13 | a go-to & a counter

As someone whose attempts to play the guitar never progressed beyond a few open chords, I am always on the lookout for songs that can be played simply. For that reason, a recent video compilation of songs that only require two chords caught my attention. It got me thinking about former MLB manager Joe Maddon’s philosophy “do simple better” and how things don’t need to be complex to be effective. Creating a solid groove with 2-chords may be preferable to crafting something more complex but that no audience responds to. Or, in my case, that I simply can’t play! If you have the skill to create complex grooves, by all means do that. The point here, however, is that you don’t need it to be complex to be effective.

As I thought about it, a few sport examples jumped out that felt like the equivalent of a simple groove:

• I worked with a basketball athlete who was in his first year of professional ball. He was playing in Japan, but had a teammate who had previously been a rotation player at the NBA-level. My client was overflowing with athleticism but struggled to direct it. His ex-NBA teammate told him that he didn’t need so many moves to be effective; he just needed “a go-to and a counter.” In other words, do simple better.

• I worked with a baseball pitcher who was navigating the reality of shuffling back and forth between the triple-A level and the major leagues. At one point, he described realizing the he didn’t need to make great pitches at either level. A good pitch was good enough. It also was an intention that let his body perform with a relaxed intensity that allowed his stuff to play most consistently. And, as a reliever, he didn’t even need several pitches. In his case, “a go-to and a counter” was simply something hard and something softer that moved. And “doing simple better” meant locating more consistently with good pitches over trying to make great pitches.

• I work with a golfer who has embraced his ability to compete with whatever shots he is consistently hitting when he heads into a competition. Instead of asking himself “What is the right shot for this situation?,” he asks himself “What is a shot I know I can hit right now?” This has allowed him to put a confident swing on the ball even when his ball-striking isn’t where he would ideally like it to be.

In each example, the athletes in question simplified their approach to prioritize good play that they could replicate over occasionally great performance. They negotiated the challenge to meet their level of skill (at that moment). In sport terminology, they put themselves in a better position for flow. In musical terms, they increased the odds that they could find a groove. Regardless of what you call it, they found ways to “do simple better.” They reduced the options. They lessened the chances for overthinking. They freed themselves to focus on the feeling and just play.

Li-Ann Leow, Sarah Watson, David Prete, Kristina Waclawik, and Jessica A. Grahn. 2021. How groove in music affects gait. Experimental Brain Research, 239, 2419-2433.

summary: Musical “groove” (aka the tendency of music to induce movement), has been shown to be associated with a faster gait. What hasn’t been made clear is why music affects gait. The purpose of this study was to explore whether beat salience can explain groove’s influence on gait. Researchers recruited 20 healthy young adults and 18 older adults, and required each participant to complete a total of 20 walking trials. In each trial, participants walked six lengths on a gait mat in the presence of low-groove and high-groove music. To address the question, researchers manipulated the groove by adding a metronome to increase salience for low-groove music and varied the combinations of music and metronome. Overall, participants experienced 10 experimental conditions (see graphic below), half of which required them to try to synchronize their footsteps to the beat. For the other half of trials, they were told to walk freely.

The authors analyzed the interaction of groove, metronome, beat perception, and age to assess several outcome measures:

• Synchronization

• Gait

• Gait speed

• Gait variability

• Bias for support

The analysis was extensive, so check out the full text if you want to dive into the full results section. For the purposes of this summary, however, I will focus on the three main findings:

• Embedding a metronome in low-groove music resulted in faster, more frequent strides

• Even in the absence of instructions to synchronize, high-groove music resulted in faster, less variable strides than low-groove music

• The addition of a metronome did not equalize the effects of low-groove and high-groove music, which suggests that it is more than just beat salience that defines groove.

Together, the results suggest that high-groove music influences movement in ways that can’t be entirely explained by beat salience. Because beat perception ability did influence the results, however, the authors suggest that high-groove music may have more therapeutic value for rehabilitation efforts focused on gait.

potential translations to sport: The most obvious applications from this research may relate more to the general topic (i.e., groove) than the specific research question (i.e., mechanism beneath groove). Collectively, the evidence suggests that high-groove music gets people moving faster. The catch is that groove does have an individual quality. Assuming that you can identify songs that a group perceives to be high-groove or low-groove, however, you could use groove strategically to inspire greater activity/effort or induce a recovery mindset. To do this effectively, however, it is vital that you confirm that the music is universally enjoyable (or at least tolerable) and perceived to operate similarly in terms of groove. We often think of effort as simply the product of individual will. This study, and a wealth of research of music and movement, demonstrates that the environment can also influence how hard individuals work and how that work looks.

Former New York Yankee outfield Bernie Williams was known for his classical guitar skills even during his playing days, with the release of his first major label album, THE JOURNEY WITHIN, occurring while he was still an active major leaguer. Williams has continued to play music in his retirement, and even co-authored a book about the connection between music and sport.

Tupac reminds me that, at least on some level, things are only as complicated as I decide to make them!

Though life is complicated
Only what you make it to be

tupac shakur AMBITIONZ AZ A RIDAH

In the spirit of the issue spotlight, I went with 2-chord songs. I am not an accomplished musician, so all apologies if I was mistaken on any of these tracks. If you have any suggestions, please drop them in the comments!