"It's not the notes you play...it's the notes you DON'T play!"
Lessons Learned from an Old Jazz Saying
That’s a saying I occasionally heard in jazz circles years ago, but there is a lot of great advice for players of all musical styles that can be gleaned from that one succinct statement. A big part of that is the fact that it can easily mean different things, so depending on the context—and the speaker, and the audience—there are a few different concepts that it could represent.
The first is perhaps the most obvious: that one should avoid the urge to play so much that it's just overplaying. While cramming ever more notes into ever smaller places in a song (i.e., playing faster) may be technically impressive—and a great exercise!—it rarely adds to the overall musicality of a piece of music. Sometimes strategically leaving out a note (or multiple notes) can be an excellent way to introduce a different kind of tension—rhythmic or timing tension—instead of the most commonly thought of kind of tension (which is dissonance).
So not overplaying: that's one thing you can get from that old adage. Another concept is the idea of introducing silence or rests into the passage. This may at first seem like it's the same thing as "don’t overplay," but it’s really a different thing altogether; it's the idea of using rests (silence) as important parts of the melody, instead of the sole focus being on the played notes in a given melody or passage. You can leave off the end of a note and create a brief silence right before a different part of the passage, which can really highlight and draw attention to the next played note; you can also purposefully leave out a note (and therefore introduce silence) on a dominant beat, or some other spot where a played note is generally expected. This approach will generally do two things: highlight the instruments (or lack thereof) that are playing on that dominant beat, besides the melody; and it can also highlight the next note (and/or the next note on a beat or other dominant point). Either way, we’re introducing some good contrast—which is a fantastic tool for players (and songwriters) if it’s used tastefully.
Another way to think about this advice is that we can "imply" notes without even having to play them, and sometimes that gives the piece in question just the right amount of that note—for times when playing the note outright is just a bit too much. For instance, if we are bending one note up towards a full step higher, and then playing that full-step-higher note unbent (on the same string up two frets, or over to a higher—thinner—string and down a few frets): if we don't actually get that "full step" bend all the way to that full-step mark (so that we're merely "implying" that full-step bent note, rather than actually playing it, it can really highlight the unbent note when we do play it. Even if the note after the bend is not the same not as the bent note, we can still use that "implying a note we’re bending towards" technique as long as we don't hold the bend at any time during the process; once we hold it, that held note becomes the focus, and if it's shy of the target it just sounds flat. But if we just end the bend (by letting it fade or taper off, ever so slightly) shortly before the full target is reached, the "effect" of that target note is still achieved—and we don't risk going slightly over the target note and end up sounding sharp or pitchy. It's sort of like how the contraction "can’t" technically has an implied "O" because it represents the longer word "cannot;" the meaning is clear, but it can be a little more efficient to use in many situations than the full word, which can sound a little dry in many usages.
Another concept that’s kind of like "don’t overplay" but it does merit it's own discussion, is the idea of not playing over another player's part—not stepping on the toes of other players that you're playing with. When it’s your solo, then it's your time to shine; others (drummers, bass players, etc.) may choose to fill in a little empty space in one of your lead sections if you telegraph that a long note is about to be held, or that you're at the end of a phrase, as you can also do during others' solos/leads. But unless you have a prearranged circumstance with another soloist wherein you both play off of each other in that particular lead part (à la Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, or Dickie Betts and Duane Allman), it's best practice to allow the current soloist to have all of the spotlight. Don't ever play over someone else’s leads…music isn’t a competition, and it's never really acceptable to force your way into a musical passage. The best way for a musician to respect a soloist is by not playing over them during their solo!
So the old-school jazz saying is really telling us a lot: don’t play too many notes, don't play unnecessary notes, you don't have to play ALL the notes, don’t forget about strategically placed rests, don’t forget that you can imply notes without actually playing them, and don’t EVER play over another musician when it is their time in the spotlight!
You may be able to think of even more ways to apply this concept to your playing. If it makes you a better player—if it deepens your understanding of a specific piece of music, or music in general—and as long as it doesn't introduce disrespect for other musicians, then I say go for it!
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