Solo Instrumentalists

[Notes_Norton]

I don't go with "any song can be played as an instrumental". There are so many simple songs that have such weak melodies that they won't make it without vocals.

 

To me, one of the marks of a good song is that it has a strong melody that can be recognized without the underlying chords and also can be played in a variety of styles.

 

Me? I don't play piano strong enough to take a gig like that, but if I did, I would definitely take it as long as I had enough material to do it and my material was appropriate for the audience.

 

I know a great jazz piano player who also takes sonic wallpaper gigs. They keep his fingers nimble, and pay the mortgage.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[pogo97]

Whatever happened to "The Hucklebuck"? 

 

 

[senorblues]

I'm not sure how to measure this, but I suspect that this gig doesn't put a premium on the "audience's" familiarity with my repertoire. They're there ostensibly to look at art, but really to drink free wine and talk to their friends. "The girls don't seem to care. As long as the music's right. . . . FM" - Steely Dan.

 

I linked to a very good piano player who has a successful trio but also has a house gig at a hotel playing solo piano. Videos she's posted sound like she's composing on the spot. Noodling? At least I don't recognize any songs or even a standard form. Some gigs apparently really work well even though nobody's listening, at least with an ear towards recognizing what's being played.

 

But let's get back to the requirement that a song needs a good melody. OK, but do you have to play all the notes for the song to be recognizable? I suspect that some songs are recognizable by a signature rhythm and changes. I hope so. . . to the extent that recognizability is necessary.

 

[senorblues]

Well if I was ever going to learn "The Hucklebuck", now's the time . . . . .

[pogo97]

But let's get back to the requirement that a song needs a good melody. OK, but do you have to play all the notes for the song to be recognizable? I suspect that some songs are recognizable by a signature rhythm and changes. I hope so. . . to the extent that recognizability is necessary.

 

One of the waitresses where I play on Wednesdays asked to sing some songs while I backed her up. Good PR move for me and not a bad singer -- a bit on the trained side for me. Anyway, when I played the intro, unless I played specifically the tune she couldn't tell where her entrance was. Seemed odd to me, but there you go, we dealt with it.

[Notes_Norton]

<...snip...>

But let's get back to the requirement that a song needs a good melody. OK, but do you have to play all the notes for the song to be recognizable? I suspect that some songs are recognizable by a signature rhythm and changes. I hope so. . . to the extent that recognizability is necessary.

 

IMHO you have to play enough of the song so that at least 3/4 of the audience members who know that song can recognize it.

 

There are some songs with such weak melodies that I don't care what you do, they won't work as an instrumental.

 

But you have a point with signature riffs. For instance, James Brown's "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" wouldn't be recognizable to most people who know the song until the 16th note guitar riff after the line "Ain't no drag, papa's got a brand new bag."

 

In some cases, the background riff IS the song.

 

On the other hand you could play "Misty" without accompaniment and everybody who knows the song would recognize it.

 

You have to remember, unless you are gigging in a special place, most of the audience members do not listen with musician's ears. Some won't even get it if you don't sing the words.

 

Always remember: You can play for yourself, You can play for other musicians, or You can play for the general public. In each case if you are good enough, you will get the audience you asked for.

 

Me? I ask for the general public, but I need to gig to make a living. Fortunately I like playing popular songs and I like playing jazz, and I like playing classical, and I like playing salsa, and I like playing Reggae, etc., etc. But always remember, there is more than one right way to do this. Pop is just one of my many favorite types of music to play.

 

You must follow your personal bliss, and there will always be compromises to make, even Mozart and Beethoven had to play to their audiences. Prokofiev had to wait until Stalin died before releasing his 4th symphony for fear that Stalin would execute him for the dissonances in the symphony.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

 

[senorblues]

So the gig came off with only a couple of major clams. The linked video I put together shows what for me was a first - literally being the center of attention. A guy snuck up behind me, at least it felt that way. Totally unnerved me; I'll be ready next time.

