The other day I was in an online guitar forum. Someone there made a reference to the dynamics of music. The person said that they are “enjoying playing silence”. That thought meshed with my current thoughts about the effect of silence on music.
If you listen to many great guitarists, particularly rock and blues guitarists, they tend to show how good they are by filling every micro-second of the song with some blazing-fast riff or lick. Their “goodness” is seemingly determined by their speed. “Wow! They are playing fast, they must be good!” This seeming need to cut loose and play to beat all hell can be quite amazing to listen to. However, musicians who weave a lot of silence into their rhythms can be equally astounding.
It is the priciple of “less is more.” One master of sound, silence, and rhythm, Bob Brozman, has the following inscribed on his guitar where only he can see it: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”. The concept of “enjoying playing silence” hit me particularly hard and significantly because I am in the middle of learning an acoustic Jimmie Vaughan piece, and I am finding it incredibly difficult for one reason, and one reason only. SILENCE.
Stevie Ray Vaughan once said about his brother Jimmie, “I play probably 80 percent of what I can play. Jimmie plays one percent of what he knows. He can play anything.” Far too often Jimmie Vaughan’s music is dismissed as simplistic and easy. Even if those were bad traits, which they aren’t, there can be a great deal of difficulty in simplicity. I personally find playing slowly to be much more difficult than playing quickly. Jimmie Vaughan is a musical genius.
I, like so many others, had been guilty of not being overly impressed by him. However, recently I came to appreciate his style of playing much more than I had before. My new-found appreciation turned to deep respect and awe when I began to analyze his music in my attempt to decipher what he is doing.
Ordinarly when I learn a song or piece of music, I will learn what the original artist did and put my own spin on it. However, with the Jimmie Vaughan piece, I want to learn it exactly the way he plays it in the recording I have because of the way he does not do the musically logical thing to do. He accentuates the 2nd and 4th beat rather than the 1st and 3rd beat. He leaves notes unresolved. Where it seems right, natural, and good to put a note, he leaves it out. It makes for a simpler sound, but it is much more effective than if the logical note had been added. Again, although the sound is more simplistic, it is an incredible struggle to NOT play the note that seems to belong there but isn’t. Holding back, restraining myself from doing the obvious is so difficult.
Texas guitarist Lightnin’ Red said, “In order to fully appreciate the genius of Jimmie Lee Vaughan, you have to listen to what he chooses not to play — to the spaces between the riffs. Today, when the speed-metal note crunchers and maniacal guitar ‘monsters’ of the last two decades have been largely forgotten, the senior Mr. Vaughan stands high atop the mound of fallen ‘Guitar Gods.’”
Eric Clapton has said, “The first time I heard Jimmie Vaughan, I was impressed with the raw power of his sound. His style is unique, and if I’ve learned anything from him, it’s to keep it simple.”
