Crazy Heart

What is it about the idea of the troubadour musician that we find so appealing? Is it the carefree, nomadic rock-n-roll lifestyle? I don’t  know but I suspect many of us would love to be able to come and go as we please, to live in the moment without concerning ourselves with the future. All these ideas(and more) are explored in Crazy Heart-another standout movie featuring Jeff Bridges.

The reason that I mention Crazy Heart is because I just recently sat down and learned "Fallin' and Flying” and "I Don't Know" from the movie’s wildly popular soundtrack. Normally one would expect that learning a song with basic open position cowboy chords would be easy to learn, right? Normally they would be, yes…but I decided to try something new: To sing and play simultaneously.

Singing and playing. Playing and singing. I hadn’t realized how challenging a task it would be. I am therefore compelled to recommend this exercise to all musicians. Sure, it’s great fun to impress your friends by executing two octave sweep arpeggios all across the neck of the guitar but if we are to really connect with people as musicians then we’ll have to bring it down a notch and sing a few verses here and there. I am happy to say that I can now sing and play simultaneously-and the neighbors haven't complained either. I won’t be making any appearances at the Country Music Awards ceremonies any time soon, however.

Here’s what I suggest to get started:  Initially sing and play songs that are both easy and familiar. There’s no point in attempting a song that features complicated jazz chords or vocal melodies that diverge from the underlying music. As the saying goes “Keep it simple, stupid.” You'll gradually build a catalog and before you know it, Presto! you’ll be able to to jam with just about anybody. And isn’t that the whole point of being a musician-to communicate with others?