 

I was delighted at the positive response I got and was especially impressed with songs people recognized without the help of lyrics or even a complete recognizable melody. As you can see, it helps that most of the folks are my age. Even more gratifying is that a few of the more obscure songs that I played got a favorable response. I asked if they knew the song, and several times I got the same response. "No, but I just like the way it sounds." What a rush!

 

I wondered if anyone would decide to fill in for the missing vocals. Sure enough; check out "Gee, Baby".

 

The woman grooving to "Saturday in the Park" and talking during "Pretzel Logic" wants to put together a series of private events at her home so we can keep this going. Well . . . sure! I hope she follows through.

[senorblues]

 

"Well if I was ever going to learn "The Hucklebuck", now's the time . . . . ."

 

You all disappoint me . . . . nobody got it!

[pogo97]

That was pretty subtle.

[senorblues]

I guess I've been obsessed recently with ASCAP issues and who's ripping off whom. Another benefit of instrumental music is that you can dance around a song without making it recognizable if the venue feels like they have to avoid paying fees.

[pinkfloydcramer61]

RE playing the melody, I'm of the opinion that playing the melody as accurately and true to the original as possible- at least the 1st time through- is crucial to a "wallpaper" gig. It's also (in my experience) a fairly rare skill. I have seen lots of guitar hero shredders and accomplished horn players struggle with playing a melody or "head" on the spot without fumbling around.

 

A local bassist, that has the corporate "wallpaper" local scene wrapped up, used to hire me over more accomplished jazz players because I could play melodies (or "heads", as he called them). I discovered that we had a mutual appreciation of Paul Shaffer's Late Night (Letterman) band as the template for that. His view was that playing the melody accurately 1st time through, with no added notes or ad libs, locked in the listeners' interest in the musicians, cementing their impression that "that band can play ANYTHING". He actually went so far as to maintain that the melody should be played with single notes, not chord clusters. Not sure I go along with all that, but given his talent, rep, versatility and experience I paid attention to his words.

 

He also said that he was sick of playing 3 hour gigs where no one in the audience recognized a single song- something that happens both because of too much improv/ too little melody, and also because of the typical, traditional instrumental material. He decided that to remain viable, he was going to have to incorporate "contemporary" songs (definition of "contemporary: tunes only 30-40 years old instead of 50-80, ha). That's where I came in, although with mixed results for things like Journey. I do remember a cover of Don't Stop Believing that started out rough but jelled into an intriguing smooth jazz version once the sax player found his bearings.

 

Congrats to senor on his successful wallpaper debut! If instrumental/singalong stuff goes over better than vocals with piano, it may be worth considering focusing on that.

[Notes_Norton]

I come from the 'old school' that even in a jazz gig, you play the head straight through with no or almost no embellishments the first time through. This establishes the song Second time through you can embellish it or go straight ad-lib depending on the audience. I always like to keep the melody in mind when improvising. That doesn't mean I'm always playing the melody, it could be far from it, but by having the melody 'singing along' in the back of my mind, what I do, the way I phrase, and the lines that come out of my horn seem to be more appropriate for the song.

 

I also like to return to the head before ending the song. At least a B followed by an A section, It serves as an anchor.

 

For dinner sets, we do a couple of medleys where I put a half dozen or so heads together, play them straight one time through, them move on to the next song. for about 10 minutes total. It often gets applause because people recognize the wallpaper.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[pogo97]

I think people really enjoy figuring out what the song is by listening to the melody without the words. I see them when it clicks (often very quickly, sometimes slower) and they say the name of the song to their dining partner or just nod. If I can't play the melody straight up it means either I don't know the melody well enough or I haven't got the chops to play what I hear. Either way, I'll put that song on the woodshed pile.

[Vito Corleone]

Very nice! I like doing background instrumental gigs. To be honest, for some of them I haven’t even really bothered playing songs as much as just improvising around some chord patterns. but I like doing the gigs as an offset to my band work. Sometimes it will be part of the same gig if they just want some background music for dinner or cocktails.

 

Good stuff! Keep at it, Carl!

