Let The Music Play You

As a growing musician / instrumentalist, I have come across many schools of thoughts on rehearsals and performance. It is not uncommon to hear fellow musicians emphasize on the importance of effective rehearsals. It is widely said that the musician can only be as good as his rehearsals.

Despite many opinions on this topic, many musicians still get confused on how to approach rehearsals. Personally, I often get asked by my fellow musicians questions like, How long should I rehearse? How often should I rehearse? Why are scales and arpeggios so important? How do I incorporate what I rehearsed into my performances? And tonnes of other questions.

As a guitar and saxophone player, I have listened to many great players talk about rehearsals. I once heard that to become a virtuoso on any musical instrument, a player must spend at least eight hours each day rehearsing, daily. I have also heard of the importance of incorporating scales and arpeggios into your rehearsals routine.

Scales help build your dexterity and speed, and help you conquer your conjunct motion (steps); while arpeggios help you conquer your disjunct motion (leaps). It is worthy of note that all forms of music follow these two motions: conjunct and disjunct, with jazz music being a particularly evidence of this. A typical jazz solo is a juggling of scales and arpeggios.

One issue many masters have only touched, or maybe not given an in-depth explanation of, is this incorporation of rehearsals into performances. I have come to understand one thing and it has really helped me. I have understood that music is way too strong for us as musicians, and we should never try to play music.

Play your instruments rather, master them. Rehearse scales, arpeggios and the other important stuff. But when it is time for the performance, forget those. Don’t try to actively control it. Submit yourself as a vessel to music rather, and let the music play you.