive at that point, it draws more focus to other elements, in this case the more active cymbals and syncopated accenting of the snare and kick).

2) Accents - In these repetitive phrases accent (play stronger) one or two notes consistently. Watch this video starting at 2:15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4LQdYS5lo8 the head… note how I accent beats 1 and 2 every two bars in my repetitive lick. Also notice how I not only accent these notes by where I place them in the phrase... and by playing them louder… and fuller by using octaves... I'm also moving my body there, so there is a visual element as well to cue the band.

These are elements that make great live music. Work on ONE lick that you can use at your next performance/jam that's repetitive and you feel could work in this situation.