Mistake Free Performances?

Sounbwoy · #1 10-09-2006, 10:59 AM

What do you do to ensure (or at least try to) that you have mistake free performances everytime you hit the stage?
Even tho I've been playing for several years, I'll still find myself sometimes making silly mistakes on stage, even with familiar material.
Second part of this question:
How do you keep your hands warm when you have an outdoor gig when it's cold (60 degrees F with wind and drizzle).

ryco · #2 10-09-2006, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sounbwoy

What do you do to ensure (or at least try to) that you have mistake free performances everytime you hit the stage?

Come as prepared as possible

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sounbway

Even tho I've been playing for several years, I'll still find myself sometimes making silly mistakes on stage, even with familiar material.

I don't worry too much about it. Let it go and keep having a good time. Or shrug it off and blame it all on the drummer! :kidding:
Second part of this question:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sounbway

How do you keep your hands warm when you have an outdoor gig when it's cold (60 degrees F with wind and drizzle).

I wear fingerless wool gloves. Feels a little heavy on the digits but keeps 'em warm.

BassChuck · #3 10-09-2006, 11:22 AM

No such thing as perfect performance. Come as close as you can... and make the most of the mistakes.

addylewis · #4 10-09-2006, 11:29 AM

Know the stuff like the BACK OF YOUR HAND and make sure its EASY (rock'n'roll stuff) ...after a couple years you'll play it all NOTE perfect without even thinking about it...

Gyoon · #5 10-09-2006, 11:32 AM

The only time I've ever felt the pressure to do a 'perfect' performance is in recording. And even then, with the editing capabilities of most computer programs, you have some leeway.

If it was a requiremnet for me to do perfect performances, I would have to quit my band.

velvetkevorkian · #6 10-09-2006, 11:50 AM

Concentrate! FAr too often I've found my attention I've let my attention drift and suddenly found myself half a beat out. This is particualrly bad when playing very simple stuff.

tone.tran · #7 10-09-2006, 11:52 AM

Even the best slip up. not being perfect is a good thing though! that's why i don't enjoy playing with a drum machine as much as a drummer. :P

Sounbwoy · #8 10-09-2006, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryco

Come as prepared as possible
I don't worry too much about it. Let it go and keep having a good time. Or shrug it off and blame it all on the drummer! :kidding:
Second part of this question:
I wear fingerless wool gloves. Feels a little heavy on the digits but keeps 'em warm.

Thanks for the tip on staying warm and the advice. I had a gig this weekend at the Shakori Hills Music Festival in Pittsboro and by the time we were halfway thru, it was all I could do to keep my fingers moving. It didn't help that we had an earlier gig in Durham that was also outside.
The cold definitely didn't help matters any.

omar_basspr · #9 10-13-2006, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassChuck

No such thing as perfect performance. Come as close as you can... and make the most of the mistakes.

indeed!

cowsgomoo · #10 10-13-2006, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sounbwoy

What do you do to ensure (or at least try to) that you have mistake free performances everytime you hit the stage?
Even tho I've been playing for several years, I'll still find myself sometimes making silly mistakes on stage, even with familiar material.
Second part of this question:
How do you keep your hands warm when you have an outdoor gig when it's cold (60 degrees F with wind and drizzle).

be well rehearsed & familiar with the material, and rehearse in the same way you play... if you move about a lot on stage, then you ideally need to rehearse that way too.. otherwise you'll only ever practice synchronizing a pete townshend style scissor kick with your playing during the gig itself... which is the last time to mess it up

practice & rehearse hard, learn the material then forget about worrying about mistakes.. it's not rock'n'roll to worry.. some of the greatest records of all time have big mistakes in them

orlfl · #11 10-13-2006, 05:18 AM

Read Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner.

Edwcdc · #12 10-13-2006, 05:32 AM

It's funny but I find that if I don't think about it I have no problem playing songs that I know real well. Its when I start second guessing myself I make mistakes. When playing fairly new material I have to keep my head in the game. We all make mistakes. I have had other bass players tell me they didn't hear my screw ups. I sure half of the time mistakes are not detected by the audience. You know you did it and maybe your guitar player notices but thats about it, then again I'm talking about minor mistakes. Train wrecks are another story.

DougP · #13 10-13-2006, 05:46 AM

i was at a Vic Wooten clinic a couple of months ago and he put it in a way that made total sense to me.

he said (and i paraphrase) that he practices making mistakes. he intentionally plays wrong notes during practice to learn where his safety net is. he feels that it also adds a bit of drama to the music. his example was a tightrope walker; the tight rope walker can walk straight across the rope but where is the fun and tension in that? what really holds the audiences attention is that the tight rope walker just might fall.

vics explanation completely turned my way of thinking upside down. so its ok to make mistakes. its all part of the show.

ogrossman · #14 10-13-2006, 06:11 AM

You'll never put in a performance that is 100%. By 100% I mean the absolute best you can possibly do. Even if you don't play any wrong notes, you're timing might be a hair off or your improvisation might not be as creative as possible... but it's going to be something that's not all there. So give yourself permission to put in an 80% performance on the average night. Anything better than that is gravy. If you feel you're not getting to 80% then you need to practice more.

iplaybassguitar · #15 10-13-2006, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by addylewis

Know the stuff like the BACK OF YOUR HAND and make sure its EASY (rock'n'roll stuff) ...after a couple years you'll play it all NOTE perfect without even thinking about it...

so everyone should only play rock and roll?

SnoMan · #16 10-13-2006, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iplaybassguitar

so everyone should only play rock and roll?

Yes, that is precisely what he meant.

jady · #17 10-13-2006, 01:32 PM

Keep focused, I play in a Blues band and I have charted out some pretty nutty arrangements and we rip through those, but give me a simple I-IV-V blues and my mind wanders (that was a delicious burger for dinner, I wonder what the meeting on Monday will be about, Nice rack) and the next thing I know, i am in a different key.

jumbosilverette · #18 10-13-2006, 01:47 PM

It doesn't last for long, but wash your hands in warm water before you go onstage.

Supertanker · #19 10-13-2006, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlfl

Read Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner.

+1

I read it all the time. Almost everyday...

iplaybassguitar · #20 10-13-2006, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoMan

Yes, that is precisely what he meant.

it sorta is though...i know he probably didnt mean it that way...but wheres the fun in playing if everyone is going to play simple rock n roll songs just cuz they might screw up otherwise.