Just curious… how often do you mess up when performing live?

Does it bother you or can you push on?

I’ve seen quite a few performances of Dick Dale where he “messes up” but he somehow rebounds and is able to make it sound “right”

which is more important to you… a technically accurate performance or one that is imperfect but has the soul and energy? I tend to go for the latter , but definitely wish my playing was more accurate lol !

I've had a few instances where the equipment messed up. I actually had a guitar keep popping the same string out of the saddle during a performance, but the string stayed put no matter how hard I whacked on it practicing.

I've experienced the "Spinal Tap" amp syndrome where my guitar/amp combination picked up a radio show. That is annoying.

Then there's always the whole guitar going out of tune over a busted string with a Bigsby Vibrato or similar tremolo.

And yeah - mea culpa, mea culpa. I have gone off beat or hit the wrong note. Sliding or slurring the note usually fixes that.

To err is human.
J Mo'

I nearly always am just playing for myself. The times I've played in front of others, each song had mistakes, but not too noticable.

If I played in a public venue, I'd have to practice a lot more.

My guitar experience is similar to my piano experience growing up. I didn't practice much but had some basic skill. I'd always mess up, sometimes badly, at recitals the piano teachers had. Once, though, for a college course I needed to play a difficult Beethoven sonata, and I practiced the hell out of it. The performance had only three small mistakes that the teacher did not notice.

So, I take this as a lesson for my guitar playing that as long as the song is not above my skill level, I could play it near perfectly if I practiced enough, and especially practiced the hard parts slowly, building up speed. Of course, I don't do that. I just play a song through once or twice and then move onto the next song.

If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play.
Bringing instruments back to life since 2013.

There's actually a pretty good blog about this called The Bullet Proof Musician.. It's about the psychology of performance dissecting why we can practice things perfectly at home, but then royally screw them up when performing in front of other people. This is a huge topic of conversation in concert/classical music circles where perfection is often assumed and the critiques relate more to your interpretation of the rep than your ability to play it 'correctly'.

Premiere Single Out Now! - Keep On Running
Psychic Chime - Instagram
Psychic Chime - Twitter
Professional Website (film-scoring)

.

https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com

Last edited: Apr 01, 2024 08:54:22

We all mess up sometimes, even the best of us. The main thing as it was said above by Victor is to go on and just show that you have meant to do it. Surely if you mess up often, especially in timing (audience mostly doesn’t hear a wrong note but surely hears wrong timing) than it’s a problem.
A couple of things I have learn during my years of gigging
- band members should feel and hear each other. When someone fails all others go on, not stopping and looking at him. Prolonging the part some more measures and waiting for the player to join back works great.
- the less you think about your playing on scene the less mistakes you make, so rehearse till it’s automatic, get drunk and have fun)

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

I don’t think that any player could legitimately claim to never making mistakes. I’ve even heard Chet Atkins make mistakes in concerts. I would say that keeping your scales up helps, because scales train your procedural memory and make it easier to play notes that, at the very least, fit in with the key of the song.

What I think is at least as important as not making mistakes, would be how to recover from a mistake. If you recover skillfully, a mistake can pass by, unnoticed. What I’ve observed is that the wrong pitch played at the right time may not even be noticeable to most listeners, but the right pitch played at the wrong time will never sound good.

Practice: it’s how to get to Carnegie Hall.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

BrentD wrote:

I haven't played live in a long time.

BUT! I'm with synchro, psychonaut, and the rest on this. It's more about how you handle it.

Always remember: If you screw up once, it's a mistake. If you screw up a bunch of times, it's jazz!

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

I try to do 100% accurate always but it's sometimes impossible (you are having a lot of fun, dancing with people, too much tired, etc), When it happens i just go on and continue the show, a lot of times people even didn't notice. I prefer to balance between performance and sound, not giving too much to one side

My latest LP Unknown Creatures by Otitis Media Records is available now on all digital platforms and colored vinyl. Listen and buy here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/sysmalakian/unknown-creatures
Lessons, tabs and tutorials send an email to sysmalakian@gmail.com

SixStringSurfer wrote:

Great thread, and love everyone's honesty. I have only had 4 gigs in my life, and I have messed up in all of them. I will continue to make mistakes, as this stuff is really hard to play (esp since there are no vocals, lead guitar is the vocal).

One thing I have noticed, I am getting better and better at recovering quickly after a mistake. Having said that, I like it when I go to a show and see the musicians make a mistake. It shows me that they are human just like the rest of us.

On my bands Youtube channel, I clearly state that we never use backing tracks, overdubbing, or lip synching. What you see, is what you get. I hate it when bands use backing tracks, and correct their mistakes in post production.

In closing, I do make mistakes during live performances. The key is to have fun, quickly recover, and keep moving on.

I too appreciate seeing other artists make mistakes… it reminds me that we are all on the same journey and are fighting the same struggle