Bruce Bouton’s credits include Ricky Skaggs and Garth Brooks, plus Emmylou Harris, Keith Urban, Maroon 5, and so, so many others.
Pedal-steel player Bruce Bouton inspires some thoughts on what makes a great musician.
Bruce Bouton is one of those Nashville Cats who does it all—he’s a hit songwriter, producer, and an incredible musician. While in his 20s, his playing on Ricky Skaggs’ albums defined new-traditional pedal steel. Bouton became a first-call session player, recording on tons of albums, including most of Garth Brooks’ work, which led to his induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame. Bruce called me a while ago after he had watched Tom Bukovac’s Rig Rundown. We were talking about how great a musician Buk is, and Bruce summed it up: “Success in the studio, or even live for that matter, all comes down to three things—tuning, tone, and taste.” Let’s explore:
Tuning is not a subjective or abstract concept. You’re in tune or out. That being said, no guitarist is ever really in tune. Western music’s 12-tone scale takes an octave and divides it into 12 equal parts, with identical intervals between each half-step. But the system generates discrepancies that are too much to unpack here…. (Pythagorean mathematics, B# is not the same as C, and other things I don’t understand.)
In short, the guitar is an exercise in compromise. Fresh strings, bridge intonated, neck adjusted, climate steady at 72, and still your perfectly tuned guitar will not be in tune with itself throughout the neck. Add another guitar, bass, and piano to the mix, and it’s going to be all over the place. The only music that can be perfectly in tune is an a capella group or a string section, because they can play the notes in between the notes of our Western scale and naturally blend together in perfect harmony.
I drove myself crazy for years trying to be in tune and eventually learned to compensate for the limitations of the instrument: When recording, tune standard, then make the tweaks to sound in tune for a particular key, or even focus on tuning for the part of the fretboard where you will spend the most time. If you keep your gear in shape and listen, you’ll usually be fine, though never perfect.
Bouton told me about his tuning odyssey. Every time he would play the Opry, which was often, he would ask other players tuning questions until one day, staff steel player, Weldon Myrick, said, “Tune your steel and learn how to play it in tune.” Bout said it was a revelation; he realized intonation came down to listening and adjusting his hands on the fly to compensate for the instrument’s limitations.
“The person wearing Crocs with socks, a fedora, and cargo shorts has gone to great effort to create a look that feels right to them. I envy their self-assurance.”
Players like Jeff Beck play with intonation, bending over or under a note to create tension or a mood. But Beck’s intonation is so great that he can think in quarter tones. How he applies this magic is a matter of taste.
Taste is an individual’s personal, cultural, and aesthetic patterns of choice and preference. Unlike tuning, taste is totally subjective. The person wearing Crocs with socks, a fedora, and cargo shorts has gone to great effort to create a look that feels right to them. I envy their self-assurance. On the other hand, I was around when the mullet (also known as the Kentucky waterfall) was the height of cool hair in the ’90s. Amazingly, after decades of bad press, that redneck aesthetic has gone mainstream again.
The point being, your particular tastes will be valued by those that have similar tastes and disparaged by those with narrow minds and different tastes. It’s about finding your tribe. Buk and Bout have great taste. It’s not just their choice of notes; it’s when they play, when they add space, and how they make the instrument sing. There may be no wrong choices in art, but there are aesthetic choices that are universally moving, and that’s where you want to be in the studio.
Bouton said Lloyd Green is the player that taught him about taste. When Bout asked what he needs to do to become a studio ace, Green said, “Listen to the words.”
Tone: Good tone and taste overlap a bit. The tone we love to hear coming out of our amp may not be the tone that best serves the song. Tone not only needs to fit the mood or vibe, but has to work with the other players’ tones. Bouton told me that when he was recording Ricky Skaggs’ Highway 40 Blues, he was able to add more low end on his amp than he normally could because the track had plenty of space; the mids and highs were covered with Skaggs’ mandolin, Bobby Hicks’ banjo, and Ray Flacke’s Telecaster. Bouton had this beautiful warm tone you don’t often hear from a crying pedal steel, which filled the empty frequencies and rounded out the track. As Nashville tracks grew more layered and cluttered, Bouton had to adapt, cut the low end, and boost the mids to fit in a track and be heard.
Players like Bout and Buk have earned their statuses from a lifetime of listening and learning. Great music feels a bit like magic, or divine inspiration, but in the trenches, it comes down to talented musicians obsessed with tuning, taste, and tone. Then, there’s timing….
A live shot of the Producer Mondays jam session, at New York’s NuBlu.
Jamming is an essential part of American musical tradition, and should be part of yours. Here are some bass-centric tips.
