• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

I seem unable to play a song without making a glaring mistake.

#42
I have these kind of "incidents" on occasion. They creep up at unexpected moments, out of nowhere. I have no explanation for. I have played a song I don't remember how many times, flawlessly in front of an audience. All of a sudden my finger wanders where it has not ever gone before and shouldn't for that particular song. So this happens, relax, play on. It has nothing to do with focus or concentration. It's all there - at least in my case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OogieWaWa
#43
Yah, i can beat myself up too much and what i messed up on only gets worse.
I can over think at times and totally mess up riffs that i had absolutely no problem with before and in the moment cant remember what i need to do to get back on track.
On the flip side, I've put a song or 2 that I've struggled with on the back burner and came back to it to nail it out of the gate.
Mind trips can suck!!
 
#45
Not giving permission to slack by any means, but don't worry so much.

I think there is such a thing as an acceptable clam. If you want to feel better, search up isolated bass form, like, say the 1970's Rolling Stones songs, there are probably (lots of) others. - My book says there is a difference between an oops and and not being up to a certain level of playing. Just don't mess up the groove worrying about the note you fretted half a step off and you will be fine.
 
#46
FWIW, I used to get twisted in knots with tension and stage fright, and that often enough led to clams. Once I got past it, I came to view the occasional errant note as part of doing business. As long as you are on top of the groove, there's a fair amount of wiggle room with errors. Unless the part you're playing is entirely by rote, you lose it, and don't know where to go next, the groove will usually save you. Honestly, I've experienced train wrecks onstage that the audience scarcely noticed. Lighten up on yourself. It's a phase—and a process.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
 
#49
Bassaga said:
Any song. Any difficulty. No matter how familiar I am with it and how many times I"m done that part correctly before. Bass or guitar or voice. Just about every dang time I play a song, I screw something up in a jarring way. Forgetting or mixing up lyrics, going for the wrong chord, one or both of my hands blanking on which string they're trying to play for just a second. Then I recover and play the rest of the song just as well as I was playing before.

Rarely the same mistake more than once, which tells me I'm not having this hiccups ingrained. It happens however I'm performing on whatever instrument, singing or not. It happens when I'm playing a song I can barely keep up with the same as when I'm strumming through a 3-chord "King of the Road" for the thousandth time, so it's not a "practice moar, duh" thing. I just can't often seem to get through a freakin' song beginning to end without a big screw-up.

I don't know if this is some deep-buried self-sabotage thing, or just plain being a mediocre musician, or what, but.... anybody experience this? and ideally overcome it?
Click to expand...
Dude.... seriously everybody, even people that you'd think never do this, do it (trust me). Receive this. Don't use it to accept mediocrity but so that you'll never be afraid to mess up. Sometimes incredible music happens in your mistakes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OogieWaWa and picnic01
#50
Bassaga said:
Any song. Any difficulty. No matter how familiar I am with it and how many times I"m done that part correctly before. Bass or guitar or voice. Just about every dang time I play a song, I screw something up in a jarring way. Forgetting or mixing up lyrics, going for the wrong chord, one or both of my hands blanking on which string they're trying to play for just a second. Then I recover and play the rest of the song just as well as I was playing before.

Rarely the same mistake more than once, which tells me I'm not having this hiccups ingrained. It happens however I'm performing on whatever instrument, singing or not. It happens when I'm playing a song I can barely keep up with the same as when I'm strumming through a 3-chord "King of the Road" for the thousandth time, so it's not a "practice moar, duh" thing. I just can't often seem to get through a freakin' song beginning to end without a big screw-up.

I don't know if this is some deep-buried self-sabotage thing, or just plain being a mediocre musician, or what, but.... anybody experience this? and ideally overcome it?
Click to expand...
This only happens to me when I am overtired. I have been work 7 day weeks for a while now and has happened to me once or twice in that period.
 
#51
I had the same exact problem when I started and it lasted for a few years. I think it was mostly related to me worrying about making a mistake. So it became a self-fulfilling thing. Dirty looks from band members, nervousness, and worry. I often forgot even the easiest of lyrics for intro's to songs. Many a bad note in a bad places.

Funny thing is that I was my own worst critic followed by my bandmates and any other good musicians in the room. I realized that most people in the audience barely noticed and even if they did, they didn't really care too much. After that revelation, I took a lot of the pressure off of myself and the problem faded away.

I don't think too much about mistakes anymore (and I still make them). I laugh at them and move on. I own it. I guess that is the biggest difference - after 30 years of playing I own my performances, warts and all, and I don't sweat it.

You will get over it. Practice, take a deep breath, and don't over-think it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OogieWaWa and Malcolm35
#54
There are a few people that can rehearse a song a couple times, have it locked in, and perform it without mistakes. The rest of us have to work at it. For us (you're one of us) it takes a lot of practice to appear "naturally gifted".
 
  • Like
Reactions: farmertom
#56
Bassaga said:
Any song. Any difficulty. No matter how familiar I am with it and how many times I"m done that part correctly before. Bass or guitar or voice. Just about every dang time I play a song, I screw something up in a jarring way. Forgetting or mixing up lyrics, going for the wrong chord, one or both of my hands blanking on which string they're trying to play for just a second. Then I recover and play the rest of the song just as well as I was playing before.

Rarely the same mistake more than once, which tells me I'm not having this hiccups ingrained. It happens however I'm performing on whatever instrument, singing or not. It happens when I'm playing a song I can barely keep up with the same as when I'm strumming through a 3-chord "King of the Road" for the thousandth time, so it's not a "practice moar, duh" thing. I just can't often seem to get through a freakin' song beginning to end without a big screw-up.

I don't know if this is some deep-buried self-sabotage thing, or just plain being a mediocre musician, or what, but.... anybody experience this? and ideally overcome it?
Click to expand...
Confidence
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back