Soulful Playing

Anyone can learn to play as fast as Jake Shimabukuro. Anyone can practice playing clean to try to sound like Herb Ohta Jr. Anyone can learn pentatonic scales so he can play funky solos like David Kamakahi. But how many people can learn to let their soul come out and play with enough feeling to make the crowd cry? Not many.

Pick up your ‘ukulele and play a note. Did you just make that note count, or did you play that note just because I told you to? Play that note again, and this time let your heart flow into that note. Add whatever you need to add to make that note express your soul. Playing notes is fine, but to make music that counts you must play with feeling. Not many people are going to remember “the guy who played a bunch of notes”. Your music should be special.

• Listen to a song by Jake, maybe “Dragon“. What feelings do you hear?
• Listen to a song or even just a solo by Carlos Santana, maybe “Love of my Life“. What feelings do you hear?

This whole idea might be lost to a beginner. That’s okay, you are learning the basic chords and focusing on implementing them in songs. You are not thinking about making each note count. More advanced players however should think about playing with feeling (a lot). I know too many players who are pretty good, but are just worried about playing fast like Jake. It is not important to them to play with meaning.

Playing with soul is not something that can be taught. I believe that it is a destination that you arrive at after lots of soul searching and self discovery.