Scott Henderson Discussion

[Matt Gregory]

Hey Scott,

Do you have any advice for people with regards to finding a musical identity and sticking to it?

To elaborate a little; my own playing goes through phases where I'll perhaps be working on my chord knowledge in a jazz sense and then a month or so later I may find myself working on metal shred techniques or something else seemingly unrelated.

When I listen to most successful artists they appear to have mastered a specific area of music and playing - they have found their 'voice' as it were and stuck to it diligently.

Maybe some (or all..?) of these people do work on other stuff but it just seems that in order to reach the 'next level' a player needs to figure out what music he wants to play and be strict about what is practiced and what is 'irrelevant' to that genre or style.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thanks a lot Scott for all the great music, all of the inspiration it provides and all help you're so generously giving through this website.

[Scott Henderson]

Actually I feel the same as you do - I've spent equal amounts of my time practicing on blues, rock, jazz, funk, etc. I'm clearly not as good a player in any one of those pure styles as the guys who stuck to one style and only worked on that.

However, mixing all those styles into whatever it is I do has created the voice I have, so at the end of the day that's a good thing. I'm not saying you have to mix styles to have a voice - that mostly comes from many years of defining your vocabulary and tone.

We all have our influences and that's not a bad thing, but we try to build our own personalities on top of that. Listening and memorizing solos from many different players on many different instruments can help inspire you and help you develop ideas that aren't as recognizable as they would be if you only listen to one main influence.

[sieuminh]

Hi Scott, something I've meant to ask you: I only love a certain kind of jazz sound (like Wayne Shorter), and love playing to Monk and Chet Baker records (and absolutely butchering the music), which is another way of saying I suck at bebop and all the other quick change stuff.

My band plays a jazz standards in cafes, and I can get by because the other guys are really solid, but my heart is with playing Monk's music. Should I stick with what I like doing, or is it better to expand the practice a bit?

[Scott Henderson]

I can only say what I'd do - and that's try to work. If you can make money by playing only Monk's music, go for it. I've had to play a lot of music I didn't like to make a living, so you're kinda asking the wrong whore here.

Starting my career by playing top 40 in clubs was a good way to learn a lot of different guitar styles. I also played with musicians who enjoyed good music, so we played Steely Dan, Weather Report, and even some of my own tunes. You can make any gig fun with the right attitude and musicians.

We all have our music heroes, but I don't think it's healthy if that list is too short, for the reasons in my last post.

[Matt Gregory]

Thanks for the reply Scott.