The Music

Something in written form about the sounds you're hearing right now ...

(Hopefully!

The technology ... it can be ... blinding ..... )

These are all jams done by myself and Fingers - the two main components of our music project the Zing (www.theZing.net)

There's a few other people involved here & there too.

Bit of a mixture ....

Sketches.

Games ... Kind of ...

Experimental .... playing ...

Lots of fun ....

There's quite a few pieces - many very short - so we've put them into a stream which seems to be a perfect application for these RSS players.

You can just let it play through in the background - listening as you wish ...

Most of these pieces were done completely one-off - just jamming away - hit record .... Bam.

Sometimes at strange times of the night ....

Or even legging it home from work at lunchtime ...

Running with the ball ...

Unexpected gems appear ...

And some of the Jams are a bit more ... involved ... developed ...

(eg the PADIntro sequence: 4 tracks - put them all here for your interest. You will see how it started - and moved along .... adding guitars, then drums - etc.)

But in general - they're all basically one-off jams.

Incomplete ... Special moments in time .... Some quite old by now .... the soul of the moment ........

Gotta keep movin on ...

Its all in the spirit of the main article on jamming - which might make some kind of sense to you ....

I hope you will ... understand!

Or if not - - I guess its not that important ...

Really not - honestly!

The Truth is - I hardly understand it all myself.

Words can be hard sometimes ... We all know that ....

So forget all that wordy stuff and ...

Listen!

:)

Jamming. What is it?

Jamming - in music - is playing your instrument - or singing - without really knowing what you're going to play first.

This sounds a bit mad - but on reflection its not mad at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

When you're chatting with some friends - perhaps over a coffee or a beer - do you know exactly in advance what it is you're going to say?

Or you sportsmen & women out there - when you're playing football, or skiing down a mountain - can you tell in advance which way you're going to run with the ball or what moves you're going to make?

Did you know you were going to hit that snowy bump and do that wonderful soaring jump?

Watch the kids playing football in the playground.

Is there any planning whatsoever in the ebb & flow of the game?

Not at all - they're just kicking the ball around.

And so it is - or at least very similar - with jammin.

Just kicking the ball around.

Why do we do it?

Why?

Cos its fun!

Can be relaxing - or an outlet for frustration or a way of getting new ideas.

Can be exciting and creative.

And its very different to just playing set pieces.

More like ... just chatting ...

Who does it - and who doesn't?

It never ceases to amaze me - how many good musicians - especially classically trained ones - are unable to do anything except learn and play pieces. Given a free rein - they simply don't know what to do!

My theory is that this is a direct consequence of the whole music institution & the way they teach music. Learn this piece - learn that piece. And so the creative free side of music is not encouraged. And we can become a little like parrots.

Of course there's huge scope within existing music to be creative - interpretation, phrasing etc. etc.
And so much existing music is so wonderful - that its a joy to play it - if you can!

Even your own music - you may have jammed out smthg really cool.

Then maybe you worked on it - developed it & created a finished piece. Thats your ability as a composer and arranger.

After all that - other phases kick in - your ability as a performer for example. Your ability to play that piece again and again to a high standard - at gigs or concerts - or in the studio.

To perform when it is needed - its another important musical skill.

But with modern rock/pop type music - its rare that the piece is defined to the point where every note in say the guitar-solo is written - there's always that element of uncertainty - of not knowing what's going to happen. Its down to the Guitarist & what he does in that moment!

And so we come full circle ....

How do you do it?

To kick a ball around you need some rudimentary skills at least - to control the ball, a sense of balance & timing, an understanding of space and terrain, coordination, etc.

So it is to play music in any form - you need an ability with your instrument and with music.

But even from early on - its good to play. I still think its amazing that the word play is the word used for what you do with music - eg to play the guitar.

Once you start to reach up in ability - its pretty natural to break away from the book and the teacher - and to go exploring on one's own.

And then other things come into ... play .... your ability to experiment ... to dream .... to stay in tune! :)

A very important thing is to Listen.

And you can jam on your own - or you can jam to music - play over a CD you like for example. Or you can jam with other people!!

In fact - its hard to explain what the problem is ....

To me and many of the musicians I've worked with over the years - jamming is the most natural thing in the world. Most days I'll sit down at the piano and just ... play. No notes, no music, no predefined ideas - just the mood of the moment. Very pure. Its like dreaming ... or kicking a ball around - or chatting ...

Talking with the voice of the instrument.

And what happens - what comes out sound-wise - depends on many things - your mood at that time, your ability, where you're coming from musically (eg you might be into heavy rock, or classical, or reggae ...), what's on your mind - but generally just what you feel like. Music is usually a pretty emotional thing - so it might well be influenced by something that you're going through at the time. You might play someting based on a piece of music that's already in your head at the time - smthg u heard on the radio for example. Or it might be something completely new & unlike anything you've ever heard before ...

It just ... happens ...

Where does it come from?

Lets define "it" first - it is the music that happens - the sounds that "come out". If you're recording - then you've got something you can listen to afterwards. If someone else is listening - then they can go "Wow" or "Yeh" or even "Bleeauugh"!! If you have a good memory/focus then perhaps you can remember what you played - or at least the main ideas. If not - then maybe its gone forever - as is often the case - its gone with the moment.

