Coping with mistakes live

[Bluewine]

8 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

If it's me who makes a mistake (ie wrong notes), then I'll play the same thing again next time around.  Beyond this, follow the singer.

 

I think we're all of a certain standard, it's original material and we can just play through any issues.  I doubt anyone out front really gives a toot.

 

Yeah, I'm  not always aware of mistakes made by my bandmates. I'm well aware of mine, wrong notes, getting lost in a song when you can't hear. I try not to make the same mistake twice.

 

Blue

[KingPrawn]

Mistakes happen to the best of us. As Victor Wooten says "You are only one fret away from the right note". I'd say go with the focal point, which is usually the singer. What I really hate is a glare from one Musician to another. Don't give the audience any signal a slip-up has happened. Yes acknowledge it but not negatively. You can sort all that stuff out once the gig is over. I'm a weekend warrior, these days, so I try to give myself a break. I'm not touring or sitting in a pit. I'm not playing the same lines every night for weeks on end. Regardless of your place in the choir. The audience only responds to the song not all the individual parts, unless they are musos. I don't go into any gig wanting to make mistakes. I practise the key signatures and the structure of songs. I know my fretboard and where I need to sit in the mix. I still make mistakes.

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, KingPrawn said:

Mistakes happen to the best of us. As Victor Wooten says "You are only one fret away from the right note". I'd say go with the focal point, which is usually the singer. What I really hate is a glare from one Musician to another. Don't give the audience any signal a slip-up has happened. Yes acknowledge it but not negatively. You can sort all that stuff out once the gig is over. I'm a weekend warrior, these days, so I try to give myself a break. I'm not touring or sitting in a pit. I'm not playing the same lines every night for weeks on end. Regardless of your place in the choir. The audience only responds to the song not all the individual parts, unless they are musos. I don't go into any gig wanting to make mistakes. I practise the key signatures and the structure of songs. I know my fretboard and where I need to sit in the mix. I still make mistakes.

 

 

I know there are folks in the audience that don't know that one of us up there is playing bass.Ever had someone ask you how long you've  been playing  guitar? Lol😂

 

Blue

[Norris]

2 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Hmmm. One has to draw the line somewhere 😁

 

The key thing is that music comes before ego. You know who messed up, and hopefully so does the guitarist, but you don't need to stand there pointing and making it obvious to everyone else

[MrDaveTheBass]

Gotta go with the singist, however unpredictable they might be. I was even explicitly taught to do this at music college. The tutor would take the role of lead singer, and would deliberately mess up the arrangement- miss out a verse here, repeat the chorus, do something random instead of the middle eight etc. Ever since, I've always watched nd listened to whoever's out front with the mic like a hawk, and tried to follow them no matter what. 

[jonno1981]

The audience want to see a happy band so never acknowledge a mistake negatively. It can ruin the atmosphere if you come across as annoyed or frustrated. Move on and deal with it later at rehearsal. 

[Boodang]

Absolutely go with the singer. Mistakes on other instruments are negotiable on the fly depending on the focal point. 

There's a couple of songs that regularly trip up our vocalist, where he comes in too early. If we didn't go with him you'd have the band playing the chorus while he's on the verse and it would be horrendous!

[police squad]

so in a slight change to all this,

 

I'm currently depping in a well known local band. Their bass player, Iain (who is on BC but I don't know his user name) has a detached retina and is out for a month (maybe 2).

They have an enormous set list, it's all new wave/ska.

I did a gig with them 3 weeks ago but now I've done 3 last weekend and have 3 more this weekend and 4 the next.

 

I work full time and am learning the songs virtually. I listen to them at work all day, and work the bass parts out, mostly in my head

Yes I am making mistakes during the songs but I am trying to remember which ones are knowledge based and which ones are just hitting the wrong note.

I managed to put the knowledge based ones right. EG, I was missing a chord in Lip up fatty. It was an E and a B flat.

 

The keyboard solo in No More Heroes is longer than I think so I keep my eye on the guitarist's left hand.

Each gig they try and vary the set, so I have lots to look at between the gigs too.

It's great fun working this way and the punters don't really notice the mistakes. No car crashes so far

 

keep smiling, laughing and dancing. It's all about the show

[knirirr]

20 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

We might say that we played the jazz version when the number has finished.

 

As it happens there's a local jazz jam where some of the soloists have a very fluid conception of what the form is, starting and finishing at apparently random points with perhaps a shout of "back to the head, everyone!" whilst we're just entering the B of AABA etc. etc.
They never notice, so much as with the "follow the singer" advice above I have to follow them to avoid the whole thing falling apart.

[Steve Browning]

Always worth remembering that a mistake is ancient history the moment after it is made. Never beat yourself up about it. 

[tauzero]

I'm in full agreement with following the singer, almost all the time. In one former band, the singer would do verses and choruses at random, and was quite likely to start a verse before the end of the guitar solo.

 

The exception was when playing "Maria" with Mrs Zero singing, when somehow she managed to get herself into a loop. About the fourth time round, I started singing what should have come next and extracted us, otherwise we'd still be there.

