thebigyin Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Hello, We're individully all experienced musicians.....but our Guitarist can't seem to play a full gig without making several mistakes......be it bum chords or forgetting song arrangement ect, upto now we've turned a blind eye but after a year together it's beggining to get a bit much.....would you bring it up? He's fully aware he's made the errors and thinks nothing of it, saying he's sorry but eh never mind.....bare in mind he's a very good friend but has quite a volatile temper lol.....at times his playing his very good but we've never got thro' a gig without some sort of Howler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Can you live with it or not...personally I couldn't so it would be an issue and needs to be dealt with. One of the reasons why I don't do bands with old friends... they can be friends but the music has to work and friendship alone doesn't work.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myke Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 How bad are the mistakes? Do they completely ruin the song or are they small errors in certain songs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 As Myke asked. Do the punters notice? If they do point out that's its going to make the band sound unprofessional. That means less gigs. He obviously doesn't put in the work at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 If it's the same song each time then rehearse it out or simplify the arrangement and work upwards from there. If it's different things each time you either need to live with it, rehearse more or change guitarists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I agree with JTUK, the key is can you live with it? If not then you need to address it, temper or not. Maybe softly softly with the "feedback sandwich" i.e compliment, what you want to say, compliment to soften things. "You are such a great guitarist but you made a few mistakes again today. A shame as your style totally fits what we do"... or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Get him to play bass instead? Nobody will notice then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='Mog' timestamp='1392138026' post='2365215'] As Myke asked. Do the punters notice? [/quote]This is the big question. Band members are the ones who always notice and usually the perpetrator is the biggest critic of their own playing and does things to make sure it hopefully doesn't happen again. I'd been having a 'blind spot' on one song on and off so I made a big note on my set list and make sure I look at it every time it comes up. This should hopefully be enough for most players, however, if he doesn't really care then that's a different issue and a hard talk, temper or no temper, has to be had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1392138588' post='2365224'] Get him to play bass instead? Nobody will notice then. [/quote] I beg to differ actually. People only tend to notice when we do go wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigyin Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 The mistakes range from a bum chord to major howlers like playing the wrong part to a song ect, I counted at least 6 mistakes our last gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I'd Sack him.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erni3ball Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Well... good guitarists are hard to come by and as you state: He's a very good friend. Personally I wouldn't mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 It's easier to fix mistakes of someone already in the band than it is to bring a new musician up to speed. If he's aware of the mistakes then it's worth trying to iron out the creases with the current johnny than finding a new one. Don't practice till you get it right, practice till you don't get it wrong - there is a BIG difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cytania Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 My question is how does he handle the mistake? Does he quickly get back on track or does he continue ploughing on with the wrong line? Is he listening to the rest of the band or is he following his memory of the original recording? Does he get his guitar lines from online tab? May be a case of slavishly learning a sequence not really understanding how the song bolts together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigyin Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Thankyou for all the feedback there's certainly a lot to consider, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='thebigyin' timestamp='1392136994' post='2365193'] Hello, We're individully all experienced musicians.....but our Guitarist can't seem to play a full gig without making several mistakes......be it bum chords or forgetting song arrangement ect, upto now we've turned a blind eye but after a year together it's beggining to get a bit much.....would you bring it up? He's fully aware he's made the errors and thinks nothing of it, saying he's sorry but eh never mind.....bare in mind he's a very good friend but has quite a volatile temper lol.....at times his playing his very good but we've never got thro' a gig without some sort of Howler. [/quote] I have seen Rush many times since the early 80's.....Alex Lifeson has made at least one howler on each occasion! To err is human. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1392139685' post='2365243'] Don't practice till you get it right, practice till you don't get it wrong - there is a BIG difference. [/quote] That's what I keep telling one of the bands I play in, but I'm the only one saying it. They want to rush into a studio to record stuff but we rarely manage a song without some small glitch. Not such a big deal in a gig because the moment passes very quickly or doesn't get noticed, but if we're aiming for a perfect recording for posterity then it could cost us a small fortunes in a studio at the moment. I think I'm fighting a losing battle and it probably won't end well . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smcgvHacH0c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1392140958' post='2365264'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smcgvHacH0c[/media] [/quote] That's not a mistake. That's Feel! Edited February 11, 2014 by Mog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='Mog' timestamp='1392141043' post='2365266'] That's not a mistake. That's Feel! [/quote] I know how I'd feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Address it respectfully , if he goes nuts, or agrees but does not sort it then you cant do much more, then as with all relationships you decide if its worth the hassle or not to continue as is and if not assess your options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1392141189' post='2365270'] I know how I'd feel. [/quote] I imagine WaxL had similar feelings afterwards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Does he actually practice between gigs or is he so good he doesn't need to Our original bass player was so good he didn't need to practice between gigs so good in fact that he is now our ex bass player purely down to the number of mistakes he made every gig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 One word - acceptance. How many gigs have I played I wonder? Well over a thousand. In how many did I not make a mistake. Not a one. Happily, my experience has taught me how to deal with them and that's the best we can do. My band mates are the same - we carry on like nothing happened. Will the punters know ?? Well - they will if you react to your mistakes like you just saw a ghost. Otherwise they're never the sharpest tools in the box and probably won't know. Plus there's always the old trick of repeating the mistake on purpose in the next verse - that's jazzzzzzzzzz ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I don't think you can expect too much 'professionalism' from an amateur or semi-pro musician. Most of us have day jobs and can't devote untold hours to perfecting our input. There are standards to aspire to though and personally, I'd tell him he needs to pull his finger out a bit if his gaffs are that frequent or horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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