Jazz Education

How To Achieve Originality in Your Music

Originality in your musical expression comes unexpectedly as a by-product and is not pre-thought or pre-meditated.

Originality, or an individual sound is the result of “assembling” your music based on “un-original” but correct principles, and then focusing “flow” through the lens of your personal experience.

Throughout your life you make thousands of decisions, collect preferences in terms of what you like and don’t like…and no one has these experiences, in this combination – except you. You have a totally unique viewpoint! Celebrate that! You can’t not be you, and that is beautiful.

To “try” to be original, is just the EGO at work. There is no trying to be original involved in true originality, IMHO. In fact – you may not ever perceive your own originality the way others do. To strive to be a pure channel for music – and serve it properly is the true way of someone whom others may perceive as “original.”

In spiritual traditions, many strive to “be like a hollow reed” for spirit to flow through. That’s the idea! Be a hollow reed.

To imitate another – you deny YOUR beliefs in “sound musical principles” and barely skim the surface…it’s an okay starting point for a child, but your story, your preferences, and your rich experience carry an authenticity and tell a story in a far more satisfying, deeper and authentic way than your imitation of another could ever possibly tell. Believe in your experience and your story….don’t give it up and think someone else’s is better!

How can one avoid imitation? Just learn correct musical principles and apply them. Applying principles is a better way to go than imitating another players idiosyncrasies.

When I study rhythm, I just try to do it right. When I play a scale I try to do it right. When a melody speaks to me, it’s the melody – not me, I am just the listener…when I beatbox – it’s my love for James Brown, Run DMC and groove, and I just try to do it right, put it as deep in the pocket as I can. When I fingerpick, I try to use good technique like my teachers showed me and get a nice tone. When I practice, I go slow and play things over and over…just trying to do it right. Get it? Others say I sound original – but I am just trying to do it right, as best as I can.

Keep doing your musical homework and don’t think about originality. Just play music as well as you can – strive for beauty, tone, time, touch and technique….study harmony, rhythm and repertoire – and let listeners perceive your “originality”, after the fact. Your original voice is something which you may not perceive yourself just yet. It is the ghost between the sounds, the relation of how you get from one idea to the next. The essence carried by your music reveals itself when you simply play properly and honestly.

Inspiring Others Makes it All Worth It

By Adam Rafferty 1 Comment

Yesterday I had a “day off” out here on the road…no concert. A buddy of mine who teaches music at a high school (here they call it “Gymnasium”) asked if I’d stop by to play for the kids. “Sure!” I said.

I was transported back to my own high school days just seeing them. I remember in my high school, we’d occasionally have musicians come in and play – great musicians – and they probably had no idea just how much they were inspiring some of us.

Adam Rafferty plays for students in Aachen Germany March 28, 2011 — Adam Rafferty plays for students in Aachen, Germany March 28, 2011

The kids here in Germany were wowed by the fact that I am from New York…they can psychologically project their dreams and hopes about traveling there and touring the world onto me. Err, well I do live there and do tour the world….but they probably paint a rosier picture in their minds than what I experience sometimes, and that’s a good thing!!! 🙂

I played guitar for them, threw in a little “Billie Jean” and “Thriller”, and then afterwards talked to them and connected to learn about them.

In return for inspiring them and bringing them some musical sunshine, I got an even greater gift in return. I felt happiness, joy and dare I say…love. They inspired me immensely.

Passing inspiration to others in a classroom is something I miss since I have been touring…I gotta figure out how to work that back into the mix!

Last night at the end of the day, as I reflected I thought to myself “this makes it all worth it.”

Technical Perfection Invites Spirit

By Adam Rafferty 3 Comments

There is an age old argument about music. What do we prefer, someone who is technically brilliant, or someone who “plays with feeling”?

Most all of us will say “the player with feeling”. I remember as a teenager we’d have our back-and-forth about Eddie Van Halen vs Jimmy Page, saying Jimmy had feel but Eddie had “technique”.

