Lfalex v1.1 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 In all honesty, whilst some of the bands I've been in have had at least their fair share of arseholes, none of them have ever brought about a song stoppage. That's only ever happened due to guitarists breaking strings, and then only twice in about 12 years. One guitarist used to open one of our songs (which was in F#) in either Fb or E#. I don't know what he thought he was doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I saw a band umknown to me recently (bass player not a BCer to the best of my knowledge) on a bill. Faultless. Every note. Everything was precise and on the money. I couldn't wait for them to get off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chest Rockwell Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 i spannered the intro to our last tune at our last gig. it's a 'clever' bit where each of the 3 guitars plays a 1/3 of the melody, then we all bang in to it together. i fluffed my 1/3 all shapes, wasn't sure if someone else had played my bit, was all like 'christ, shall we start again?!' they kept going... i will flay myself every morning and night until our next gig on saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 (edited) usually a couple of very minor ones either bum notes that I can easily slide out of without anyone noticing or badly fretted notes that don't sound cleanly and are easily fixed... there are always more than I'd like but equally always less than is needed for anyone else to notice! I did once play an absolute howler where I played the chorus chords under a verse while headlining at the Monarch in Camden...I was mortified! It sounded awful...no bugger else noticed!! Edited November 27, 2012 by andydye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Typical Prescott rehearsal: http://youtu.be/vxpZIAmPOMI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musophilr Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 IMO there are various kinds of mistakes - forgetting the structure of the song and playing the wrong section at the wrong time or failing to play what you should - bum notes like playing one fret displaced from where you should be - badly articulated notes (either hand could be responsible for those) - playing something different to what you know you should have played, but the key and the timing were still compatible with what everyone else was doing - not having the correct sound or pickup selection (including having a vol pot rolled off when you switch to that pickup ... but the main things is, most of the time the audience are unaware of what you intended, or should have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I used to count my mistakes during a football match, it doesn't help, I certainly wont be trying it during a gig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1354032066' post='1881141'] One guitarist used to open one of our songs (which was in F#) in either Fb or E#. I don't know what he thought he was doing. [/quote] ??? ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 See, I never makes any mistakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 [quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1354013121' post='1880713'] I can do the thing where I slide a semitone up or down very quickly and the duff note barely sounds... [/quote] Next time round the same bit of the song just play that same "mistake" as a lead-in grace note - any super sharp eared listeners will be fooled into thinking you meant to do it that way all along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Like most of us, I make the odd mistake usually when checking out the ladies in the audience, although not bad enough to stop the song. I used to play with a guitarist who very rarely made mistakes and used to scowl if me or drummer boy dropped a clanger. Imagine my delight when doing Dakotta by the Stereophonics, he put his cappo on the wrong fret and tried desprately to explain to me what he had done whilst keeping playing. I caught on after a few seconds but it was nice to see him squirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 The singer in one of my bands spent some time learning a harp solo and had got it down pretty well in rehearsals. At the first gig we played the song, for some reason the guitarist started the song in G instead of A. I spotted it immediately and changed with no problem. I don't think the singer really twigged the key change, or was thinking more about his forthcoming debut harp solo, but we couldn;t restart the song so I just waited for the inevitable train wreck. Actually it wasn't too bad but after a couple of lines the singer realised he couldn't make it sound quite right so he gave up and let the guitarist finish the solo. Pretty funny though. I've made plenty of live mistakes, but nothing show-stopping. Most times it's because I'm not yet totally comfortable about a new song and the mistake is usually related to missing a verse/chorus/middle8 change. Perhaps I'm a slow learner or the bands are too keen to play new stuff before we're really ready. It does have the advantage that the audience probably hasn't heard the song before so are less likely to spot the mistake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I don't understand this starting a song in the wrong key. Surely you learn it in the right key for your singer and stick with it? Also the one time I've changed the key of a song to suit a singer it opened up a whole load of new possibilities for the guitar part which meant I ended up playing something entirely different to the part I'd originally written with no chance of getting the two confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdowner Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 [quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1354026253' post='1881002'] Numbers are important. They