But the concept of it is not really about remembering - or about thinking. Most of my best jam moments happened when I wasn't thinking.

Its pretty well-known - by musicians, performers & sports psychologists alike - that the best performances happen when the Mind is quiet. It doesn't mean you're asleep - quite the opposite - it means you're in a state of focus - can be gentle and dreamy or intense - doesn't matter. Without any chattering analyzing thinking judging mind-noise going on in the background - which ultimately distracts you from what you're doing.

We could discuss this at length - the mind, the subconscious, the spiritual, human consciousness, the voices in your head. But I'm not going to get involved in that here ... hopefully you can understand it & we'll just leave it at that.

You might have just sat down & played some amazing piece of music ... that you'd never ever played before nor even thought of anything like it ... Where the hell did it come from?

It seems to come from ... beyond ....

Perhaps - one of the main skills involved - is the ability to listen....

Still ... there's often a very real sense that it doesn't come from YOU - because when you were doing it - YOU weren't there!

Which is maybe one of the amazing things about the whole thing! :)

So Free your Mind and yo Ass will follow!! :))

Where does it go?

An interesting question too!

Whats it all for? is another one.

The jam is the jam - it is what it is. Whether it was you on yer own - or playin with a bunch of other people ...

Where you take it from there - if you feel you want to develop it - or just something that you'd like to share with others - is up to you. A jam might develop into a symphony or a Number 1 hit - if you run with it - or just get discarded.

Even the great musical works must have started as little sparks in the composer's head. As little jams on the piano or guitar - or in the head .... little ideas ... The great melting pot of ideas.

Moving a jam on - to a song or a symphony - is a whole different scene. And brings its own set of difficulties ... It also seems to be when you have to start using your mind a lot more - and the whip even! :) Like I said - its somethin else.

But still seems somehow to be a goal.

A difficulty can often be Legacy - an oft thorny issue - getting stuck with an idea that you can't move on or move on from. It can be hard to go back .... to Moments in time ... And yet obsession can drive you crazy .... Its pretty normal to go stale on something - and so then its good to move on. Its a skill to know when to move on ... like in life generally ... and its down to the individual ...

The Jam - Once surfaced and run a length - then maybe never to be disturbed again ..... consigned to the great master-tapes repositiory in the sky ...

Movin On ... Always movin ...

From Moment to Moment ....

There's smthg about Getting smthg down bang when its fresh - like a searing blade - just cos you were ... There.

Without pressure ....

Just the rush ....

The perfection of the Moments ....

Achieving perfection in the Moments ....

And frustration!!!!

And fun! :))

A Long Looooong Road .... Oh yes.

Is it any good then?

There's always a tendency by us humans - to judge. Is this any good? Is it cool? Do you like it? Is it Right or Wrong?



I don't think that's the point.

At all stages of learning, a sense of play - of experimenting - should be encouraged. And you never NEVER stop learning ........

Jamming can be part of that sense of play. Of fun. Once you've got to a certain level of competence with your instrument - then its pretty natural to go exploring.

Be not afraid to make mistakes! Its OK to experiment - & to fall over! Like a baby learning to walk ....

When I first started to break away from the whole learning institution thing in music - I jammed away - copying things I'd heard on the radio, mixing up classical and rock pieces, and generally just played around. I did it for my own pleasure, for my own curiosity, for my own fun. Possibly I was a bit of a rebel ..... or too lazy to work - too lazy and/or bored to stick at the slog of learning pieces .... I knew I wanted to be somewhere else at least ....

So I started playing around ..... experimenting ...

And then after a time I started jamming with other musos ...

And then .... (Echo effect :)

Freedom?

Even jamming - is to a degree dependent on what "sounds good". And what sounds good depends on the education of our ears & brains - centuries of the development of music - most recently in the 20th Century with black music influences and the whole Pop/Rock scene. So even there you have to have a feel for the idioms - all the standard chord sequences, or the stranger ones in jazz - and the Sound ....

Understanding what's there is one thing.

But sticking in established riffs or idioms too much can limit you in a very real sense - as you then just parody current styles. Copying.

Understanding should be the first step to freedom - like climbing to the top - and then you can sail off beyond ...

"And what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good - need we ask anyone to tell us these things?" - Plato, The Phaedrus.

Tying up the threads.

Difficult article to write this - analyzing something that is - or should be - beyond analysis ...

Maybe writing this article was a Jam! I certainly might have written something completely different if I tried it next week - or at any time other than now!

Maybe your whole life is a jam! You're certainly not fully in control of it ... are you? And you never stop learning!! And there sure are rhythms and themes in it ...

Or maybe - we're just in a Jam!!! :)



As a postscript, I scribbled out this little thing below - jammed it out so to speak ...

The Threads.

Tying up the threads.
Of your splintered thoughts ...
This way that way.
No Peace I find ...
In this crazy place ...
Dangerous assumptions.
All assumptions are dangerous.
Assume nothing.
Gotta get away ...

To get closer ... to THAT place ...
Whatever and wherever it is ...
The Void.
Freedom.
But Words deceive ... and lead us astray ....

More & more thoughts ... cramming in to ma head ...
More & more .... Words ....
Write em down.
Lose the thread.
Float.
Gotta get a grip.
The World as Will and Representation ....
Bla bla bla ....

Where are we now??