When it comes to learning, practicing and generally getting better as musicians, we are often told to focus on fundamental principles; harmony, rhythm, melody, form and so forth, all of which are entirely valid and (I feel) crucial ingredients for an effective practice routine. There is, however, one guiding idea that I often feel is completely absent from the conversation, and for me it’s the thing that should, ultimately, be driving you onwards as a musician…
Curiosity
Ask yourself why you began playing an instrument in the first place. In my case it was seeing a brass band for the first time at a fair, I had absolutely no idea what was going on but I was utterly mesmerised by the sound that the ensemble was creating and after sitting spellbound I told my parents ‘I want to do that!’ and the rest, as they say, is history (and the support of my parents in that moment is something I can never adequately thank them for). That one musical encounter lit a fire of curiosity and intrigue within that has never gone away, no matter how much music I listen to, no matter how much I learn, I’m still fundamentally curious about what I’m hearing.
It occasionally concerns me that musicians (particularly adults) appear to have had this curiosity drilled out of them. They are often so concerned about what they ‘should’ be practicing and how they ‘should’ sound that they lose sight of what made them want to play music in the first place.
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting that people should not practice their arpeggios or the other ‘eat your greens’ parts of musical study. These are as crucial as your spoken vocabulary and require disciplined work if you want to be able to communicate effectively as a musician, but beyond the fundamentals is that childlike feeling of wonder when you hear something new, something utterly incredible that you just don’t understand. That feeling of ‘I don’t understand that, but I love it and I want it’ is something that can inspire, drive and motivate you if you choose to harness it.
Don’t just let things go
Too often when we listen to music, we just let things go. We hear things, wonder at them and then let them go as we go about our day. I’ve made a very conscious effort to document things that grab me for investigation and you can do this in the simplest of ways, such as screenshotting a song or photographing your infotainment readout if you’re listening to the radio. The Shazam app can also be an absolute godsend in this respect albeit only for more mainstream discoveries, but use one of the above to make a note. One such song I recently found this way (indeed I had to pull over while driving to screenshot it) is ‘Overdose Of Joy’ by Eugene Record.
Interestingly it wasn’t the bass that grabbed me, it was the vocal melody, the horn/string arrangement and just how high both of them were mixed in the track! It was only later that I heard what a fantastic bass line there is in there too, which brings me to my next point….
Music first, Instrument second
This goes for all instrumentalists, not just bass players. It’s entirely natural that we focus on what our instrument does within the track but you should nurture your curiosity about all the different aspects of music because the offshoots and benefits to you are completely unpredictable. You also become a far better band musician when you’re curious about other instruments because you can communicate in a way that they will understand. For those of you that play bass, be curious about what drummers are doing; what you like and dislike about different drummers, drumming vocabulary and how the bass and the drums can fit together. I’ve recently become very curious about harmony and in particular how different voicings can work on both piano and guitar but I also love digging into great horn section arrangements and great melodies within compositions.
Investigate!
When it comes to transcription, curiosity should be what drives you. If you’re not curious about things you’re transcribing I honestly feel that you’re wasting valuable practice time because this is one of the areas where you learn the most about music, the playing of music and also about yourself as a musician and curiosity is the driving force behind EVERY transcription I post here in my archive for you all. Leading with curiosity rather than ‘I’m expected to transcribe so I’m going to transcribe something’ will not only make the entire transcription process more enjoyable, when things get hard you’ll be far less likely to down tools and walk away from it, and (cherry on the cake) you will internalise FAR more of the vocabulary!
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If you hear something that you don’t understand and you’re still thinking about it a few hours later, lead with that when you sit down to practice!
Something I finally sat down to finish transcribing recently is THIS Anthony Jackson line with Michel Camilo…I’ve heard this SO many time’s over the years, it still absolutely blows me away and I STILL don’t understand a lot of it….so I’m digging in! I’ll never be AJ, but i’ll never stop learning from him.
YOU need to do the work…
There is a lot of debate at present about AI and it’s role within the world of music (and education). I’m working on an article to try and lay out my thoughts on it and where it fits in (because it is not going away) but when it comes to this? My take is: YOU need to do the work, not the AI. If you’re curious about something, sit down with the instrument and Work. It. Out. Yes, it may well be hard at first if you’re new to transcription and yes, it might well be frustrating, but that’s how you get better at the craft and it’s how you REALLY learn things in the deepest way. Yes, you can ask AI or google what something is but when it comes to improving, your brain will internalise SO much more information if you go through the full process and decipher things yourself!
In closing, be guided by your instincts, by those things that grab you, that make you wonder because that childlike sense of ‘Wow!’ is one of the most valuable guides we can ever have
I thought I’d bring some more music to the table so here are some other things that have really piqued by curiosity in recent weeks/months!
Anika Nilles - Mister/Wild Boy
I’ve loved Anika’s music and drumming for a long time now (well before she landed the much deserved gig with Rush) and in particular her original tunes (especially now that i’m starting to focus more on my own writing). The things I home in on differ from tune to tune, with Mister is was the main melody that grabbed my attention, with Wild Boy it’s the main groove, the little unisons in the middle and in particular Anika’s drum parts! If you’re lucky enough to see her play with Rush, enjoy the show. She’s an absolutely devastating drummer and wherever Neil is now, I feel as though he’ll be smiling.
Podium Trio - Soko Mogou
I’ve well and truly gone down the Anthony Jackson rabbit hole again over the last few days as part of my group classes latest teaching block looking at selected songs featuring the titans of the session world (others include Abraham Laboriel, Neil Stubenhaus and Nathan East) and this has resulted in me taking a very long look at their respective discographies so I can bring songs that are somewhat left field to the sessions rather than going over tunes many other bass channels/tutors have done to death elsewhere online.
This wasn’t the tune I selected for Anthony (that was Will Downing’s version of The World Is A Ghetto) but this one REALLY blew me away and reminded me of the sheer ferocity and depth of Anthony’s vocabulary. The unison lines are also a timely reminder that when it comes to chops, Anthony could mix it with the very best ever.
Bjorn Meyer - Nesodden
I’ve also been taking a closer look at some of Bjorn Meyers solo work recently as i’m trying to solidify what I want some of my own music to encompass, and this is a gorgeous piece from Bjorn’s latest solo work Convergence. Bjorn’s compositional sense and concept of sound are both hugely inspiring and influential for me and the ‘inner voices’ and moving within the composition are something i’m looking at quite closely at present!
Great article, Ben. That, "Ooh, what is that?" curiosity still lights me up.
Watching the Anika Nilles live songs, which I had not seen, gave me that feeling. I can only imagine the amazing energy in that studio during the recording. Seeing the smiles on Anika and the others was infectious. Thank you for sharing!
Another inspiring article. I’ve never forgotten the story my mum told me of how she found me, age 5, ear to the radio’s speaker, trying to work out what the sounds were. Curiosity is fuel!