Certainly you've heard the expression, "Variety is the spice of life." It could equally be said, "Variety is the spice of music." There are many ways this could be applied; here are three:Your Repertoire
If you are building a repertoire, you want to carefully consider each song that might be included. If you missed my article in last week's newsletter, "Building Your Repertoire," you can read it at:
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=1006907
Variety is important in your repertoire because you want to keep presenting fresh, unexpected offerings to your audience. Don't fall into a rut of doing all the same kinds of songs. If you play rock, work a slow song into your up-tempo numbers about every third song--and make about one in three of your slow songs slow BLUES. If
you play fiddle tunes on the guitar, break up those fast tunes with a slow waltz here and there. Surprise you audience once in awhile with a really off-beat and unique piece.
Picking Up a Second Instrument
If you receive this newsletter, you probably play (or want to play) the guitar. Have you ever considered picking up a second instrument and learning to play it, even if you only learn to play it well enough to offer a few "novelty" tunes? I've played the guitar since I was 12 years old, and the guitar will always be my main instrument. But back in the late 1970's I bought a mandolin and
learned some tunes on it just to add a little variety to the things I was playing on the guitar. Recently I've purchased a 5-string banjo and I've learned only one song on it--John Hartford's "Steam Powered Aeroplane"--but that one song adds an interesting and unique piece to my repertoire.
Each Individual Song
Did you know that there is an opportunity for variety within each individual song you perform? Let's say there is a part A and a part B to a song and the parts are repeated. Why not make the second time around just a little different from the first? Throw in something different. If you picked the melody on the low strings
the first time around, pick it on the high strings, an octave higher. And tweak the melody with some different notes in a couple of places so that it is just slightly different than than before. It will keep things more interesting and your audience will appreciate it.
Variety truly is the spice of life, and this principle is very evident in music. The greatest musicians are always finding new ways to make things a little different and keep things fresh.
