More often than not, people aren’t interested in who the “best” player is. It doesn’t matter how fast you are, how much you know, what you can do, where you went to school, who you studied with… It has nothing to do with any of that stuff. However, it has EVERYTHING to do with how “right” you are. You don’t need to play the best things, you just need to play the right things.

You’ll find this to be true with almost all listeners of music because most people don’t care about musical proficiency or virtuosity; they care about feel. If it feels right to them then they’re all about it. And where does that feel come from? It could be the melody, or the lyrics, or the tone, or the overall timbre and vibe of the record; or it could be that they really like the artist/band on a personal level… Whatever it is it has little or nothing to do with what they actually do, and it has everything to do with how right it feels to them. Of course every person is different, so what’s considered “right” and what’s considered “wrong” will be left up to your own personal judgement. That only means that there will be plenty of work out there for you as an artist 🙂

This makes sense to all of us working musicians because we know that “normal people” don’t hear what we hear, or appreciate what we appreciate, or notice what we notice… The same could be said about any profession. I look at a house and see something that I can live in, but that’s not what a general contractor sees. I hear a joke and I laugh, but that’s not what a comedian observes. And this is to be expected, of course.

So most of the time we entertain this idea that all we need to do is what we feel is “good” and everything will be alright, because most of it is going over the listener’s head anyway. And to an extent that is true (not to insult the non-musically-inclined people out there). However, I challenge you to change your mindset from playing what you feel is “good” to playing what you feel is “right.” What’s the “right” thing to play? What’s the “right” thing to sing?

When you ask this question instead you are sure to deliver what the song needs (duh!) but sometimes it comes at a sacrifice; what if the right thing for you to do is to play a really “boring” part? Let’s say the song really needed the bass player to play whole notes, so we’ll accept that as the “right” part for the tune (even if it is really basic). If you play anything other than that simple whole note passage then guess what you played? Hm, what’s the opposite of right? I think you get it…

Sometimes playing the right thing is boring, sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it means letting someone else take the spotlight (bass players are used to this), sometimes it means being unnoticed (obviously we’re used to this one), and sometimes it means playing something that’s counter-intuitive to us. That’s okay. It’s the right thing to do.

And here’s the kicker – do you know who else notices the “right” sound? Who else notices players who play the “right” things rather than “good” things? Who wants to be surrounded by musicians and singers who understand this concept? I’ll tell you this; it’s not just listeners of music. It’s makers of music.

Band leaders, singer-songwriters, producers, engineers, composers, record label executives, the list goes on and on and on… Anyone who needs to hire a musician for ANY reason whatsoever doesn’t want to hire the best person; he wants to hire the RIGHT person (and of course it is possible that they happen to be one in the same). So if you’re looking for work and you’re not seeing as much action as you’d like to, ask yourself this question the next time you walk on stage or in the studio:

“Am I playing the right thing?”

If you can’t answer with 100% confidence then you might need to take a step back, perk up your ears, and try a different approach. Remember that “less is more” is almost always the key to a successful song, and that some of the most legendary musicians of all time didn’t care about whether they were doing something “good” or “technical” or “theoretical.” They wanted to play something that felt right to them, and the reason that they’re legendary is because it was.