An expert musician synthesizes and uses a variety of information at once. I was watching several work together tonight, and was especially struck with the pianist, my old friend Dave, who really “gets the joke” at the piano.
Among the things he was synthesizing:
- fully notated piano parts when needed.
- chord changes that he can manipulate idiomatically.
- how to connect the above two for maximum effect.
- listening to the singers for rubato, fermata, or for when they add or drop a beat.
- connecting with bassist and drummer for groove, tempo, hits, and more.
- doing all this while smiling, making jokes, and catching up with friends he hadn’t seen in 15 years.
You can get started with only one or two of the above. Musicians who succeed in this business have to master them all.