Several years ago, some member (I think it may have been Gary Diamond) mentioned that he would continue to play as long as his rhythm held up (or something to that effect). The statement really alarmed me and obviously stayed with me, as I'd never thought about the effects of age on one's sense of rhythm. But it was enough to start me monitoring myself to see if what I'd always considered to be my "superb sense of rhythm" was starting to be compromised by age. And if so, what other "digital artifacts" age had added to my playing.

Re-entering the world of gigging only strengthened my paranoia, particularly since I was doing all the bass parts (organ trio). Our drummer, though very competent (with flashes of brilliance) plays very complex and sophisticated jazz patterns and does not always provide that rock solid "backbeat" that I'm used to when playing "fatback" jazz organ. I notice that I don't tend to have this problem when playing piano with drums and bass player. The solution may be to find a more conventional drummer but I suspect that part of the problem is my declining sense of rhythm brought about by age.

True, I have arthritis in practically every joint but this doesn't seem to have hampered my finger speed; hand speed, yes, but not finger speed.

Other things I've noticed is more mistakes, ie. one note in a chord will be off because a finger position wasn't "true". Harder to learn new tunes (not much of a problem as we do all standards) and harder to accurately recall old ones. Of course the more you dwell on it, the worse you get.

With the rhythm thing, I've never been able to tell if spending a lot of time playing arranger keyboards (or with a drum machine) actually helps or hurts. The arranger is especially adept at covering up small glitches, especially on (let me impress you) solos 'cause it's not going to lose the groove just because you did .

Still, I keep thinking of guys like Horowitz and Rubinstein and even Eubie Blake that played on into their 80's and 90's. So, I was just wondering; has anybody else noticed any ill effects of aging on their playing and if so, at what age, how did it effect you, how did you respond to it, and has/will it discourage you from continuing to play out.

chas (the concerned)

What was the question?

Ok, Attention Deficit Disorder. Anything else?

Like a fine wine !!



Although , I too sometimes feel it in the morning

Gary

Actually, I'm 57 and retired. I haven't gotten to that stage yet where I feel my playing is affected. I play and sing regularly in church so my chops and voice are pretty decent. I do find that my bandmates of the same approximate age, though, have slowed up a bit. The guitarist, mainly because of our layoff, is a little rusty, but not permanently. The sax guy, on the other hand, has really lost a lot of his voice and chops. His hearing is going too. I feel luck I can still play and sing almost everything by heart. Can't say much for lugging equipment around. Way too heavy (me) and out of shape.

Chas, excellent subject!
I'm 68 and here's my take:
-everyone takes me for 8-12 years younger but still that becomes a negative in the marketplace.
of course very young and very old sell best, so in a few years, especially if i start to look my age, i'll be more in demand. yeah, right.
-can't cut those 4/5 hour late night gigs anymore. but that fits in with the trend today for shorter earlier gigs. but the morning after any gig I'm wiped. owwwww!
-have increasing impatience for shlepping, setup, breakdown, lifting, etc. don't want to put anything in/out of cases, don't want to set up speaker stands, don't want a lot of components, don't want to lift anything over 30 lbs except amp on/off suv and then roll it, keep all cables
bungeed to amp and plugged in to amp for easy setup.
-not a pianist and never gigged on a real piano but still I hate that i had to sell my Steinway A and even my digital Technics 88 because after playing a weighted action for just 10 minutes my hands start to really hurt me and i gotta stop. arthritis? tendinitis? age? whatever, sucks!

-now for the good part:
- i NEVER practice. on saxes i never take them out until i get to a jam , sit-in , or gig (and i don't hustle sax gigs these days). what is weird, really really weird, is that my
playing just keeps getting better and better. go figure.
-i rarely practice my singing. the price i pay for that is
that it can now take a few tunes on a gig before i can
get a good vocal groove going-when i do get the groove going, i sing better than ever. go figure that, too.
-i spend a lot of time on my arranger, but not to practice.
i just play, play, play, fool with styles, tweak sounds, try
different setups, etc. keeps my mind and chops sharp. it makes sense i'd get better at this since i've only been at
it 7 years. but still my age has not impeded me.

