What do they mean when they say ” play under the vocals or lead”? I understand that you don’t want to play the same melody as the singer because you might cause the singer to lose pitch. But do they mean you could play the melody an octave lower and still be ok? Or is it just droning or chording or playing other notes that would fit in the song as long as it’s not the same thing the singer is doing.?
In our band, we would take playing “under” the vocals to mean a little lower in volume, some fill notes in between vocal phrases, and playing chords or chops for rhythm. Sometimes our fiddler (who is not me yet) will also step back away from the front and be less physically animated during the vocals to focus the attention on the singer.
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