Why You Should Stay in Your Comfort Zone
I'm gonna hit you with something that's probably the opposite of what every other guru's told you:
Stay right there in that comfort zone of yours.
Why?
Gymnastics
You see, when you screw up mid-flip, you don't just feel embarrassed or sheepish. No, you land face-first, get banged up, or if you're particularly unlucky, you mess up your neck. Paralysis-level stuff.
Playing music is a wee bit different. Screw up a chord or lick? No one's getting in an ambulance.
It's a double-edged sword
On one end, no real danger means you get to mess around, experiment, and try all kinds of crazy stuff without any real-world harm.
But here’s the flip side (no pun intended): sometimes when you’re on the bandstand in front of all those people, you end up going for a reckless musical backflip when you can't even pull off a cartwheel during practice.
In other words, you’re trying to be cool...too cool.
How to be cool
Unfortunately, we tend to associate playing "cool" shit with playing “difficult” shit. Hard music has more allure, while the stuff that feels easy to play can seem kinda lame.
It's that human instinct to want what you don't have. In this case skills. But it’s no different than when my 6-year-old gets hyped over a birthday present. The anticipation is all-consuming. But once he gets it? Meh.
My worst audition ever
I once went to an audition and decided to play the hardest tune I knew. I thought it was going to be epic. Turns out, I just sounded like I was hanging on for dear life.
My next audition, I played something I was super familiar with. I was worried it'd come across as too basic. But guess what? Because I felt comfortable, I sounded good. And I got the gig.
Remember, gymnasts can't just wing it.
They need to be dead sure they’ll land safely. That doesn't mean you can't experiment on the bandstand – that's what improvisation is, after all. Just make sure you have a sturdy balance beam before you attempt any wild jumps.
Happy shedding,
Jeff