What’s your excuse for missing a note?

[shoulderpet]

I would be amazed if anyone noticed 1 single note being missed ,if it was several then yes

 

[david barnes]

I don’t miss notes, but what excuse do you mortals use?

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I get in to the music sometimes and miss the string with my finger. usually due to poor technique. but I have been working on better finger placement, so my fingers don't have to fly around so much.

 

[SubNoizeRat3691]

On my gig Saturday, there were the UFC fights on big screens on either side of where we were set up. A few times I found myself watching the fights instead of consciously playing. No bad misses, but I knew they were there!

 

[mattattack187]

"The Wife takes up all my practice time". I'd like to think that's more of a reason than excuse in a lot of cases.

 

[BassJuju]

There is no excuse.

 

[Papersen]

I’m exploring new sounds or incorporating the mistake to the song (Miles Davis influence )

 

[muggsy]

I'm not very good. But most of the time nobody notices.

 

[mjmeche]

I don't make an excuse, I just keep playing. Everyone makes a mistake

 

[dbase]

I farted and missed the string.. or, I can only play C A F & G .. all other notes are blank

 

[LowDownHawkeye]

A friend of mine who referees soccer matches says he’ll retire after he refs a perfect game. He’s got 500 matches in and still going. He got the saying from someone who has done over 5000 matches...

It is live music. Make a mistake? Chuckle to yourself (or to your drummer) and move on.

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

My brain knows the note but it refused to tell my fingers.

 

[bucephylus]

I posted this elsewhere, but believe it addresses the OP:

When I was first learning upright, my teacher, who was principle bass for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, told me that I needed to be more like the Jazz guys. I was obsessing over shifts and pitch at the time. I asked him what he meant by “being more like the Jazz guys;” because I was actually doing Jazz gigs at the time. He says to me, “well, if you say to a Jazz player that they missed a note or had a bad shift, they will simply turn to you and say ‘so what, what’s it to you!?’” He was originally from New York.

 

[Indexed]

Either "a little negative space in the passage" or "an exceptional ghost note".

 

[SteveC]

It is live music. Make a mistake? Chuckle to yourself (or to your drummer) and move on.

Yep. Drummer and I share more looks and chuckles than anyone else.

 

[Liam Wald]

There is no excuse.

Add this one word...
There is no excuse "needed".

 

[Paulabass]

Screwing up the notes- Inevitable.
Screwing up the groove- Inexcusable.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

What?!!
You mean you weren't looking at the hot blonde in the back of the bar???

 

[bucephylus]

And, let’s not forget Ella Fitzgerald’s performance of Mack The Knife in Berlin 1960, in which she completely forgets the lyrics after the first verse and gives us a Grammy awarded scat performance instead. That’s how you forget notes. You make something musical out of it.

 

[mrjim123]

I once missed hundreds of notes when I showed up late for a gig and the band started without me (we don't need no stinkin' bass player). I had gotten lost on the way there. They were into the second song when I arrived.

 

[oysteivi]

If my bandmates complained every time I missed a note, we'd never get anything done. Just smile and keep playing.