Memo from the bassist: get out of my way!(KEY BOARDS)

You're on stage. You're laying down a killer keyboard solo. Wow. Every note's got game.

Imagine your bass player starts playing exactly what you're playing. Note for note. Same thing. That's not right. You want to yell out: "Get out of my way!"

Now, reverse polarities. You're the bass player, laying down those heavy roots that anchor the song. C-F-C-F-G. But what's this? The pianist is playing every root with you in the left hand. You hit a C, and the pianist hits one in the bass chord. You play F ... so does the piano, and so on. It's the bass player's turn to say, "Get out of the way!"

Get out of the way. It's a musically sound idea. And it's a good way …