Playing All the Time

I just had a great phone conversation with my old high school friend and saxophone mentor. We reminisced about how much playing we did back then: practicing early before school, listening–critically–to music during the 30 minute commute to school, scribbling out licks during history class to test out when we got to jazz band in fourth period, skipping lunch to shed (practice) in the piano room, jamming after school, more listening in the car ride home, practicing for hours at night only to repeat the whole process the next day.

And the weekends?

If we were lucky they included sitting in on someone’s gig, but they almost always included at least one late-night hang in my friend’s converted garage jamming along to Aebersolds (play-along recordings) until 4am. Often playing one song for over an hour.

When we took a snack break to raid his parent’s kitchen (and watch Talk Soup with Greg Kinnear) guess what we discussed?

Music.

A byproduct of so much playing together was the unintentionally developed skill of listening. Listening to him play his chorus (or eight bars) while I sat there with my sax in hand, I would try to figure out the cool stuff he played and how I could comment on, copy, or develop it when my turn came around.

Both of us have done a lot of teaching in the 15+ years since that time and both of us see a lot of players trying to “get it” by practicing some licks in 12 keys or shedding some scales and patterns, or worse, reading out of a transcription book.

Very few, if any, of them are playing–playing–music all the time.

Fewer still are listening.