Listening is important
"Forget the talking to. 'What some people need is a good listening to.' (Mary Lou Carey) Be ready to listen between the lines." This is a really good saying that I read today. I'm still trying to learn how to do this with the people that I encounter. I remembering hearing in the movie "Fight Club" that when people think you are dying, they actually listen to what you have to say, rather than just waiting to say what they want to say. I notice that to be a difficult thing for me within conversations. I'm so excited to say what I have to contribute that I'm not necessarily listening close enough to who I'm speaking with. This also relates to being a musician. I've played with so many musicians where it becomes very apparent to me that my colleagues are either not listening to me or to the other members of the band. It's definitely something that comes with time, but all musicians should strive to be more interested in hearing what the rest of the band is playing than playing all the hip stuff that they are excited to play. It effects your volume, tempo, intonation, style, chord substitutions, feel, and even just the overall vib of the rehearsal/gig. Listening is something that many musicians forget to do while they play with other musicians which is a similar problem with just having conversations with people.