I'm something of an aficionado of jazz and standards singers, and i've noticed that some get better with age
while others hit a peak in early middle age and then fall
sharply off. I have no idea why this is so, but here are
examples of those that just kept getting better:
Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Mel Torme, Eartha Kitt. here are some that fell off: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como. there are many more in the falling off with age category than the better
and better category. I think it' s possibly just a matter
of luck and so I feel blessed to be in the age-improved
category (at least up to now) ONE NEVER KNOWS, DO ONE?
- I saw 85-yr-old drummer Roy Haynes recently kickin butt of his young phenom band. Hank Jones is pushing
90 and still playing his ass off. so there's hope.
-MUSIC KEEPS YOU YOUNG! ( we hope) later...



------------------
Miami Mo

Not yet, at least as much as I can recall. knock on wood.

Scott

The playing and singing are staying right up there. BTW I'm 57. Where I find I'm slowing down is in how much I can do in a day. If I have a double or triple, I'm really feeling it these days. Other than that, everything else works just fine.

Ciao,

Joe

------------------
Songman55
Joe Ayala

Mo, too bad you're so far away. You sound like my evil twin . I can relate to practically everything you said. The first hour or so, the a gig is fun; after that, unless it's one of those magical nights where everything comes together (the groove, the crowd), the rest of the night can be just short of drudgery.

Glad to see someone mention the old master, Hank Jones, arguably one of the most tasteful of all the jazz pianist. There are elements of his solo on Autumn Leaves (w/Miles Davis) in nearly everything I play (on piano). "The man just played so pretty" (Oscar Peterson referring to Nat Cole). I don't agree with you on Billie, though. Although the voice was gone, her later stuff with Peterson and Jazz at the Philharmonic had a poignancy and haunting quality that set the stage for all "stylist" that came later. Matter of taste, I guess. Still, I'm impressed. Along with Capt. Russ, you guys really know your jazz history.

Glad the age thing isn't impacting you too much. I'm starting to wonder about myself. Try this experiment. Start jamming with your arranger, then shut down the volume and keep playing. Turn it back on after a few bars and see if you're still in time. You may be suprised.

chas

I too am 57 and most think I'm in my 40's I have more energy, stamina and brainpower than ever before. I memorize everything I play and receive comments about that. I am very fortunate that I've taken care of myself, not drank much, eaten correctly, never smoked and always worked out (treadmill, weights and my favorite daily saunas).

I can set up and tear down in 5 minutes and go like crazy all day and night.

In addition to playing almost 70 times in October, I run my independent outside chemical sales business for a French company (3 states). Next year I'll drop off to only 25 - 30x per month to spend more sales time.

Thank you dear Lord. HE is the only one who can predict my days ahead, but I plan to make the most of what I've been blessed with.

zuki

If anything, at 58, I have become more comfortable with myself.

I still have the same enthusiasm if not more, and I'm up everyday at 6:00 AM practising and working on styles and arrangements.

I quit smoking, drugs, and booze at 29 and I'm positive this has helped me stay fit.

Hopefully I will age gracefully, both physically and musically.

Ian

Chas, no disagreement about Lady Day. i was talking about her voice, which you agree was gone. and i agree she had other qualities--her last(i think) album Lady in Satin was superb-a masterpiece of emotion with her voice cracking all over the place. but as pure jazz singing, to me there was nothing to match her voice in the early 1940's. As far as the time thing, I have already done that test many times, and i think everyone should do that--it's very humbling. I use a lot of breaks in my renditions, and i have to be very cognizant of keeping the rhythm going in my foot or body movements, because if i don't, even on a 1-bar break I'll be off. Now that i've got the E60 with the v-link button updated to a control, i keep it set to arranger hold. since i rarely use the full backing, i use that for half my breaks now.. the bass or bass+guitar strum drops out but the drums continue-- it's more subtle than a full break and still effective--and of course i don't have to remember to keep body time. I have found over the years that i had to avoid working with piano players who did a lot of solo cocktail gigs, because every one of them developed major time problems. The ones that habitually foot-tapped suffered it to much lesser degree. The thing that has been the greatest boon to my sax playing, singing, and kb playing has been practicing with the arranger rhythm section. it has improved my time enormously..my time is so spectacularly better now that it amazes me (and embarrasses me that i must have sounded lousy a lot of the time years back when i tended to rush my phrasing)

