In which I overcome 30+ years of muscle memory
As is usually the case, the gaps between posts this time around are the result of a perfect storm of health concerns, stress, a little despondency about how the world seems to be spinning, more stress, work, and stress. These factors are all too intertwined to try to untangle, but I paralyze myself with them from time to time. Thanks for sticking around.
So, here’s one thing I want to start doing more often: Writing about making music. This is primarily for my own benefit. Writing about it means I have to think about it and I’m hoping that this will help me retain a little more of what I learn. Having to consider what I was doing, what worked, what didn’t, what frustrated me, etc. seems like a useful exercise. We’ll see.
That brings us to the point of tonight’s post: I finally learned how to play Genesis’ “Follow You Follow Me” properly on keyboards. Let me explain why that feels like a big win to me.
I’ve been playing that song in a somewhat half-assed way since my early 20s. I never had any trouble picking out the organ chords. I’ve known how to play the solo correctly the whole time, even if the performance wasn’t always there.
However, I’ve never managed to play the correct lead line during the verse. My ears aren’t very good and I’ve never been able to hear what Tony Banks was doing relative to the vocal line. So, I’ve always just played the vocal line with the right hand. That’s great for just solo playing, but if you’re trying to do it right, it’s really annoying.
How long have I failed at this? I remember one night at Bob’s house when the guys were generously letting me play along with them. I’d brought my SH101 over and was sort of fumbling through the solo (37 keys aren’t enough and I’m not quick enough with the transpose switch). During the verse, I just echoed the vocal line and I knew it wasn’t right but I also couldn’t pick out the correct notes.
And I’ve been playing it that way for decades.
Last night, I was in a relaxed frame of mind and decided I’d just fight through it. I still couldn’t really hear it clearly, but I could hear it just enough to kind of pick it out. After more tries than I’d care to admit, I had it. And, let’s be honest here: It’s not a difficult bit at all. The first phrase does follow the vocals, which is why kept getting hung up. The second phrase stays the same while the melody doesn’t. The last two phrases are simple, single-note harmonies that (mostly) stay in the same chord as the organ and complement the vocals. So easy, but so satisfying! Victory…
…or maybe not.
I could now play the lead properly. However, I’d been playing very specific notes over specific chords for a very long time and I found I could no longer play the organ parts along with it. This was frustrating. This was really frustrating. But, this was a problem that was within my grasp. After several playthroughs, I slowly got back to syncing the chords with the lead and even nailed the solo. Huzzah!
Thinking about it, there was probably a better way to learn it. For example, a good DAW should allow me to get most of the vocals out of the way with EQ. There are probably “vocal removal” sites for making karaoke videos. Heck, someone has probably already posted one on YouTube. Let me go check.
Yep, there was. That would have saved a lot of time. At least it was only posted a month ago so I don’t have to sit here thinking “Why didn’t I look for this 10 years ago?”
Anyway, this felt huge. I’ve always been low-key ashamed that, while I could play the song, I knew I wasn’t playing it right. It felt great to overcome that and to stomp on a bad habit while I was at it. There’s no “lesson” beyond “It’s fun to confront old roadblocks and discover that you now have the skills to overcome them.” Which is a pretty good lesson, I suppose.
In other news, things are trending well in these parts. Some potentially scary medical stuff turned out to have been a false alarm, the house is clean, the cats are happy, and I may have purchased a new toy that I absolutely did not need and it is glorious.
I hope things are good in your neck of the woods.
-RK