A musician can play all the right notes, and still sound terrible. Just like a basketball player can perform several good moves in a row yet still end up with a negative result.

The ability of your crossover or jump shot doesn’t mean anything by itself. It only matters if you’re able to effectively use the cross over to create space such that you have an open jumper to take.

The moves themselves don’t make the player. The best players can read a situation and pull from their repertoire to execute the right moves at the right time.

Ultimately it becomes more a dance than a series of carefully calibrated movements.

Same with music.

The beauty of exceptional music doesn’t come from playing the right notes – it comes from everything else. From the dynamics, the space between the notes, the tonal quality of the instrument, and everything else that we can’t individually perceive.

A great musician doesn’t just hit the right notes at the right time. They play with soul.

-Brandon