get everywhere. [/quote] Numbers are serious, they leave their shape everywhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chest Rockwell Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 [quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1354033963' post='1881202'] Typical Prescott rehearsal: [media]http://youtu.be/vxpZIAmPOMI[/media] [/quote] what the hell is that?!?! it's awesome! what are you doing with that bass?! cool band. bookmarked! btw, seeing as, if anyone's noticing, I may painting myself as the bass playing equivalent of that guy on ebay that think's he's a master luthier... i discovered in recent practice that one i play a few notes, in two songs, in COMPLETELY the wrong place. I recorded them like that (im pretty sure) and I have played them like that for the last year. a guitarist noticed, corrected me, blew my mind at this oversight... and when played his way, the tunes sound strangely tighter. hmm. Of course, I suggested to them that this was my plan all along, to improve the tunes with age, etc. unfortunately they think that my high concept of dissonant sonic art is simply being 'out of tune'. fools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1354048146' post='1881468'] I don't understand this starting a song in the wrong key. Surely you learn it in the right key for your singer and stick with it? Also the one time I've changed the key of a song to suit a singer it opened up a whole load of new possibilities for the guitar part which meant I ended up playing something entirely different to the part I'd originally written with no chance of getting the two confused. [/quote] Don't ask me, I didn't start the song! To be fair, I recall it was a new song and we changed the key to suit the singer but the guitarist simply used a capo. Come the fateful day, he forgot to use the capo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 One of the advantages of playing originals is that its harder for the audience to spot "mistakes". The songs have the "correct" bassline and I suppose quite often I deviate from that accidentally, but only very rarely does it sound totally wrong (I hope!). Interestingly enough, there's a "mistake" on my bands EP in one of the bass parts--- I played the wrong line at the wrong time--- but it sounded good all the same, thankfully. I think I'm the only person who knows its wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 some fantastic stuff here , I am mostly guilty of forgeting to retune after a drop D tuning , then playing into 'going underground' ,the stress of relearning the fretting on the E string on the fly, borders on the edge between wired and shitting yourself . Oh and starting tenpole tudor in A instead of B , but I always notice before everyone else comes in and pretend its a run up when they do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.I. Joe Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I never make mistakes, however I am prone to a little real-time-on-the-fly-improvised-artistic-interpretation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobpalt Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 [quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1354051026' post='1881481'] Numbers are serious, they leave their shape everywhere? [/quote] 54% of statistics are made up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 [quote name='bobpalt' timestamp='1354110248' post='1882168'] 54% of statistics are made up. [/quote] 23% of people already knew that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 At the end of a particularly long and solo-ey version of Funky Nassau the whole band finished apart from the singer who consequently jus shouted out the word "Miniskirts!" over silence.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 [quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1354045302' post='1881434'] Next time round the same bit of the song just play that same "mistake" as a lead-in grace note - any super sharp eared listeners will be fooled into thinking you meant to do it that way all along [/quote] .. and some of them will think that bozo Bass player has played the same mistake every time now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashevans09 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1354009221' post='1880624'] I'd say that's fair. Nothing major, maybe only I notice considering I've been greeted with blank faces when I apologise to the rest of the band in the post gig discussions. [/quote] Pretty much this, don't think anyone realises other than you. One of the benefits of getting pretty much buried the the mix eh . Honestly, I think if you just sell yourself well on stage no one really notices or cares. Someone once said to me to just pretend you have the biggest willy in the world (slightly altered the terminology used there as you can imagine) and that you are the effing man and absolutely untouchable, and your showmanship will go through the roof. Ever since adopting that I've had more compliments about my bass playing, which is odd because I definitely do get sloppier when I move/jump around more. Answering the initial question though, probably varies depending on the set. If I'm familiar with what we're playing it'll only be a few and they'll be minor. If there's a load of songs I only learnt the day before then they'll probably be a lot more. Also found if I'm worried about a song I'll screw up more. Only 3 or so minor mistakes to me sounds pretty good, particularly if they're long ones . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Another handy quote I found this morning, from the interview with John Paul Jones in the Dec 2012 edition of Mojo: - Did you make any actual mistakes on the night? - ... If you worry about making mistakes you'll never take any chances, and we are about taking those chances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.