[senorblues]

I'm not sure we all have the same definition for "wallpaper gig." I expected the art reception to be that - providing ambience, but little or no attentive listening. As soon as I saw the piano in the middle of the room, I realized I would have an audience - not all, or even the majority, but the option to stand right next to the piano made this inevitable. Compare this arrangement to a large restaurant with you tucked in a corner with at least half the tables empty. That was my introduction to solo work and I was mostly ignored until the last set when a few people stuck around and had another drink. Those gigs started as wallpaper gigs and often ended up as a sort of private party over in my corner of the room.

 

What you play and how you play it changes depending on the situation. No? There is something sad about singing and playing formal arrangements to inattentive diners. That restaurant closed and if I had to do it over, I'd be a lot freer with what I played and be ready to reach out at the first sign that anyone was actually paying attention!

[Notes_Norton]

Wallpaper gig to me is where we are playing so softly that we don't interrupt conversation and that the majority of the audience finds conversation more important than the music.

 

For this I play familiar songs, mostly play the melodies, and keep improvisations short or not at all. Why? It works. In conversational pauses the listener will hear something he/she recognizes and be happy with that. It's background music, and I keep it there.

 

When I was a kid, groups like 101 Strings made albums of popular music as instrumentals. The melody was intact, the important background riffs and figures were there, the harmony was correct, and it was all done instrumentally without grabbing your attention. They were extremely successful, and were perfect wallpaper music.

 

So during wallpaper or dinner sets, that's what I play, only with synthesizers instead of strings. I am often surprised to find when I've done a 10 minute or so medley of pop songs in a bossa or light swing rhythm, I'll get applause from people I didn't even know were actually listening.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[Bob Dey]

I don't seem to ever get wallpaper gigs because I'm known more as an entertainer or one-man-band. I had an acoustic gig on Sundays nearly 20 years ago, singing and playing. But one day I didn't sing one song, just played instrumentals. It was so dead that day I didn't feel like singing. I didn't wanna be another more than wallpaper!

[Bob Dey]

Keeping the melody in mind during improv always works best for me too. If someone pulls out a song I've never done or even head before, I go more with chord/scale theory during solos.

[Shaster]

You can do a song instrumentally even if it has strong lyrics, if it also has a strong melody. I get a lot of love for instrumental versions of The Lady In Red (even guys like it), Rock With You (MJ), Human Nature (MJ) and Josie. People sometimes go crazy when I do Shape Of My Heart, even though it's got a billion lyrics. Maybe there are so many no one has ever listened to them.

 

I even learned Ben for a manager, and when I played it instrumentally, a table of guys that were digging SRV and Jimi, kinda got the joke and applauded. Of course I don't push my luck with that one. I'll probably never play it again unless I get a request for it. Unbelievably I've had two in the last year - go figure.

 

Glad the gig went well, but I couldn't view the video - guess the link has expired.

[senorblues]

Sorry about the malfunctioning video. It DOES work . . . but only if you click on "Piano Jonathan Frost Gallery", NOT the start arrow.

[daddymack]

now I know what to request when I come up to check you out!

[Notes_Norton]

I don't seem to ever get wallpaper gigs because I'm known more as an entertainer or one-man-band. <...>

 

We're versatile, and can do wallpaper, concert, night club, dance, or whatever. It's the way to survive around here. Being a duo makes it easier than as a single though.

 

Notes

 

 

[Shaster]

I'll pay you not to request it!

[Shaster]

Used the other link, it worked. There ya go, nice stuff! There used to be a whole lot of those gigs in the hotel lounges here, but now they have 32 year old guitar players instead. BTW I might define your gig as an interactive wallpaper gig. Whatever the case, I really like those gigs, but but I don't get as many as I used to. Folks seem to either want entertainment or an iPod. Still get a a few though. Here's a few seconds of me on Mother's Day butchering, err I mean improvising some Matteo Carcassi.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFfXgduSAcFiqsm5DjhQ_xQ

[senorblues]

What I hear you playing on your video link? . . . it's a vibe. Don't know the song, don't care about the melody, it's about a particular style, and you're doin' it!