How many mistakes do you make on average per set, song ?

[GreyEagle]

So embarrassed! Let's save time & name sets/gigs where I DON'T make a mistake. Most fortunate they're so small that not even the band members catch/notice/hear (and one member is anal about perfection to near the point of sterility)!

 

[BassChuck]

There will always be a mistake or two. The question is, what kind of mistake? Was it because you just didn't know what you were doing, or didn't prepare? Or did you let yourself become confused in the form or progression? Did you try something new that you hadn't practiced (like playing your part on a different place on the neck) or perhaps a chord sub that didn't work.
There are all kinds of mistakes. Some are avoidable and should not have happened, other are just from being a human being.

 

[lfmn16]

There will always be a mistake or two. The question is, what kind of mistake? Was it because you just didn't know what you were doing, or didn't prepare? Or did you let yourself become confused in the form or progression? Did you try something new that you hadn't practiced (like playing your part on a different place on the neck) or perhaps a chord sub that didn't work.
There are all kinds of mistakes. Some are avoidable and should not have happened, other are just from being a human being.

+1

There’s a difference between missing a note on a long, fast run as opposed to landing on an Eb instead of an E.

 

[picker1974]

I usually hit an unintended note at least twice per set but I can usually cover it up pretty well by repeating it to make it intentional haha. 99% of the time no one including my band mates even notices. In all fairness, I never play the same thing twice anyway, so the purists would say I’m a constant screw up or a hack haha .

 

[JoeD]

Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.

 

[DennisO]

I've never played bass on stage. I took up the bass about 3 years ago. I played drums all my life. I suppose my best band, when I joined them, I made probably 300 mistakes a night. After a couple years that was down to probably 50 a night lol

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I am practicing a lot and seem to hit a wrong note about 2 or 3 times in a song is this normal or should I strive for perfection

To begin with, don’t think of those as mutually exclusive. Strive at least to improve, recognizing that no one is perfect.
Unless it’s a horrible (and loud enough) mistake, no one except a musician (and not all of those) will notice. Especially if you can keep going and not react negatively.

 

[Kujibo]

For the gigs I play we all make mistakes here and there. Some gigs are with different people and many are never rehearsed, maybe someone has never even heard the song before, so there's lots of the leader leading and others winging it. I think the people I've played with are good enough to get away with that for the bars being played. With pros/semi-pros time can be money so they just don't rehearse, decades of constant gigging is their rehearsal.

I find these odd little mistakes that mostly only us musicians notice kind of hilarious myself, it brings a lot of levity and smiles to the playing.

What I find WAY more important is having a good enough ear and attention span to know when you are making a mistake to be able to correct it quickly. I've played in bands where we constantly rehearse, but even in rehearsal the player is just in their own world imagining they are on a big stage, putting their best bass-face or guitar-face on, and not realizing they've been a semi-tone off for the last 15 seconds. You're not even able to get their attention with waving and hollering because there's smiling away with their eyes closed in their own world. I make note of these people and make sure to avoid them where possible. So again, as good as it is to learn songs correctly, learning how to recognize musical mistakes and how to quickly recover is more important IMO.

 

[dasherf17]

I am practicing a lot and seem to hit a wrong note about 2 or 3 times in a song is this normal or should I strive for perfection

Ho, gawd, yah...
Don't ever be so vain that you insist you can't make mistakes...it's how you pull out of them...
I think I told the story of a bass player I worked with that did this great bass part in the lead break...really set w
ork...we complimented him on our break...his response: "oh, really? I lost where I was and was just makin' it up!"
Oh, yeah...how many do I make? All of them...

 

[zontar]

I don't count them.
If I do I'll get focussed on that & make more.

If I make a mistake, I move on.

 

[dasherf17]

I don't count them.
If I do I'll get focussed on that & make more.

If I make a mistake, I move on.

That's the key!