I'm not ashamed to say I'm an introvert, this means I need to be away from people to recharge. Really it doesn't have to be physically away from people, just mentally. This is I think part of why I love solo rehearsal time. I get to be alone, be totally in my own head, and productive (which eliminates the guilt).
It doesn't matter whether I'm playing a particular set of tunes for an upcoming gig, the 5 songs for Sunday morning service I've played at least a hundred times, or just throwing down grooves as they come out of my head. It really doesn't matter what I'm doing, what matters in particular is that I am alone when doing it.
If you are unfamiliar with the Meyers-Briggs personality test, I recommend taking it, it's very revealing, and if you understand how the letters work, you can learn how to work the way you work best. I, for example am an INFJ, which is Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging. In order, this essentially means: I: I prefer the internal world to the external world, N: I will probably tell you what I feel the impression the speaker, movie, song, etc was trying to make, rather than the verbatim version. F: I will probably use the phrase "I feel like..." and then give whether I felt something was good, bad, out of place, set perfectly, just off, etc. J: I'm a fairly structured and organized person, although you wouldn't know this looking at my house or car. I do have plan, usually at least 2 backup plans.
What does this mean? it means I will spend hours playing scales and modes until I feel like I've got them, that I will choose my bass tone based on if it "feels" like it matches the impression I get from a song. It also means that often, technically it will be accurate, but ascetically, it will be totally wrong for me. It also means that more often than not, if I have stopped paying attention during a talk or sermon, I've gone off on an internal tangent that might or might not have been sparked by the speaker.
Anywho, the point being is that for me, music is a very visceral, internal thing. it runs deep within me, and has always been important to me, whether listening or playing it. Because of this my alone time, within an instrument is some of the best times I've had. so here's a quote from Ray Charles, I feel like I identify with this a lot.
Always groove responsibly
It doesn't matter whether I'm playing a particular set of tunes for an upcoming gig, the 5 songs for Sunday morning service I've played at least a hundred times, or just throwing down grooves as they come out of my head. It really doesn't matter what I'm doing, what matters in particular is that I am alone when doing it.
If you are unfamiliar with the Meyers-Briggs personality test, I recommend taking it, it's very revealing, and if you understand how the letters work, you can learn how to work the way you work best. I, for example am an INFJ, which is Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging. In order, this essentially means: I: I prefer the internal world to the external world, N: I will probably tell you what I feel the impression the speaker, movie, song, etc was trying to make, rather than the verbatim version. F: I will probably use the phrase "I feel like..." and then give whether I felt something was good, bad, out of place, set perfectly, just off, etc. J: I'm a fairly structured and organized person, although you wouldn't know this looking at my house or car. I do have plan, usually at least 2 backup plans.
What does this mean? it means I will spend hours playing scales and modes until I feel like I've got them, that I will choose my bass tone based on if it "feels" like it matches the impression I get from a song. It also means that often, technically it will be accurate, but ascetically, it will be totally wrong for me. It also means that more often than not, if I have stopped paying attention during a talk or sermon, I've gone off on an internal tangent that might or might not have been sparked by the speaker.
Anywho, the point being is that for me, music is a very visceral, internal thing. it runs deep within me, and has always been important to me, whether listening or playing it. Because of this my alone time, within an instrument is some of the best times I've had. so here's a quote from Ray Charles, I feel like I identify with this a lot.
Always groove responsibly
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