Jam sessions have been an essential part of the history of American music, going back at least 120 years, to a time when “live in person” was the only way audiences could experience music. In those days, one might attend informal house parties, social clubs, or basement speakeasies, where liquor flowed plentifully as musicians provided entertainment. Sometimes, musicians would arrive with a preset show. But quite often, and especially in the case of jazz, the music would be completely spontaneous, and that was the whole point. There might be a house band, but what they’d play, how long they’d play for, how they’d play it, and who might show up and join would be completely unscripted. This gave birth to what many now regard as the beginnings of jazz.
The spontaneous, unknown element, where literally anything can—and very well might—happen, has made jam sessions the ideal space for developing musicians. Artists from Slam Stewart to MonoNeon cut their teeth, honed their skills, developed their sounds, and built their first audiences at jam sessions.
The terms “jam session” and “open mic” are not interchangeable, though many confuse the two. There are many differences, but one that stands out is the band’s role in the affair. Open mics are mostly about the singers, and sometimes about amateurs who simply wish to sing popular songs backed by a band. At jam sessions, musicians and singers—though there may be no singers at all—have equal status, and every participant needs to have honed their ability to respond spontaneously on the fly.
Many of my formative years were spent at jam sessions. First in London and later in Philly, NYC, or whatever other cities I visited while on tour. In those days, I practiced a lot and gained much from that controlled environment. But the things I learned at jam sessions like Philly’s Black Lily and Back2Basics, the annual jam sessions at North Sea Jazz Fest, and so many others, would be hard to learn anywhere else. After witnessing many jam-session trainwrecks, I learned that no session could withstand a bad bassist or drummer, let alone both at once!
"At jam sessions, musicians and singers—though there may be no singers at all—have equal status, and every participant needs to have honed their ability to respond spontaneously on the fly."
A much younger me made it my mission to always be the bassist who elevates what is happening onstage—and never the bassist who brings everything crashing down! The following advice, I believe, will help the jamming bassist avoid the latter. I’m going to assume that we’re all already practicing and getting our basic skills and sounds together, so no need to reiterate those areas.
Tune up. The bass you’re handed at a jam session probably won’t be in tune. Nobody cares about anything you play if you’re out of tune. Tune before you get on stage, before the song starts, or better still, learn to tune as you’re playing.
Avoid becoming a fixture. There are lots of people who also want to play. Do what you have to do and then get off stage.
Master the changes. Understanding and being able to play common forms and tunes will greatly improve your chances of dealing with whatever is thrown at you. A good place to start is the blues and rhythm changes. There are an inexhaustible number of songs that are based on these, so learning to play both in all 12 keys will go a long way.
Learn common jazz standards like “Donna Lee,” “Cherokee,” “Autumn Leaves,” “All the Things You Are,” etc. Even if your goal is not to play jazz standards, learning to play them is like an entire course in advanced harmony, melody, form, and the way that things move. Learn the common Motown classics. So many of them, especially songs by Stevie Wonder, are the blueprints for many songs you might encounter.
Actively listen while playing and figure out what everybody else is doing. A bassist with great ears will be able to learn any song by the second rotation of the form, and should be able to fake it well until then. I find that an excellent way to work on active listening at home is playing along with the radio, or in any situation where you don’t know the song and have to learn as you play.
So, where can one jam? If you’re in NYC, a great jam session to check out right now is Producer Mondays at NuBlu, which happens every Monday and is run by my good friend, keyboardist Ray Angry. If you’re not in NYC, ask some of the players on your local scene.
There are a lot more things I could mention, but one of the most important is attitude. Jam sessions are social events. Be courteous to everybody you encounter. Enjoy the atmosphere, and have a great time—without ruining anybody else’s!
Understand key facts and definitions of the popular CAGED guitar chord system with our simple guide.
What is the CAGED system?
The CAGED system is based on five chords—C, A, G, E, and D—and provides a way to organize a guitar’s neck into five different sections, which can be linked together to play melodies, major scales, and arpeggios across the entire fretboard. The shapes of those chords can also be used anywhere on the fretboard to play any major chord in any key.
Why is it called the CAGED system?
For starters, that name contains each of the five chords used in the system, but it also helpfully alludes to the order in which the chords connect up and down the neck.
Is the CAGED system hard?
If you can play basic C, A, G, E, and D chords, you’re essentially all set. It involves some manipulation and extra fingerwork to make the chords as you move up the neck, but you’ve already got the essentials.
Why is the CAGED system useful?
The CAGED system lets you create and explore different, unique chord voicings up and down the neck. It introduces new sounds to your repertoire, and gives you new ways to be expressive in your playing.
How is the CAGED system different from barre or power chords?
In the CAGED system, your index finger often forms a barre, mimicking your guitar’s nut in relation to your open C, A, G, E, and D chords. But while barre and power chords are discreet, individual units, CAGED chords link directly and logically to one another. They can also sound more dynamic and open than traditional barre or power chords.
Can you do the CAGED system in open tunings?
No, the CAGED system only works in standard tunings.