------------------
Miami Mo

Chas,

Yep! It was me. I'll be 67 in a couple weeks, still performing 4 to 7 jobs a week, mostly one to two hour performances instead of four hours in a smoke-filled bar room. My timing is still holding up, and my voice quality seems to be OK too. There have been times, especially after a double, or the dreaded triple, when my butt really begins to drag. This has the tendency to effect pretty much everything--not just my musical skills. I frequently find that when I'm really worn down that my organizational skills suffer dramatically. A classic example occurred yesterday at the end of a double when I couldn't remember the location of a particular third-party style file in the keyboard, one that I use almost daily. I finally found it, and I didn't have any dead time between songs while searching the User Style area of the keyboard, but it did bother me that I couldn't just press a button and immediately go to that style.

Physical limiations are also a problem. I'm convinced that my equipment has somehow mysteriously taken on weight. That Bose base unit seems to double in weight by the end of the day, yet the scales says it only weighs 32 pounds. Now 32 pounds was nothing when I was in my early 50s and I never considered any speaker weighing less than 75 pounds worth having. Today, however, a 75-pound speaker would rip my guts out, especially if it had to go up on poles.

One day in the not too distant future I'm going to have to retire. At that point I had over all my jobs to the younger locals such as Songman55 (Joe). The irony of this is, though, there are at least a dozen guys around this part of the world in their early 70s that still keep up a schedule of 15 to 20 jobs a month, so I guess I have a few years left.

Thanks again,

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Ian, too bad you had to make all those sacrifices at the young age of 29 , but I guess all's well that ends well.

Mo, good stuff. And boy, does it ring some bells. It does make you admire and respect those great (and rare) drummers that are able to stay rock solid throughout a tune without external clues.

I think you may be right about playing with arrangers (or drum machines) helping your timing in general. I guess it makes you get used to playing in perfect time all the time. BTW, I don't think this detracts from or hurts your "rhythmic soul". Probably just forces a good habit on you.

Also, since you mentioned it, I'm always amazed at those players that DON'T tap or show any type of rhythmic body movement. How do they do that? My body just automatically responds to a good strong rhythm. Does make you look cool in a jazz club, though (playing without tapping) .

chas

Gary, guess we cross posted. Yes, I thought it was you. Just a passing comment on your part but made a lot of us take a new (if unconfortable) look at the effects of aging on all aspects of the business.

In fact, Mo introduced a couple of new aspects to it; that is, how and where and who you can market yourself to. AND, if you choose to work in a band, the possible difficulty of getting young guys to work with you (or their seeking YOU out). AND the age of the club crowd (relating). No suprise, also, that many of you mentioned the fatigue factor (stamina) and except for Diki , the weight of the gear. I know that it cured my blood lust for a real B3 w/Leslies. Except for Dave and Capt. Russ (who apparently has some strange hold over his sons), can you imagine carrying around one of those (lovely) monsters. Nah, got to leave that to the guys that can afford roadies.

chas

I think sitting next to the drummer for 30 years and getting older have had an effect on my hearing. I don't hear highs like I used to and my wife says I have things like the tv louder than she needs them.

She also says I don't hear her like I should but that is a different story.


Tom

Tom,

Count your blessings! When my loving spouse of 45 years (yesterday) says "don't you remember me telling you to do that?" My usual response is "Hmmm. Guess I must not have heard you." Works for me.

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Happy Anniversary Gary & Carol

------------------
Dnj..
"Member 10,000 Post Club"

First and most important -- Happy Anniversary Gary & Carol

Second I will always appreciate Gary�s posts, they range from factual statements to baring himself in humility � he tells it the why it is.

Topic -- How has age affected your playing
I wish to view this topic with a talented driving musician in mind. You know when he plays you have to move.

Archie Bunker in the TV show �All in the family� looked at Edith and said, �Edith, you�re not getting more wrinkles, and besides as I get older my eyes don�t see as well as they did, so you always look the same to me�.

