Pointing and calling for success?
Interested in folks' thoughts about this "Performance Tip" idea that may be pretty far off of David's radar, but:
Who have you seen on the bandstand that you thought did a really good job of guiding the band? Does R.J. Mischo come to mind? I.e., someone who doesn't rehearse with a regular band, and might be on stage with musicians of varying skill and knowledge of the leader's repertoire? Or how about at your local blues jam, where the host may regularly assemble groups at random?
A great read for practice habits is James Clear's Atomic Habits. In one chapter, Clear talks about the positive benefits of "pointing and calling."
A great example of "pointing and calling" (tho' with the aircraft noise, the "calling" is by radio headset and complicated hand and body signals) is what you see the flight deck crew of an aircraft carrier doing during takeoffs and landings. (Think "Top Gun.") And the "bandleader" is called the "shooter." There are lots of great YouTube video analyses of what these sailors actually do. At first glance it all looks like a crazy dance, but when you look closely, the "shooter" is carefully going through a visual checklist with each and every team on the deck, pointing, then looking for a return visual signal, then confirming with his or her own visual signal, until he or she has confirmed multiple times that everything is "go," and finally winds up and gives the final signal for the catapault crew to engage, and for the pilot to open the jet's thrust lever.
Does the "shooter" sound a bit like a bandleader? Pointing, calling, and confirming that every other member of the band is ready to go? Signalling back and forth with the sound engineer to verify that the monitors are at the right levels, and everything from the stage is going into the board and out into the house speakers as they should? Think about that when next you see a film or video of all the folks on a flight deck crew.
Of course, one of the benefits of being on a bandstand rather than a carrier flight deck is that if someone makes a mistake, the worst outcome is a musical train wreck that your audience might not even notice. The stakes are a whole lot higher for pilots and crew aboard aircraft carriers. But just because the risks at your local blues jam are a lot less doesn't necessarily mean that you can't use "pointing and calling" to boost the quality of everyone's performance.
Of course, the idea of "pointing and calling" can do great things in other aspects of one's life. My wife and I live in an urban environment and have a constant fear of driving off without making sure the garage door is down. (Fear due in part to my keeping a most-travelled amp in the garage rather than lug it up and down the stairs every time I go out to play.) We have a "pointing and calling" habit of always pointing to each other, each then asking the other, "Door down?," after which we each point at the closed door and each say to the other, "Door down."
Pointing and calling.
