Trainwreck - Start over or plow through?

[GTRGUY005]

This happened to me recently. Started on the wrong chord and couldn't get back on track. I kept going and ended the song ASAP, but it wasn't pretty. If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

What's the consensus when playing in front of an audience?

[Silly Moustache]

It is best to get things right of course, but there are times when stopping apologising and restarting is best, and if managed correctly can warm the audience to you.

I think it has happened to most of us at one time.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

I might steal this for a lyric.

[rllink]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

This happened to me recently. Started on the wrong chord and couldn't get back on track. I kept going and ended the song ASAP, but it wasn't pretty. If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

I did that same thing with Wreck of the Old 97 last summer playing outdoors for a crowd of maybe a dozen people on lawn chairs that we were not paid to entertain. I started playing in one key and sang it in the other, realized what I was doing, tried to switch it up to the key I was singing and ended up somewhere in-between both keys. So thank you for posting this, it makes me feel like maybe I'm not the only one who has ever done that.

I plowed through to the end, hung my head and hoped everyone would just move on but there was silence. Then one of the older guys in our group just looked at me and said, "want to try it again." So I did. And it went better. So I don't think that is the answer to your question, it just depends on the circumstances, but that's my most recent experience with a complete and total train wreck. Afterwards everybody got a big laugh over my turning a song about a train wreck into a train wreck.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

This happened to me recently. Started on the wrong chord and couldn't get back on track. I kept going and ended the song ASAP, but it wasn't pretty. If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

What's the consensus when playing in front of an audience?

I saw Neil Young in concert way back in the 70s. He and the band had already started into "Heart of Gold" when he suddenly put both hands up and yelled "STOP!!!" real loud into the mic.
He had a grin on and told the audience he spared us. He had just realized he didn't have the right harmonica on for the song. It was in the wrong key!
So, take a page from Neil. Make good with the audience, and start quickly over.
No harm, no foul. All was forgiven.

[Charlie Bernstein]

No right answer. I usually just blunder ahead, but I'm lazy.

I remember seeing Ten Years After when I was a kid. There was one song ("I'm Going Home," maybe? "Little Miss Schoolgirl"?) That Alvin euthanized and restarted two or three times. But as I recall, it was well worth the wait.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

This happened to me recently. Started on the wrong chord and couldn't get back on track. I kept going and ended the song ASAP, but it wasn't pretty. If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

What's the consensus when playing in front of an audience?

I remember Adele restarting her song in the Grammys years ago.
If she can do it, we all can!

[Robin, Wales]

How about completely forgetting how a song starts!

I was playing with a scratch band for a local gig just before Christmas. We had only rehearsed this song once (the day before the gig) and I completely forgot how it started. So it was relax, deep breath and it came to me... "Train wreck" is very appropriate for this song!!!

[soma5]

I've re-started songs, but I've gone one better - I've started again with a completely different song that I figured I could deliver and regain my footing. That time I did the first song later in the evening.

[Mandobart]

Not a hard rule, but IMO we get about 3 to 4 bars grace during which we can stop and start over. After that, you bought it. Barring a real medical emergency, you gotta finish. Cut it short, morph to a different song, turn it into an instrumental, etc.

And never make excuses or apologize for your performance. It's ok to crack a joke. Little mistakes go unnoticed. Big ones are obvious - no need to belabor it. Always keep a pocketfull of good upbeat songs you know cold, without having to flip through a notebook or tablet and launch right in to clean up the mess.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Not a hard rule, but IMO we get about 3 to 4 bars grace during which we can stop and start over. After that, you bought it. Barring a real medical emergency, you gotta finish. Cut it short, morph to a different song, turn it into an instrumental, etc.

I feel the same. If it's right at the start, you get some slack. In the middle? Barrel on through. If you made it that far, there's also a much lower chance anyone will have noticed anyway.

[Nymuso]

I saw the original Association in 1970. They started Never My Love but stopped then restarted it because something was out of tune.

But I’m not the Association. If a song becomes a train wreck I can segue it into another song.

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Not a hard rule, but IMO we get about 3 to 4 bars grace during which we can stop and start over. After that, you bought it. Barring a real medical emergency, you gotta finish. Cut it short, morph to a different song, turn it into an instrumental, etc.

And never make excuses or apologize for your performance. It's ok to crack a joke. Little mistakes go unnoticed. Big ones are obvious - no need to belabor it. Always keep a pocketfull of good upbeat songs you know cold, without having to flip through a notebook or tablet and launch right in to clean up the mess.

That's what I do. If it's at the beginning I'll start over. In the middle I just forge ahead.

[strangebloom]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

This happened to me recently. Started on the wrong chord and couldn't get back on track. I kept going and ended the song ASAP, but it wasn't pretty. If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

What's the consensus when playing in front of an audience?

I have always done what you did... just play through. Most of the time the only one who notices is you.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

This happened to me recently. Started on the wrong chord and couldn't get back on track. I kept going and ended the song ASAP, but it wasn't pretty. If I could go back in time I would stop and start the song again.

What's the consensus when playing in front of an audience?

Hi GTR-etc
I don't know what the consensus is.

My practice is if I'm off track to stop, laugh, and make it right.

I saw a video of a Worship Team where the leader was capoed at the 3rd fret. He ended the song they were singing, and forgot to remove the capo.

He and the band started the next song in 2 different keys simultaneously and they plowed on for about a minute till it all ground to a halt…

It'd have been better if he'd simply stopped right up front and removed the capo (you could see by his face he knew it was off).

It was apparent the band wasn't going to shift keys to match him, and he wasn't capable (with the capo on) of matching them.

I find audiences (and congregations) forgiving.

Plowing through IS a quicker way toward becoming a YouTube sensation…you never know what audience member is recording and posting!!