A musician does slow down with age, everything else does why not his music performance.
1-His response is a bit slower.
2-The way he managers his performance is not the same.
3-And the very important part of this topic � he no longer has the same drive of a 27 or 38 year old man.

But like Archie Bunker�s eyes, he sees Edith as being pretty much the same, he sees very little change.

Having said that, and I speak for myself, My feel for harmonies and structure has improved. There is so much more of me in the music although I have slowed down. I have traded speed and coordination for more feeling and taste. Are we still good at age 58, ya dam right we are. Are we still good at 68, a little slower but STILL real good. Am I still good at 76, Yes! I really am, I think � well it seems so?? Ya know I don�t really know. Aaaaaagh.

But who really cares, let�s keep playing our hearts out, give all we've got.

A bit of advice from an older guy � If you want it to happen before time keep worrying about it.

IMHO, John C.

Chas, this really strikes a chord. I've heard so many musicians complain about playing with a drum machine that's it's not "human time" and they can't or won't have anything to do with it. These musicians all turn out to have serious time problems, and they cannot keep to the rhythm. they are so used to playing with rhythm sections that adjust to each others' time so much that their time is all over the place. Whenever i'm working a solo or with my bongo/handpercussion man Madafo, and i invite someone to sit in, if they are well-established musicians they often decline or ask me to please turn off the bass/drums. If a singer comes up, i start to comp for her, then as we hit a groove I use the tap tempo to bring in a basic bass/drum swing or just drum w/lh bass. Most of the time i see them have a look of fear and dread come over their faces, like oh no!!!! But i have found one great young singer out of UM who loves to ride on the perfect time, and Madafo is not an established percussionist yet, so he embraces the steady backgrounds and finds he has creative freedom he never had before because I'm relieving him of time-keeping. If you can't play with a drum machine you have serious time problems, friends--and the only way you will fix it is by playing with a drum machine, and/or learning to make in-time body motions when there is no machine. how do those great drummers do it? i don't know, but i can tell you this..only the top rank can, most drummers cannot keep it that solid. there's a lot more to good drumming than any machine can provide--that's true--but at least the machine provides the most important element..and does it better than any drummer.

------------------
Miami Mo

I'm even more amazed when i so often see a band and/or performer that is really grooving so hard--swinging really hard, or a Brazilian group with an infectious samba beat, or a dynamic salsa band, or whatever.... and most of the audience just sits there like lumps and not a single fibre of their body moves with the music. ARE THESE PEOPLE HUMAN? what has happened to them? their little kids, if they bring them, are hopping up and down and can't keep in their skin--some oldtimers in the crowd start to jump up and dance..the more reserved aficionados are tapping feet or moving shoulders or bobbing heads..but the majority are just sitting there..motionless. Can somebody explain this, it's a cultural phenomenon of some kind but a mystery to me. ------------------ Miami Mo

[This message has been edited by keysvocalssax (edited 09-30-2007).]

The Beatles once played for a similar crowd, Mo. Guess they're called "stiff upper lips".

"Those of you in the cheaper seats, clap your hands. And the rest of you just rattle your jewelry."

Taike

Gary and Carol Happy Anniversary, I wish you many more!

On the subject of losing skill playing with age there's a couple of ways I look at it. I certainly have lost the technique that I once had playing piano. In the last 5 years since I started playing arrangers, my left hand has become real lazy the result of just playing chords on the arranger in the left hand.

I have always been a mediocre musician which is why I chose another career path. So I probably never really had the skills that many everyday working pros have. Nevertheless I still love playing and always will and hope to as long as I'm alive. It does get frustrating when sitting at a piano and not being able to play a piece as well as I once had. For me the sure sign of that is my hands getting stiff while playing.



I walked the same path as Ian except fast lane partying stopped at 32 years of age for me. Chas for this 55 year old as crazy as this may sound it was a gift. I know that if I didn't make the sacrifice when I did I most likely would not be sitting here participating in this forum, because I most likely would have wound up dead, in jail or an asylum.

