Terrible Practice!!!!

Fuggetabowtit. It happens. I've had gigs where I felt as if I was trying to play with oven mits on or my pick felt like a ping pong paddle.

 

Yep, just move on and see what happens next session. I've shook my head many times playing with people and later I listen to what it sounded it like and its usually not that bad...

 

To quote Tom O'Brien

"The best guys in baseball only hit it sometimes"

Don't sweat it, just keep swinging.

Best of luck,

 

As a giging bassist I ve found that usaully people ( including my singer & guitarist) dont notice to much if you hit a note with bad intonation or a half step away from your note. what they notice is timiming between bass and drums. Just stay on 1 even if you have to keep it "root" simple.

Relax its going to happen agian, hopefully much later than sooner.

 

Happens to everyone.... in my band... last night too. Don't let it bother you.

 

Even pros have their off days. Last week, my band had a horrible day. Yesterday? We sounded incredible. It does happen to everyone. Relax and just go with the flow

 

Sure playing wrong notes can cause a crappy practice but as long as you have a good vibe you will contribute to the practice. I find that my performance usually depends on my mood. Which I think is fine because music is an expression of emotions. So try and bring a good attitude to practice and see if that translates to better playing.

 

Everyone has an off day occasionally. We're all human!

 

Practice is the place to make your mistakes. Experiment. Especially if nothing else seems to be going right.

Gigs are where you need to nail it.

Doing your home work makes practice go smoother. If you know your stuff you can relax and take what comes without panic. It's great to be able to watch a train wreck at practice and know your parts well enough to be able to see how the band as a whole went off the rails. Sometimes a rhythm guitar part against the drum part just don't work, but everyone thinks it sounds cool until they face plant. Blood on the tracks.

Practice is all about learning. Nothing like a good old train wreck as an instructional tool.

Good luck,

- Paul

 

Friday the 2nd of January 2009 we had in my band the worst practice ever. No song came out well, everyone seemed to be playing at their own tempo.

Out of 3 hours playing, only Smoke in the Water, faster version, came out decent.

Well, you can say we hadn't practices since the previous year ;-)

 

Years ago I used to smoke pot. I was at a mate's place after I had cut back to almost quitting. It was his girlfriend's birthday and he had made a killer space cake. I had one slice and half an hour later went to band prac in a jazz band with some highly respected music teachers from the town I grew up in (I was about 21 at the time, they were 35-45). A couple of the guys in the band smoked pot, so it wasn't like I had to pretend I was straight or anything, but halfway through I felt these incredible hot flushes running up my back into my brain and I had to walk out before I passed out.

They called band prac off and one of them said they'd give me a lift home. I gave Kath (who's place it was) my keys so I wouldn't drive (even though I was getting a lift... ***???) and Carl drove me home. I then went to my room and lay on the couch and was scorned by both my mum and my best friend Polly for the remainder of the night. I've never done anything like that since.

 

that is TRUE in some many levels.

I guess the bassist is the only one that notes drummer little changes too.

 

Don't forget about the "bad practice/good gig" rule.

It always seems if you have a bad rehearsal before a show, the show is usually awesome.

 

stuff happens? if you think it sucks having a terrible practice, wait until you have a terrible gig!! really though, i've had bad nights where my fingers don't work. no one out front knows!!

 

Thankfully it doesn't seem to have an inverse rule.

 

+1 my old band botched so many rehearsals a day or two before our shows, but those shows ended up being some of the best

 

Sometimes you're in the zone; sometimes you;re in the Twilight Zone.

 

I like to think it's because you get all your mistakes out of the way before the gig

 

Dude, me and my band sometimes have so awful practices that make us think about quitting music and move to countryside It's arts afterall. Some nights you feel the groove and some other nights you don't. Also there are lotsa factors besides that, like the studio you're practicing at, the sound etc. Take it easy!