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Who misses notes ?

Who misses notes at a gig?

  • Yes

    Votes: 192 91.0%

  • No

    Votes: 4 1.9%

  • Will not confess

    Votes: 15 7.1%
  • Total voters
    211
#82
Das Jugghead said:
We have a rule, if one of us fouls up we don't look at him with the "Doooood what are you dooINNGG" look. If the guitarist messes up the drummer and I look at each other and smile. This accomplishes two things. First, you never let on that something went wrong in front of a live audience - you play it off and play on. Second, turning and smiling at another member both sets a calming attitude among the band while also making the audience think you are interacting and having a good time on stage - both happen to be true.
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This a million times! There is a band member who glares with the flames of a thousand suns at any of us if he even thinks we’re going to play a wrong note. When called on it, he claims that he’s always smiling.
 
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#84
edwinhurwitz said:
I did not miss notes for decades, but after I turned 40, I started having weird episodes with tunnel vision and vertigo. I remember playing a trio gig and the guitarist and drummer both turned to me at the end as we were walking off the stage and said in unison “You missed a note!” I was examined by all kinds of doctors and it’s only gotten worse over the years, but they never figured it out and it seems that no one notices anymore. Even when I own up to missing notes, people tell me that they didn’t hear it. I guess I’m getting more graceful at missing notes!

I also used to have a great memory. That’s about all I remember these days. A recent gig related concussion has not helped.
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Gig-related concussion sounds bad! I hope that never happens again.
 
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#85
BassBrass said:
Weird concept here. Should be the opposite, who sometimes plays note perfect? (I do when I'm making it up and mistakes are intentional)
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I have had stretches where I played perfectly for a number of gigs in a row, like 5 gigs in a row.

No sour notes, no missed notes - as in I tried to play a note and did not pluck the right string or mis-fretted the note so nothing sounded. Sort of a two-week flow state.

But I usually play a bum/sour note or two every set, sometimes I can play them back in, other times I just have to let it go.

I more often do the “swing and a miss” where nothing, or just plucked thump, is sounded. This kind of mistake is not super obvious. I’d say, as a wild guess, I do this three to ten times a set on average.
 
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#86
dmrogers said:
At this point in my life, I know going in that I will make mistakes when I play. I don't give in to the fact that I will flub, but it's just reality.

I sub in a band, and usually play two to four times a month. No rehearsals, no set list, every person in the band is a solid vocalist and knows literally hundreds of tunes. It is guaranteed that they will throw a handful of tunes at me on every gig that I don't know! Sometimes they give me the key. They count it in and off we go!

To me, it's not making mistakes, it's how well you recover.
My rules:
#1 Don't stop playing!
#2 Don't draw attention to your mistake!
#3 Watch the guitarist. Lots of clues there.

The way I see it, you are usually only a half to a whole step away from a note that will work. Plus, if you know your keys, an educated guess usually works.
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Another trick, that might sound crazy but saved me once when I sat in totally cold with a pretty big pop songwriter--total white knuckle situation. I couldn't see his guitar neck(and he wasn't in standard tuning anyway, capo'ng all over the place etc), no keyboard player to watch, so....I basically did sort of a reggae one drop the first time around the verses, choruses--not playing the first downbeat gave me a millisecond to hear the chords. Then I filled it in as the song cruised along. Won't work with every genre but saved my arse this time and I ended up working with the guy a bunch.
 
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#87
I think it was easier in the “olden days” to play without mistakes.

I was in a band that played a 5 hour gig 6 nights a week plus a rehearsal for new songs on Sundays.

When one is afforded the opportunity to play that often, the band gets very tight and almost no one makes a mistake.

In today’s world where many musicians only get to play 2-4 gigs per month, mistakes are far more likely because of less time together with the band.
 
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#88
dmrogers said:
At this point in my life, I know going in that I will make mistakes when I play. I don't give in to the fact that I will flub, but it's just reality.

I sub in a band, and usually play two to four times a month. No rehearsals, no set list, every person in the band is a solid vocalist and knows literally hundreds of tunes. It is guaranteed that they will throw a handful of tunes at me on every gig that I don't know! Sometimes they give me the key. They count it in and off we go!

To me, it's not making mistakes, it's how well you recover.
My rules:
#1 Don't stop playing!
#2 Don't draw attention to your mistake!
#3 Watch the guitarist. Lots of clues there.

The way I see it, you are usually only a half to a whole step away from a note that will work. Plus, if you know your keys, an educated guess usually works.

At the very least, knowing the scale of the key you are in helps you play notes that at least don't suck.

I resolved years ago to not take myself too seriously. I still practice and do my best, but if you play a lot, you are going to miss notes or play the wrong one. That's live music and it is too much fun to worry about a wrong note here or there!
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Yes! Don’t stop playing!! I played for a guy who would stop. We all had to stop with him!
My trick is I know several guitar chords, I watch the guitarist, if he plays a “G” so am I !! If he is playing the G chord capo’d 1 or 2 frets up, I do the math! Easy when you play for capo junkies!
 
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#89
pbass2 said:
Another trick, that might sound crazy but saved me once when I sat in totally cold with a pretty big pop songwriter--total white knuckle situation. I couldn't see his guitar neck(and he wasn't in standard tuning anyway, capo'ng all over the place etc), no keyboard player to watch, so....I basically did sort of a reggae one drop the first time around the verses, choruses--not playing the first downbeat gave me a millisecond to hear the chords. Then I filled it in as the song cruised along. Won't work with every genre but saved my arse this time and I ended up working with the guy a bunch.
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Done that too!! I can “feel” how the song is going and sometimes know the next note coming up.
 
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#90
People who said no.

Screenshot_20260605-173037.png
 
#92
bigdaddybass12 said:
Yes! Don’t stop playing!! I played for a guy who would stop. We all had to stop with him!
My trick is I know several guitar chords, I watch the guitarist, if he plays a “G” so am I !! If he is playing the G chord capo’d 1 or 2 frets up, I do the math! Easy when you play for capo junkies!
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Yes, that helps a lot. I play guitar too. So, I know almost all of the chords all over the neck, inversions, partial chords, most of the tricks. Plus, I worked in a band where they would change the key on the fly and use capo a lot. So being able to transpose on the fly comes pretty easy now.
 
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#93
12BitSlab said:
I think it was easier in the “olden days” to play without mistakes.

I was in a band that played a 5 hour gig 6 nights a week plus a rehearsal for new songs on Sundays.

When one is afforded the opportunity to play that often, the band gets very tight and almost no one makes a mistake.

In today’s world where many musicians only get to play 2-4 gigs per month, mistakes are far more likely because of less time together with the band.
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True.
The last band I played in was very structured. We backed a lot of artists on shows and I was expected to play strictly by charts, which I did because a lot of the songs I didn't know at all. Lots of original tunes too. The band leader, who was an excellent rhythm guitarist, depended on me and the keyboard player to hold the song together. I got pretty good at creating and following charts.
After about four years, that got very boring! I never want to go back to doing that. But, it was easy to play without mistakes.
 
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#97
bigdaddybass12 said:
Confession time. Who misses a note occasionally? I have to tell the guys at the gig I will. I can play a song thru 4 times without a missing a note. Then someone walks by, see something on the TV, or my mind wanders, then #%€, missed note!
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If I hit a really bad note, I snap my head around quickly, glare at the guitarist and shake my head in disgust. For rhythmic mistakes, same tactic, except the glare is directed at the drummer. 🤣
 

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