Don..........are you sure this is the Ten Commandments? There's nothing about "You shall not murder" "You shall not commit adultery" "You shall not steal." Did this come from the Bible? It's not as I remember it. These are the same Commandments that came from Moses? Maybe it's a different Moses? I looked in the telephone book and there are hundreds of people named Moses. Or maybe it's from a cult and they have they're own Ten Commandments? I'm going to my local Church tomorrow and ask one of the Clergymen if there are more than one set of Commandments. If he says "no" I'll call him out and produce the set you downloaded here as proof that another set exists. Then I’m going to forward it to the Smithsonian Institute to be put on display as the Eighth Wonder of the World. These new Commandments might even be proof that aliens lived on this planet long before humans.
So, my next thought was…….did Don make up each Commandment himself? I know he’s a master musician, but also a master philosopher? Or a budding poet? Or a modern day Neil Simon? Is he now writing Commandments as easily as he writes song lyrics?
And then my final thought was……….MAN…….he’s right on the mark! Every one of those Commandments is a “keeper.” I’m really surprised at the lack of comments here on these remarks. I, personally, think it covers every aspect of delivering music to an audience that there is, especially No. 2, No. 5, and No. 7.
No.7.…….I remember a few years ago when I was studying what made 40’s big band music so tasty. It finally dawned on me….it wasn’t what notes they were playing to make it sound “big band,” it was the dynamics of “the notes they were playing.” That was a revelation for me! Up to then I thought it was some magic formula of dots they put together. No, it was the energy and the effort. The transformation from a Ray Conniff or Mantovani to a Cab Calloway. Same notes.....different delivery!
Anyway, to make a long story short, every one of those statements is a winner that you very rarely see written anywhere. Any musician planning to play to an audience should me required to read this before their first gig.
I’m glad you posted it.....I forget some of those “Commandments” myself every so often.
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