Fewer Notes

I once heard a well-known professional musician relating an incident from his early days. He said he was in the studio playing guitar on a recording session. Being new to the work, he wanted to make a good impression. He played as fancy and as much as he could, and thought he was doing great. After a while, he spoke to the producer.

“You sound great, kid. Now, play me half of what you know.”

This was right to the point, but it had a good effect. He learned to play what made the song sound good instead of trying to show how good he was.

I have been considering the value of less. Space is just as important as the notes we play. Too many notes with no space just become noise, regardless of ability or skill.

There is great beauty in simplicity.

~Earl S. Perryman