I find I have as much energy and maybe more than I was 30, before changing my life style. I have run about a dozen marathons ( 26.2 mile road races and competed for 18 years in short distance triathlons. My typical day starts at 5:15 AM reading the newspaper. By 7 AM I'm on my way to the office, hit the gym 2 or 3 days during my 1 hour lunch break. By 6 PM I'm back home for dinner a little R and r with the family. By 9 PM when the others calling it a day, I sit at one of my keyboards and play till about 11:30 to 11 midnight PM. Most nights I have to force myself to quit playing, 12 midnight is the absolute cut off. I can live easily on 5 hours sleep any less than that and I'm toast the next day.

One comment here really struck me and I gotta tell ya it was by Zuki.


That's very impressive and I admire that. I'm sure I don't work at it hard enough but I don't seem to have the patience to spend the time memorizing,( never did as a youngster either) when I do it's a real struggle to get the memorization down. I'd welcome any suggestions or tips you have for memorizing music.



[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 10-01-2007).]

Well, one common theme that keeps emerging is the importance of keeping fit as long as possible. That's tough to do if you're starting late (after the arthritis, hip replacements, heart palpitations (not the ones induced by string bikinis), etc., but is probably the single best thing as far as increasing your musical longevity. I think I'll go out for a walk. Nah, maybe tomorrow.

chas

Yeah Zuki - how the heck do you DO that?


We (the wife and I) play over 320 different (and I mean DIFFERENT) songs, and each show is never the same as the last, and whilst we have memorised (through sheer repetition) many songs, we haven't been able to learn them all - I mean some songs we wouldn't do for literally months!

40 yrs on stage feeling fine at 55 ....if it comes down to it & I can't physically play keyboard I'll go total DJ & sing if possible while sitting in a "JAZZY"
http://www.pridejazzy.com/models.shtml

I'll just extend the ARMS of the 1650
http://www.pridejazzy.com/1650.shtml


& put my Keyboard across them YEAH!


I will play music & make people happy till they carry me off the stage period.....

Life is nothing without music!

Stop complaining my friends and
PLAY MUSIC EVERYDAY....!!!!!

God gave YOU this Gift because he wants you to SHARE IT!!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-01-2007).]

Folks, I was 62 Friday, and I have spent over $10,000 on new performance instruments in the last 60 days.

After 30 years of 1/2 a quart of brandy a night, I have no residual effects( quit drinking in 1988-just had my annual complete physical, including the colon thing-chose to forgo the anesthetic-WRONG CHOICE, but I survived and was back on a video shoot in 1 1/2 hours).

Thought long and hard about the new equipment, because that means I need to keep up the current schedule for about 5 years (the accountant in me comes out).

Have some long-term tendon damage from years of playing upright, arthritis in my hands, had to lower some songs because of the beginnings of limited range, but am still able to work. Music is an integral part of everything I do. My daytime work involves soundtrack production for industrial films, training programs, etc.

The secret, for me is to do for a living what I would do for fun. That's why I switched from accounting to communications teaching, consulting and production.

Slower, but smarter. And, I enjoy every time I pick up a camers, instrument or computer.

Still hanging in there,


Russ

I really feel the arthritis in my hands the day after a gig ... thank God for pain relievers ...

I've talked about a gig that a sax player friend of mine has on Thurs & Fri ... 6PM to 8PM, playing some light jazz and then mostly 'danceable' standards for a 'senior' audience ... I filled in for the kb player this past Fri, and the crowd wasn't as large as it is on Thursdays ... several of the people there, talking to us on break, were commenting on how they can't understand why more people aren't coming out to hear 'their' music ...
It was great that the ones that were there really appreciated the performance ... One fellow, aged 82 was hardly ever off the dance floor ... God bless him ....
As I get older (now 66), I like playing these venues more and more ...
t.

