Canadian Musician November / December 2019 | Page 40

MARK MAKOWAY
or ‘really good’ to ‘that was perfect.’ So don’t rush. I don’t know how
many times I’ve seen students say, ‘I did my scales,’ but they’re not
fluid or consistent; the dynamics, phrasing, and timing aren’t there.
They’re hitting the right notes but not playing the right way. They say
practice makes perfect. No. Perfect practice makes perfect.”
Cooper references a Chick Corea video masterclass from the late
1980s. “He’s going over a piece of music, which sounds great, but he’s
like, ‘I missed that.’ He goes back over a one-bar section four times,
then back three bars to play the four-bar phrase, and then starts from
the beginning, plays it through, and goes, ‘That’s it.’ That stuck with
me. He’s played with Miles Davis and was decades into his career at
that point. Chick Corea is a qualified master of his instrument, and
that attention to detail is what makes him a true master.”
Group practice and rehearsal requires similar detail, but which
details require the most focus varies from gig to gig. “With Classic Al-
bums Live, the script was clear: you’re doing it like the record. There’s
no question of what parts everybody needs to have ready – it’s the
practice of playing in time and getting the feel right, versus an origi-
nal project where you learn your stuff, show up, and go, ‘Let’s change
this and this.’”
Basic, individual practice (technique, theory comprehension,
developing fluency in musical “languages” like western classical or jazz
terminology, for example) informs each additional layer, or higher level,
of practice.
“Music is a lifelong pursuit,” Cooper sums up. “You can be con-
tent where you are, but the best musicians push themselves, prac-
tice new techniques, stretch, and discover new subtleties. They’re
constantly peeling the onion to get better and better. I also draw the
analogy to a craftsman. If you’re a carpenter but only know how to
hammer nails, it’s like only knowing a few chords in root position. The
more tools you’ve used, and can use, creatively, the better you are in
working with others.”
Ultimately, the more flexible you are, the more prepared and
ROB COOPER
THE VIEW FROM OFFSTAGE
We’ve only touched briefly on the role that
crewmembers play in practice and rehearsal,
but they see and hear your show from a
viewpoint you never will in real time, and are
consequently a critical resource in prep, exe-
cution, and fine-tuning live performances.
Lighting designer Scott McLaughlin has
toured extensively worldwide with Diana
Krall, Barenaked Ladies, Tom Cochrane, and
many others. Communication between per-
formers and crewmembers is key, he says.
“For example, artists rehearse and have an
idea in their heads, but maybe not the bud-
get to go with it. If they don’t communicate
with me, I can’t manipulate what we do have
to [realize that idea]. As a lighting director/
designer, I’m supposed to explain to you
what I think will work best from out front,
and also, from your viewpoint, ask ‘What
works best for you?’”
Some artists prefer lights to obscure
their view of the audience. Some want the
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audience lit up more often. In short, the
more you communicate with your crew, the
more comfortable you’ll be on stage.
McLaughlin adds that, from his view
of the audience and stage, when a band is
just going through the motions, thinking
rather than feeling, the audience can tell.
“One of the biggest things I’ve noticed over
time is that if you’ve rehearsed every flip,
jump, and onstage action to death, it looks
contrived. I’ve seen artists in an empty arena
go through all their moves and, come show
time, it’s like a dance routine – 123, step
here, put the mic out to the audience and
say ‘Let me hear you…’ It looks robotic. I’m
standing 100 feet back and watching people
turn away because you’re not connecting,
because it’s contrived.”
In other words, mix it up. Similar to the
flexibility you develop through practice and
rehearsal, you should be flexible in terms of
staging and crafting singular moments in
each show. The whole point of a live show
is the energy exchange between performer
and audience and a certain degree of spon-
taneity, even if you’re playing the same set
night after night.
Now, there can be a downside to spon-
taneity: ripping into a blistering solo when
your sound engineer is expecting a delicate
breakdown or opting to stand somewhere
completely random for a big moment when
your LD is expecting you to take a prede-
termined position with, you know, actual
lights on you. This is where communication
and rehearsing the show with as much pro-
duction as possible comes in. That provides
a musician with the opportunity to say, ‘I
may decide to use that keyboard sound that
makes animals scream in that section instead
of a flute patch,’ or ‘I normally like to do that
solo downstage, stage left, but sometimes I
prefer to do it centre stage, standing on the
drum riser.’”