“It’s easy to get sidetracked with technology, and that is the danger, but ultimately you have to see what works with the music and what doesn’t. In a lot of cases, less is more. In most cases, less is more.” – Herbie Hancock

I think it’s so interesting that such an innovative musician who has been able to maintain his notoriety for so long because of how he is able to stay relevant, mentions the danger of technology in terms of music. Herbie is known for experimenting with different musical genres, mixing sounds and influences from other types of musics and cultures, utilizing different types of technology. With this type of approach in creating, there is a great potential to throw too much sonically at the listener or audience.

Some musicians might be tempted to play or insert as much as they can, Herbie cautions to go with “less.” For many musicians, this isn’t a new concept; I, myself, always appreciated a more simplistic approach in lyrics, melody, and arranging. However, it’s not something you would expect from a musician like Herbie Hancock, just based on his music alone. The listener tends to automatically fill in the spaces that a vocalist or instrumentalist leaves when playing less, so over-playing can become chaotic very quickly.

This isn’t to say that sometimes the music doesn’t call for more. Depending on the mood you are trying to create or message you’re trying to convey, the arrangement might need more instruments, more voices, or more sound just in general. Technology can definitely aide in this, having the potential to add synthetic sounds either during the compositional stage or even after the final recordings have finished in the studio. However, the thing that comes to mind when reading this quote by Herbie, is to try to avoid adding the extra note, instrument, or voice if you don’t need it. Many times music doesn’t need much in order to move an audience or listener, and we, as musicians, should try to remember simplicity first when creating, before trying to add more to a song just for the sake of complexity.

“Sam Cooke said this when told he had a beautiful voice: He said, ‘Well that’s very kind of you, but voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.’ [. . .]” – Bob Dylan

When I read this quote, I think of all of the singers who are able to manipulate their voices, one minute singing with a bright, vibrato-filled tone, and the next, making their voice sound gritty, nasal, and harsh. I’ve always admired vocalists who are able to pull this off–singers with the aesthetically pleasing big, operatic voice or slinky, intimate Jazz tone are impressive as well–because I believe it resembles the dynamic nature of the speaking voice more. Emotions aren’t pleasant or attractive all the time, and like life, our emotions can constantly change, minute to minute.

Vocalists who can portray these emotions through lyrics and melody are able to convey the truest form of the message in the song. Whether or not you interpret the message in the same way that they intended is a different story; the point is that the vocalist convinced you of something. I remember watching Gregory Porter perform for the very first time. He was singing, “No Love Dying,” and whether the message that I got from those lyrics was the same message he was trying to convey when he wrote and sang them is of no consequence. I was truly convinced, feeling the same adamant faith, unconditional love, and relentless  need for self-reassurance–I wept like an old woman right in the middle of that theater. I’m not sure if those were the emotions that he was trying to project, but that’s what I picked up on and it felt very real to me.

That is why I can agree with Bob Dylan and Sam Cooke’s quote when they say that having a beautiful singing voice is nice, but what you make the audience feel is much more important. I strive constantly to really feel what I’m singing; to be conscious of the words and how they might be related to melody, knowing that I am conveying a message, communicating emotions to the people around me. This is truly a skill that takes years to master; I, myself am still learning, and performers that have been doing this for years still don’t get it right at times. People always say that music is its own language and this quote only strengthens that idea because vocalists truly are communicating feelings that someone might have felt at some point throughout their life. Musicians will always care about how they sound (tone, groove, etc.), but connecting with others through how we express emotions and experiences will be remembered long after our sound disappears.

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” -Maya Angelou

Even though this quote isn’t from a musician, it resonated with me because I strongly agree with it and disagree with it at the same time. The idea can be applied to both the person working the nine to five desk job and anyone wanting to create something.

The idea is simple. Of course if you truly believe in yourself and like yourself, you’ll more than likely try to go for that job promotion or be willing to take more risks and experiment when either practicing or performing. You won’t let what others say or do (or how well another musician might be playing) keep you from doing things that you want to do. This concept can easily be applied to a regular job, but the fact of the matter is that when it comes to creativity (musicians especially), you are never really happy or satisfied with yourself, whether it comes to how you practice or execute your craft. Musicians are notorious for this; we constantly strive to be the best, sacrificing time, money, personal relationships, and even everyday necessities or comforts to write that perfect song, play that difficult lick, tackle a solo, or performance. And because a lot of us constantly doubt our abilities, it is harder to bounce back emotionally when someone criticizes the work we produce or treats us in a way we don’t like.