There’s more under the hood than meets the eye and ear though. Back when I was learning about African Rhythm from my music mentor Mike Longo, he taught me how to play a single drum rhythm to which I could perfectly count 12/8, a 3/4 a 6/8 a latin 4/4 (and 5/4 and a 7/4 too.)

The hands would stay the same, but one could perfectly sing these rhythms over the top…like gears meshing. Like a rhythmic Escher sketch, if you will.

The real magic is a focus brought about by the 3/4, 6/8 and 12/8, called a “hemiola”. When the 3 and 4’s lock up, I would experience (and still do) a profound, indescribable inner joy and a shift in perception. Words can’t describe it.

Mike would tell me the 3 and 4 are like male and female, and when they “lock” it gives birth to life. It’s called a “hemiola”.

Was I trying to put “feeling in?” No. However, a technical perfection acted as a catalyst to invite spirit into the music and bring “life” to the music.

This is not unlike a baby’s conception. Hey gang, that too is very technical…the sperm hits the egg, and a myriad of biological events need to happen…yet, soul, spirit and life (YOU) are invited to rush in, if the technical aspects line up properly.

At least that’s one way of seeing it.

So, practicing something technical, is in fact preparing and inviting something soulful and delicious to dwell within.

“The blues”, the perfect tone on an instrument, the groove that makes you dance, the melody that makes you cry, Bach’s perfect counterpoint….all do in fact have a Divinely perfect technical basis, but when they “lock” they invite spirit to rush in. When spirit comes, the music gets wings and can soar in the heavens.

So, sharpen your tools, practice – and be mindful of when Spirit rushes in.

Then, give thanks. You have just experienced a miracle.

Feeling the Warm Fuzzies

By Adam Rafferty 9 Comments

I recently dealt with 2 companies regarding customer service issues. One company totally and completely gave me the “warm fuzzies” while the other made me so sickened that I have vowed to never do business with them again.

Marketing & customer service always fascinate me as a musician. I think that all of us could stand to take cues from companies that provide fabulous products and services to customers. After all we’re providing a product or service for other people, aren’t we? 🙂

Let’s get the crappy company out of the way first.

Case Study: United Airlines

I recently flew home from Denver International Airprot with a guitar in one of my Casextreme.com road cases. It’s big, but very light…the entire guitar comes to 23 lb or so.

It’s bad enough to pay extra to get it on the flight, but I’m used to that. However, the lady at the gate insisted that it was oversized. Mind you, skis in cases which are way longer are not considered oversize. When I interrupted her and said I’d never paid for oversize for this item, I was threatened that they’d call security. Gimme a break.

She got her tape measure out and proceeded with fuzzy math. It’s triangular but she measured as if it was a rectangle…length and width.

With her plastered on smile and customer service phrases out of a book, it was clear that I was dealing with a very scared little sheep who was afraid to think.

The point is..I fly all year. No one ever ever has charged me oversize for this. She was worried about keeping her job, not a customer.

Fun Facts

Their fee: $100 on top of the baggage fee.

What did they get?: $100, and lost a customer

What did I get?: To take a plane ride that I thought I already paid for.

Their consistency: All airlines pretty much decide at the gate what your fate is and don’t have a standard. Sucks.

The “Warm Fuzzy” Factor? I now despise them and never want to fly on their airline again, I feel cheated.

If I didn’t use the big case, this would be the alternative, more than likely:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo]

Case Study: Apple

A few years ago I paid $300 for Apple Care – Apple’s service contract for repair.

Last week, my laptop screen went black AND the keyboard and trackpad died. I went to the NYC Apple store and dropped it off.

First off, when you go there, all the workers have uniforms so that you can pick ’em out of the crowd. Every one of them has a personality and loves computers. Every one has intelligence twinkling in their eyes. And it’s a diverse bunch. Tattoos, piercings, black skin, white skin, short, fat, old, young…Apple’s diversity speaks volumes.

They took my MAC and diagnosed it. Wrote me an itemized list, and then the bill had a big, fat , delicious $0.00 at the bottom.