[Muzz]

10 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

I know there are folks in the audience that don't know that one of us up there is playing bass.Ever had someone ask you how long you've  been playing  guitar? Lol😂

 

Blue

I had a very nice couple standing outside the venue one evening after we'd finished tell me there had been a great band on that night. They'd been sitting five feet in front of me for nearly three hours... 😐

[Waddo Soqable]

5 minutes ago, Muzz said:

I had a very nice couple standing outside the venue one evening after we'd finished tell me there had been a great band on that night. They'd been sitting five feet in front of me for nearly three hours... 😐

Were they both wearing those old thick lens goggle eyed glasses by any chance.. 😁

[Muzz]

Sadly not; they were younger than me...if I'm ever called into a police lineup, I'm bringing a bass with me: no-one'll ever pick me out...

[Waddo Soqable]

10 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

I know there are folks in the audience that don't know that one of us up there is playing bass.Ever had someone ask you how long you've  been playing  guitar? Lol😂

 

Blue

I've even been introduced to people by a girlfriend who said  "oh, he's a guitarist" 

[tauzero]

3 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I've even been introduced to people by a girlfriend who said  "oh, he's a guitarist" 

 

Well, duh. That's why you've got a girlfriend.

[asingardenof]

16 hours ago, snorkie635 said:

Can someone explain what 'mistake' is please. Never come across this before? 😂

It's in the dictionary after "liar" 😉

[snorkie635]

7 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

It's in the dictionary after "liar" 😉

You have a fancy dictionary. In mine, what comes after the second 'liar', is 'pants on fire'. 🩲🔥

[neepheid]

Mistakes are but fleeting moments in time.  Back when I was starting out, Mrs. Neepheid had way more experience than me, singing and playing sax in bands.  She took a teatowel in her hand and said "See this?  This is your mistake", then quickly scrumpled it up and threw it behind her over her shoulder.

 

I'd say one's own personal mistakes on bass - don't dwell on it, just keep going.  If it's a bad one, take a breath, join back in at the next phrase/repetition of riff/verse/chorus.  In more widespread muckups, if the singer skips to the wrong bit of song, go with them or else it's going to sound daft.

 

I have learned to make light of mistakes - a smile, a nod, a laugh between band members looks way better than scowls and looking daggers at each other.  'Twas not always so - my drummer is still mentally scarred from the Death Stare of '09...

[Boodang]

2 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Mistakes are but fleeting moments in time.  Back when I was starting out, Mrs. Neepheid had way more experience than me, singing and playing sax in bands.  She took a teatowel in her hand and said "See this?  This is your mistake", then quickly scrumpled it up and threw it behind her over her shoulder.

 

I'd say one's own personal mistakes on bass - don't dwell on it, just keep going.  If it's a bad one, take a breath, join back in at the next phrase/repetition of riff/verse/chorus.  In more widespread muckups, if the singer skips to the wrong bit of song, go with them or else it's going to sound daft.

 

I have learned to make light of mistakes - a smile, a nod, a laugh between band members looks way better than scowls and looking daggers at each other.  'Twas not always so - my drummer is still mentally scarred from the Death Stare of '09...

Mistakes are fleeting moments in time…. Until the audience films you in glorious 4k on their latest phone and posts it on social media to be replayed for ever, and ever…. 
I gave up worrying about it years ago though. 

[snorkie635]

Just now, Boodang said:

Mistakes are fleeting moments in time…. Until the audience films you in glorious 4k on their latest phone and posts it on social media to be replayed for ever, and ever…. 
I gave up worrying about it years ago though. 

'Audience? What is this sorcery?'

[neepheid]

Just now, Boodang said:

Mistakes are fleeting moments in time…. Until the audience films you in glorious 4k on their latest phone and posts it on social media to be replayed for ever, and ever…. 
I gave up worrying about it years ago though. 

 

Eh, I see people videoing all the time at gig, but it's just for their goldfish bowl instagram following, or whatever the f tiktok is - we never see a thing.

[BassTractor]

16 hours ago, chris_b said:

Mistakes are fine.

 

It's what you play next to turn them back into good notes that matters.

Yup.
Or what you do next. People already mentioned joking about it, and I remember Dutch classical pianist Daniël Wayenberg, during a light-hearted Sunday afternoon gig, crawling under the grand piano to collect the wrong notes  -  formal tail coat and shiny shoes 'n' all. 😃
 

[Dan Dare]

11 hours ago, Norris said:

 

The key thing is that music comes before ego. You know who messed up, and hopefully so does the guitarist, but you don't need to stand there pointing and making it obvious to everyone else

 

I don't recall suggesting "pointing and making it obvious to everyone else".

 

Putting on a good show comes before everything, including music and of course, ego.

 

 

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

I had a very nice couple standing outside the venue one evening after we'd finished tell me there had been a great band on that night. They'd been sitting five feet in front of me for nearly three hours... 😐

I’ve had similar, people who’ve watched the band all night ask me if I go to see them a lot. I must be instantly forgettable.