When you enjoy what you do, you will most likely want to do more of it. True. However, with music, it can be more of a love-hate relationship, especially when first learning how to play an instrument or sing. You want to master your instrument so bad, yet it takes time and countless failures to get to an intermediate or acceptable level of playing. Many times you feel like quitting and taking breaks is probably a good idea, because when you don’t, frustration turns to anger and confusion, which ultimately leads to more slip-ups. This process never gets easier, by the way–the more you learn and the more advanced you become on your instrument, the more you want to achieve. I will say, in my case though, that I love singing. Once I learned the basics of singing technique and how to sing without straining your vocal chords, I couldn’t stop. Now when I practice, I find myself singing for hours, when I had only intended to sing for 45 minutes! Singing doesn’t feel like work to me anymore, so that is why I can agree with this aspect of the quote above. When you love what you do, you’ll want to do more of it, producing things (or music) more genuine and authentic to you.

Liking this whole process of doing what you love is probably the hardest part when it comes to being a musician. We write and write and write only to abandon or throw out completely a song that we spent days working on. A lot of the time, if we don’t like how something sounds or how something is being played, we change it completely, and because of this, I have a hard time agreeing with Angelou. Musicians constantly change how we do things all the time. In an office, sending out mail or sending emails is the same day after day. There isn’t a need to change how you do things if it works. Music is dynamic and as such will always changes in some aspect or another. Musicians have to  be sure enough in themselves to commit to these changes when they happen otherwise music can’t evolve. One thing is for sure: because of how difficult it is to create music and be a musician, this is something you can’t do if you don’t love it.

“Vocalists must study music and know everything an instrumentalist needs to know.” -Jane Monheit

This quote seems obvious to many musicians. Why wouldn’t vocalists study all the same things that an instrumentalist would? Often, I have come across a good amount of singers who struggle with things like basic music theory because they focus more on the performance aspect of singing, and not the actual reading and writing skills necessary for music-making. This doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it can cause a lot of potential issues both on and off stage.

Whether they will admit it or not, non-singing musicians are aware of the negative stereotypes associated with vocalists. Singers can quite often be considered “divas,” having unreasonable requests for fellow band mates and stage crew members; not being very cognizant of other musicians and how to communicate and/or work with others. Not knowing how to read music is another common notion that instrumentalists can have about vocalists (I am speaking from my own personal experience; if you or others have experienced something different, I apologize if it appears as if I am generalizing), and quite often, this thought alone can ruin a working relationship between a singer and other instrumentalists because they can come across as condescending, not asking for the singer’s musical or stylistic input.

Communication is key for vocalists when they perform, so why wouldn’t we want to know the language in which we’re communicating so that we can relay our messages better? Music is a language. We must be aware of not only how it works for when we perform, but also so that we may create our own musical ideas to communicate with others. If I always have to rely on someone else to write the music for lyrics I write, it will take twice as long for me to finish a song as it would if I knew how to just write the music by myself.

As vocalists, we should know how to do everything an instrumentalist knows how to do because we should be able to be viewed on the same level as they are both on and offstage. It not only makes it easier to create our own music and communicate to our audiences and fellow musicians, but also makes us more versatile and competitive as musicians and working, ambitious individuals.

“Not to deny that it is a thinking people’s music, but when I listen to music, if I ever catch myself thinking, I’m in trouble–I know something is wrong.” -Brian Blade
Whenever I think of really good music, it always seems to be reactionary. It feels and sounds like a conversation between instruments and players, singers and other performers. That’s why I love this quote because music should feel to some extent like the musicians aren’t thinking; they’re just reacting. Music is just being created.

That isn’t to say that there isn’t a certain degree of thinking involved when creating and playing music. However, I feel like there should be more “thinking”involved, obviously, in the preparation process –practicing to master a new skill or to get ready for a gig. We hope that we almost over-prepare to the point where we don’t have to think about these things and that they become almost second-nature or reactionary.

Something that also results from feeling or reacting in musical situations is the ability to know when something doesn’t sound right (rhythmically or melodically). We sometimes let our heads get in the way of our playing, overthinking that last note or solo we played, but in doing so can severely cripple our potential for creating even better musical situations than we originally intended. I believe that this is what Blade is referring to when he says, “[ . . .] If I ever catch myself thinking, I’m in trouble [. . . ]”

Music is an inherently human thing. Communication is a key element of the creative process that is music. So, once we as musicians get to a point in our music-making where we become confident enough to appear and play as though we are reacting or communicating, the musical situation becomes more meaningful and enjoyable for not only the musicians, but the audience as well.