7 days later I picked it up. (I am typing on it now). When I picked it up, I tried it out, and dealt with another smart dude at the Apple Genius bar.

Fun Facts

Their fee: $300 on top of the price of the computer

What did they get?: $300 but with their service I will buy again

What did I get?: A no-questions asked repair policy, and I have a brand new screen, keypad and mouse on my laptop. They did the mental ju-jitsu with me…even though I spent $300, it feels “free” and friendly.

Their consistency: 100% no questions asked. If you are their customer, YOU and your product is taken care of.

The “Warm Fuzzy” Factor? I now love then even more. Will buy again.

In Conclusion…

Apple got me for $200 more, but it’s not about the money. It’s not what they did, it’s how they did it.

The question we all need to ask ourselves is….what are we giving, what are we taking, how are we making our customers feel, what is our “warm fuzzy” factor.

Musicians – this means you (and me). No matter what the gig, be it teaching, small gig, big gig, CD, book….how warm and fuzzy do we make people feel?

I wish I could do even better than I do. Let me know how.

Long live the fuzz.

The Michael Jackson Fingerstyle Guitar Sessions – A Musical Mastermind Meeting

By Adam Rafferty Leave a Comment

My buddy Paul Beaudry and I started doing 2 person “mastermind” sessions in 2007. Even though we are musicians, we realized that chatting in the car rides after gigs was not enough, and that we needed non-music time to sharpen our minds and lives.

“Mastermind” meetings have been done by the greatest businessmen of all time like Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie and other great leaders. They are described and recommended in many of today’s success books by authors like Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy.

The concept of a “Mastermind” meeting is that the group, collectively harnesses divine, cosmic intelligence to bear on a problem or issue and helps solve it.

Each member gets to take a turn presenting their problem and hearing about a possible solution. It’s more than a think tank though. Very special forces come into play when intelligent minds come together as one, in a cosmic focus, and are open to the power of the divine.

Advice can be personal, financial, psychological, informational – and in our case, musical.

This is very different from someone giving you a flip opinion about what you should do. Mastermind meetings take a spiritual aspect into account, and the minds present work as one and connect in ways we can’t comprehend intellectually. Egos have to step aside while the cosmic mind gets to speak through the group, which can be as small as 2.

Paul and I start each weekly meeting (yes, in the middle of Starbucks, usually) with a prayer, or incantation if you will. One of us says this out loud while we both hold our hands in prayer:

“We now ask to be filled and surrounded with light, and our hearts be open to receive guidance from the higher power.”

It’s from these meetings with Paul that all my DVD and CD ideas came into focus. I can remember coming into meetings with 10 ideas about what to accomplish next, and Paul might say “well the next order of business is the MJ CD.” Also – it is thanks to Paul that I went to a real recording studio to record this, and didn’t set up mics at home and do a hack, homemade job.

Even what appears to be mundane advice as shown above has a spiritual essence, just behind it. To leap into courageous actions brings up issues of one’s self worth, self esteem, vision of what life will be like, and goal setting.

A Musical Mastermind Mixing Session

Yesterday Paul came down to my 2nd mix session for my Michael Jackson Fingerstyle Guitar CD, so we had 4 people in the studio: Paul, Gene Paul (Les Paul’s son and mix / master genius) and his partner Jamie Polaski. Jamie has been appreniticng with Gene for years, and is just awesome with the ears and the tools. (Check them out at gandjaudio.com)

Paul and I stepped out for lunch, and I said to him “Wow this is a helluva mastermind session. 4 sets of ears and intelligent musical minds all bearing down on the problems and subtleties of this music. I’m lucky.”

We looked at eachother and laughed, because this was a textbook definition of the “Mastermind.” The group was harnessing the power of the cosmic mind, and revealing a “true” solution to each little song on this record. Every person brought a little piece of truth and intelligence to the sound.

I stepped back, and saw that this would be impossible to do as one person. Too much can slip past one guy or gal. I then gave thanks to God, realizing how lucky I was to be there and have these guys help make the next CD be the most excellent CD it can be.