Yesterday, I was talking with a friend who is singing in a choir for the first time in his life. He asked me a question that caught me off guard: "Do you sing differently when you sing a lead in a choir?"
I'm still thinking of the answer to that one. I talked mostly about how singing in a black male chorus (which is different than a choir, because we learn our harmonies by ear, rather than sheet music) has changed the way I sing. It's been an amazing experience for me. I remember Poppa Gator talking about singing with a band behind him, doing old R & B and how he had to stretch himself to do it. And, that got me thinking about stretching yourself. Musically.

Most recently, I've been asked to play electric guitar, accompanying the pianist of one of the male gospel choruses I sing with. I was a little unsure of myself, but am glad that I agreed to do it. Stretching yourself is a wonderful way to grow musically (and in other unexpected ways, too.) For starters, when you accompany a pianist you end up playing in keys that aren't even on a guitar... Aflat and Bflat. I don't do bar chords, so I am thankful to Mr. Capo. Fred Capo. Playing in keys that I don't normally play in (even capoing, the key of A is not one I play a lot in, and I'm finding new bass runs and positions) is forcing me to try new things. And that's always good. Also, accompanying a piano, you have to look for different "holes" in the music where you can complement the instrument. And some of the rhythms are less familiar to me.

As a musician who has almost always played and sung by myself, playing music and singing with other musicians is a wonderful opportunity for me to climb up out of old ruts and be musically refreshed. Every time I have that chance, I grab it.

So, I was just wondering... what situations require you to stretch yourself, musically? I'd like to hear about them.

And then maybe I'll try answering that question about singing lead in a choir (or better yet, someone else can answer it first..)

Jerry