Cheap But Good Advice For Playing In A Group

(Attributed to Chick Corea)

1. Play only what you hear.

2. If you don't hear anything then don't play anything.

3. Play to make the other musicians sound good. Play things that will make the overall music sound good.

4. Make your sound blend - listen to your sound and adjust it to the rest of the band and the room.

5. Don't improvise on endlessly - play something with intention, develop it or not, but then end off - take a break.

6. Use contrast and balance the elements: high - low; fast - slow; loud - soft; tense - relaxed; dense - sparse.

7. Leave space - create space - intentionally create places where you don't play.

8. Don't let your fingers and limbs just wander - place them intentionally.

9. If you play more than one instrument at a time like a drum kit or multiple keyboards - make sure they are balanced with one another.

10. Don't make any of your music mechanically or just through patterns of habit. Create each sound, phrase and piece with choice - deliberately.

11. Guide your choice of what to play by what you like - not by what someone else will think.

12. Play with a relaxed body, always relax whatever tension you create.

13. Create space - begin, develop and end phrases with intention.

14. Never beat or pound your instrument - play it easily and gracefully.

15. Create space then play something in it.

16. Use mimicry sparsely - mostly create phrases that contrast with and develop the phrases of the other players.