"I only play this or that"

KBadd

Silver Member
My sax player is very experienced and has played forever. Sometimes in rehearsals he will say "but I am only playing this or that through the whole song".

We (Keys, Bass, Guitar, Me) feel so what. Does he need a solo on every song? The horn parts on many songs should only reflect rhythm and accents. I then have to remind the sax player that "I am playing boom chick and Mr Bass player is playing da da da da ". BUT when we combine boom chick with da da da da and then keys doing hmmm hmmmm and guitar going eeeerrrrriiieeee and sax playing pop daaaa pop daaaa.......it winds up making a real song.

Any Comments?
 
Your post sounds funny! I wish it was that easy...

Your sax player wouldn't have gotten all that experience if he didn't just play his parts all the time and only solo when appropriate, wouldn't he?
 
I sometimes feel the same way!
We all have to play our part no matter how basic it is.

There is nothing worse than a musician that overplays.
Over playing turns the listener off.
Most people don't want to hear complicated music.
Less is more in most cases.
When you do get a chance to open up it goes over much better
with the listeners.
They get just enough of you pulling out the stops to please them.

A few years ago I played a private party.
I kind of laid back and kept my playing simple for most of the night.
In the third set I let loose during a song.
Afterwards a guest came up to me and he said that he thought that I was just a basic drummer.
He said that he was shocked when I all of a sudden opened up.
It obviously had a dramatic effect on him.
 
Bo, I dig what you are saying....but he does overplay and also on top of the lead vocals many times, solos when not supposed to, forgets the song.......ugh....

Listen to "Honky Cat" by Elton John....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW7H6iohAb8

No horn solo, just smooth punches and accents. Sometimes the horn part is just that.....a part. Just like so many of my drum parts.
 
Poor little sax player has to support for some songs and doesn't get a solo, poor baby. He'll find no sympathy from me lol.
I like your response, I don't know how it could have been explained better.
There's no "I" in band....
 
...

I once played in a 2-guitar player band, where one of them was only interested in his solo. Where he played it, how many bars he played it for, and what kind of solo it was. The band sound, the song, his comp parts, what anybody else was doing - - not interesting enough for him..

...and I'm wondering where these guys comes from?

Who breeds these guys? Is there a school or a farm of some kind...

They are also the ones always checking themselves out in the mirror..

Your sax man is definitely one of them.


...
 
Another thing that many musicians don't always realize is that the more pieces that are in the band, The less everyone should play.
 
I am in a band where the folks don't overplay, and we're constantly working on dynamics and simplicity is support of each other. It couldn't be a better situation. But I have worked with guys like your sax player. It's hard to get through to these kind of people. If he thinks his part is too simple or boring tell him to listen to Dave Brubeck's piano vamp in "Take Five". Dave plays the same vamp through the entire song and, if I can use a metaphor, it provides a canvas on which the other band members can paint a beautiful musical picture. To me it is one of the finest examples of playing for the tune and supporting your band mates. Brubeck is the glue that holds things together.

A few months ago our bassist's brother in law came up to me and said he finally figured out why he liked my playing: I provide a basic groove and use simple fills. Kind of like Charlie Watts he said, which is the biggest compliment I could receive 'cause he is the guy I've always emulated.

Personally, it sounds like you might want to consider a new sax player.
 
There's no "I" in band....

There's no I in 'me', either.

Somehow, being a drummer mostly eliminated this need to play something 'interesting' for me. I suppose since you're playing several parts at once, with different sounds, you get to experience what it's like to BE a band in a sense. Guitarists, sax players, do one thing at a time, and so have to be very awake in order to really understand how this feels.
 
Roger, Take Five is a perfect example.
Brubeck clearly had an understanding that the piano is the backbone of that piece.
It just wouldn't be the same if the piano did anything else in that tune.
 
Another thing that many musicians don't always realize is that the more pieces that are in the band, The less everyone should play.

These are words of wisdom of the highest calibre. Bravo for that shiny pearl...


The business end of your tractor is pretty darn intimidating Bob!

Looks like it would be a gruesome way to die. Is that human blood I noticed on those blades? How's the wife?
 
Bo, I dig what you are saying....but he does overplay and also on top of the lead vocals many times, solos when not supposed to, forgets the song.......ugh....

Oh my god! We must use the same exact sax player!
 
Is that human blood I noticed on those blades? How's the wife?
SHHHHHush!
Have you ever heard of the guy from Ct that ran his wife through a wood chipper.
He was a customer of mine for years.
 
Are you implying that he mentored you in the fine art of human juicing?
 
I then have to remind the sax player that "I am playing boom chick and Mr Bass player is playing da da da da ". BUT when we combine boom chick with da da da da and then keys doing hmmm hmmmm and guitar going eeeerrrrriiieeee and sax playing pop daaaa pop daaaa.......it winds up making a real song.

Any Comments?

I would state it to him, exactly as you have here.......makes perfect sense when put so simplistically.

Now I'm outta here before Bob "The Ripper Bundy" goes on a rampage with tree felling machinery!
 
Actually, that just looks like Bob's snow attatchment. He probably has even more gruesome one's in that New England garage. *shudders*
 
I can still hear my drum teacher "less is more" I dont know how good this applies to farm equipment though? I always knew he was wrong because when he would say it I would always think of Niel Peart.... so I guess the answer from the panel here if there is one is to put your sax player in a woodchipper? Always great advice here!!!
 
Take the sax off him first, it'd blunt the cutting edges.
 
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