Stop overthinking the notes you play

As musicians we often think a whole lot about the specific notes and rhythms we play. This can be great because that will help you play better music and make better music, but it can also prevent you from improving if you’re constantly worried about playing wrong notes.

When I was in my highschool jazz band I did this all the time. I would be so worried about playing wrong notes that I’d hardly play anything. It kept me from improving because what would’ve helped is me playing something and hearing that it’s wrong and moving on to find something that sounds better. If I instead thought of playing as the practice, improvising as the way to get better, then that would’ve helped me realize that playing wrong notes is part of learning.

In order to improvise well you need to practice improvising. In order to play good solos you need to practice playing solos. You need to play a lot of solos so that you can figure out what sounds good and how to incorporate the musical ideas you already know. Which means you might have to play a number of solos that you don’t like. That’s fine. But keep playing.

Without practicing the act of soloing you never learn those skills. Learning how to do it in the moment of playing a solo is the skill that needs to be developed.

Now I’m not super great at playing solos, but I’m definitely more comfortable playing solos and my solos have improved a ton by getting past that fear. They sound more natural, and honestly I’m playing a whole lot fewer “wrong” notes because I realize that I can just play something else after it. I can move on. I have to move on. The music keeps going so if I play something I don’t like there’s no need to dwell on it.

Stop overthinking the notes you play.

ISJ