"You’re never more than a half step from a note that will work." —Victor Wooten
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Playing live and making mistakes
- Thread starter Mata Leao
- Start date
Yep! I've been in that situation quite a few times - GREAT performance, but one person (sometimes me, but not always) in the room made one mistake and we all have to decide as a group if we can get a better take from it. Sometimes the producer makes the call. Sometimes it's a quick Protools edit, which they obviously didn't have back in the day. Sometimes the answer is simply "it sounds great and the mistake is just character".
This has been stated repeatedly throughout the thread, so I'll spin it yet again...
...if you or your homies don't make a scene of it and keep the train rolling, no one aside from yourselves will think twice about it. In fact, YOU shouldn't even think twice 'cuz that ship's done sailed and all you'll do by dwelling on a clam in realtime is set yourself up for more digging...
Ok, so maybe a few other musicians in the audience may notice, but they'll likely just as readily notice how fast and smooth you wriggle out of it, and be suitably impressed by your slick moves.
...if you or your homies don't make a scene of it and keep the train rolling, no one aside from yourselves will think twice about it. In fact, YOU shouldn't even think twice 'cuz that ship's done sailed and all you'll do by dwelling on a clam in realtime is set yourself up for more digging...
Ok, so maybe a few other musicians in the audience may notice, but they'll likely just as readily notice how fast and smooth you wriggle out of it, and be suitably impressed by your slick moves.
By the way, NEVER show in your face that you have made a mistake when playing live. Miss it by a half-step? - slide up to the right note and pretend that mistake was a passing note to get you where you wanted to be. A pro band will never make it obvious who made a mistake if someone did. They just keep smiling and playing to the audience like nothing out of the ordinary has happened.
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,122
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I've seen Neil Peart from Rush completely trainwreck a song live. It was painful. But guess what- we're all human. It happens.
Focus more on the notes you play correctly which I bet is the vast majority of the time. When is the last time your audience started chanting in unison "You're making too many mistakes and we are leaving" over and over? Remember, at some point, all commodes stop up...but most of the time they work great and we all enjoy them.
It depends on the gig and who its for. But before I begin, I want to say that I always strive for zero mistakes, no matter where I am. The audience notices them, the guy writing the check notices them, and that's not what they want to hear. I don't drink, nor drugs. I'm not there to party, I am there to work so other people can party.
If I'm doing a local cover bar and the band doesn't rehearse, there with be a couple of mistakes here and there. Doesn't make me happy, but in many situations like this it's unavoidable.
But if I'm with the all-original band at a festival. I go into the woodshed and no mistakes are tolerated, at least by me. I've been known to tape reminder notes to the top of my amp and the back of my neck. My set lists have the keys on them.
If I do make a mistake, recovery is essential. Many folks have already listed techniques for that, but I'll add that John Patitucci once said it doesn't matter as much what you play, as where it ends up. Ending a line on the wrong note = worst sound in the world!
Easily one or 2 per show.
The absolute worst are the ones where lighting is low and a song starts and your first note is one or 2 frets off of where it should be....usually get a non-professional head turn and glare from B/L, not something I do when he sings the wrong words or sings at the wrong time. THE BAND should handle minor ones without even letting the audience know about it(ignore it like it never happened). It's what I do.
Victor Wooten made a point of showing that WHEN you do play a "wrong note" simply playing one fret up or down from the "wrong" note makes it fit.
The absolute worst are the ones where lighting is low and a song starts and your first note is one or 2 frets off of where it should be....usually get a non-professional head turn and glare from B/L, not something I do when he sings the wrong words or sings at the wrong time. THE BAND should handle minor ones without even letting the audience know about it(ignore it like it never happened). It's what I do.
Victor Wooten made a point of showing that WHEN you do play a "wrong note" simply playing one fret up or down from the "wrong" note makes it fit.
In my opinion, music is not meant to be perfect. The organic aspect of it is what makes it different from music made with a computer. I make mistakes while gigging or course, but so what?. I've been playing for like 22 years and have been in many bands and I've got to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how many mistakes you make, as far as you play with soul and putting everything into it. Don;t get me wrong, with this I'm not saying that one can get away playing like crap every show, but you can have good shows as you can have bad ones. For example: during this last year, I've suffered from carpal tunnel pains very bad, and last week took care of it through surgery. Last year I sucked in many shows, but me being a pick player mostly, started using my fingers more on my right hand and I got a lot better than I was previous year. I'm a lot faster now on my playing hand now. I'm looking forward to be able to play again and see how ti goes with no pain playing.
I turn the bass all the way up and the tone and treble all the way down. That way my playing is "felt but not heard" and getting the right notes is secondary. Hey didn't we just have a thread about this? 
Mistakes happen, as soon as they happen, they're gone. Repeated mistakes should not happen. They don't go away. Typically it means you're doing it wrong.
As long as they are few and far between, you will be forgiven. When they come from a lack of preparation when you had plenty of time to prepare, that's when you're in trouble.
Way too often. The key is in the recovery, even if the recovery is riddled with more mistakes. You need to play through it.
Our instinct is to stop and regroup. That works for guitarists, horns and keyboardists, but not bassists. Bassists and drummers don’t have that option.
Also, if your band is skillful and communicating, they’ll help to cover and get you back on track. Stage actors do this all the time - they forget a line but recover so well that no one in the audience notices.
Our instinct is to stop and regroup. That works for guitarists, horns and keyboardists, but not bassists. Bassists and drummers don’t have that option.
Also, if your band is skillful and communicating, they’ll help to cover and get you back on track. Stage actors do this all the time - they forget a line but recover so well that no one in the audience notices.
I recently did a tribute to Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip. One of the songs was Blow at High Dough, I have played that song for years and know it inside out and forward and backwards. Well I started like normal and after the first round of the progression before you switch and the BL yelled at me that I was in the wrong key, I kept playing as it was not time to change yet so I looked down and where were my fingers...yep right on the frets that they were supposed to be! But that made me off my game for the rest of the set because all the other songs I just learned in a week and a half and being sick the whole time on top of it all
How many has had that experience?
How many has had that experience?
And then, try to find a gig... 