I'm not much of a player, just trying to learn as much as I can...always wanted to play the piano/KB.....I've been a singer all my life and now at the age of 67 I find that my voice is going...mainly in part to my abusing it by screaming all the time trying to get employees here to do the right thing....all my fault I know, however it's too late now to change...the damage is done along with the very high humidity and my allergies and asthma, it's pretty much a done thing for me....physically, besides being overweight, I feel pretty good still practice everyday, still chase after my 8 and 9 year old children and my 33 year old wife....so the body is holding up, it's the voice that has me slowing down....BTW, this is a great topic.....all you "old farts" out there keep up the good work.....keep making MUSIC.....
TR

OLD FARTS !?!?!? .... 60 is the new 35 !!!!!
t.

Mo, I realy agree with your assessment of the problems playing with a person who has specialized in playing a piano single. I do 4-5 jobs a month with a lady who is a long-time friend. We worked together for years at a local hotel-she on single piano in the dining room and me with a trio in the lounge. Now, we do a upright bass-piano duo or trio, adding a drummer for state government functions. Man, is timing a issue.

Tom, you nailed it...after years of sitting too close to a hi-hat I can tell the difference.

Chas and others...when my long-time partner and I added a drum machine in the early 70's, it almost drove Tommy nuts. He always had a rushing problem and came close to throwing the machine in the pool, before he was comfortable with it.

My trumpet playing friend that just died, could play the note created when a fly landed on a score-it would just be in the wrong spot. He had a really hard time working until he got a sequencer, and then he was always playing catch up to the track. Several others in this area are playing to sequences, and bill themselves as "live" jazz acts. That bothers me a little, since neither one could get a real job with a jazz group because of timing problems. As it is, they can't trip up the sequencer like they do other players.

A great rythem section is a real thing of beauty!


Russ

Apparently this aging thing only affects men. When my wife and I got married, I was 5 years older than she (alledgedly), and now, 40 years later, somehow I'm 10 years older. Go figure.

chas

You're only as old as the woman you feel.

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 10-01-2007).]

What a great subject! Not too many on here I care to respond to anymore.

I feel I'm the best I've ever been, at 64. Not that that's saying a whole lot, but I can't see any fall off in vocal ability or playing keyboard. The recordings tell me I'm on key better than when I was younger, and the rides and style selection are more suitable for the situation.

Arthritis in the right wrist will be a bigger problem as more time passes, and I can't play a real, weighted piano action. But then I never did anyway.

My back doesn't bother me nearly as much as when I was younger and that may because my equipment is lighter and I'm more careful moving it.

I must set my my e.q. early in the night, because by the end of a few hours I don't hear things the same and it doesn't sound as good as when I started. I've come to realize that it's that my hearing changes during the night, even though I mostly use the Bose and it is not that loud. So I trust my settings more. I must MAKE myself take a few breaks, not because I'm tired but so my hearing re-adjusts. Does this make sense?

I am very much more selective about where I work. No more smoke-filled venues. None.
I never smoked and it always bothered me a lot, and I don't have to take it anymore!
I always made it a point to never drink alcohol when I work. You won't see many old drunks making a living as entertainers, unless they were at the top and are now just holding on.

I have also gotten a little less dumb. I have raised my price so that the jobs I get are top quality. I expected the number of jobs to fall off, but the opposite has been the case. I suppose it's a case of perceived value--if they have to pay more to get me, I must be better than the guys who work cheap!

I've also had the benefit of working with quite a few world class players, and have been careful to listen, not only to what they say, but to what they play. It's not the number of notes that count, it's when you play them. Being accepted by this type of musician gives me more confidence in my ability, and that confidence enhances my performance. That confidence wasn't always there, and it was hard-earned!

Having said all this, there isn't a night that I've ever worked that I haven't learned something. I almost always record myself and I am my own most harsh critic. Over the years, I have have gotten to the point where I can stand to listen to most of it without feeling embarrassed.

On another note, my golf game is better than it's ever been, at least most of the time. I've lost a little distance, but experience and self control have more than overcome that. I feel much of the same thing happening with the music.

Last week I was playing golf, on a five-man team. We were all stinking it up pretty bad, and one guy said, "Oh well the worst day on the golf course is better than the best day at work." I looked at him and said, "Maybe for you, but for me, when I to to work, I get to play music and sing. People try to buy me drinks, give me money and tell me how great I am. Women flirt with me. (O.k., now they are OLD women). You guys have the wrong jobs!".

DonM

Chas,
a long time ago I tried to tell my clarinet teacher that I play better ( in time ) when I tap my foot. He responded:
"What controls your foot?" If the passage is too difficult for your fingers, your brain will slow down your hands AND your feet! Tapping does not help keep time. If you "feel" the music - great! Tapp all you want, but don' kid yourself into thinking that you have a sparate metronome just for extremities !

Dave, sorry, but that's just facile pseudologic. Try playing with the drum track, then take 4 and 8-bar breaks not keeping rhythm with any body part. If you are right on the money every time, congrats--you are among the very few. Next, try, tapping your foot and do the same thing..ahaaaaaaah!!!!

------------------
Miami Mo

Zuki mentioned playing everything by memory. I do the same. When I was a teenager and just starting out with my music career, I was lucky enough to have met a fellow who gave me great advice. I could play well but I had to read everything. This he advised me was not a good idea, as you can't connect with an audience (or the other group members) while you're "reading." He said to learn ONE song a day by memory and at the end of the year you'll have 365 songs in your repertoire. I did that, but didn't stop there. I kept going, as by now, I had developed many memorization tricks. Not only did I memorize the music but also the words. The reason being, this same gentleman said, that by singing the words to yourself while you're playing the song, it comes out more legitimate with every note where it should be. Also, you can put more feeling into a song when you know what the words are trying to say.

So here I am years later with a few thousand songs under my belt that I can play and sing out of my head. At one time I was going to contact the Guinness Book of Records and see how long I could play without repeating a song twice. Sorry I never did it when I had the drive. Now the only way I could do it would be with Viagra!

But what I was leading up to is that memorizing songs is not as difficult as you might think. It just takes awareness of how the mind works best to absorb material. It's like the great bodybuilders....they don't just "throw the weights around," they use their mind to concentrate and focus on muscle growth. An old Metaphysics saying: "everything starts in the mind!"

That said....kudo's to Zuki. It's still not an easy task by any means!

25 years ago I couln't remember the lyrics to a single song--at least not all of the lyrics to a song. Sure, the chorus may have been wandering around in the cobwebs of my mind, but the remaining lyrics had to be read from loose-leaf binders that continued to grow both in size and number. This kept me going until about 8 years ago, a point where I had 8 books that I lugged around to each job.

After swapping off the books for a laptop things began to change. For some strange reason the words to all those songs, plus some that I never regularly performed, mysteriously came to the front of my brain and I had no trouble remembering them. The chords, melody, style, tempo, etc.. were always floating around in my head. That's probably why I got into this business--the damned songs just woulnd't go away, and they still don't!

When audience members ask how I remember the words to all those songs, I smile and tell them I only play what the voices in my head tell me to play.

One of the neat things about keeping all this stuff on the laptop is you are only a mouse click away from the lyrics, and they're displayed in a font size that even onld guys like me can still read. You can bump them up to a larger size, set the computer to automatically scroll downt the page, lots of neat stuff. The best part is when you get to the point in a song where your memory hits a snag,(also known in the medical world as a brain fart), you can merely glance at the laptop and keep on truckin'.

One of the things I've noticed lately is that age tends to rob you of muscular strength. (What the hell, they had to eventually go bad along with the other body parts.) In order to slow this process a bit I've been working out on a weight bench and treadmill, both of which provide great exercises. Additionally, the treadmill will help keep your both your cardiovascular and pulmonary functions in better physical condition. The better you can breath, the better your vocal control. It works for me!

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary......
I still remember the day you came on stage and looked at my rig & when you saw the laptop in use in a live situation a warm happy feeling came over you & changed your musical life forever, compared to what you used to have.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-02-2007).]

Try playing with the drum track,
then take 4 and 8-bar breaks not keeping rhythm with any body part. Next, try, tapping your foot and do the same thing
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Sorry .... there's no way that moving mny body changes my tempo attention. I can feel the pulse in my head..in my hands...and in my heart. My body .... not so much !
I'm not a dancer and I only move on command...not impulse.

you didn't take the test, Dave, but you have an answer anyway? i don't accept your answer unless you take the test without prejudice.