#1
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Trainwreck - Start over or plow through?
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? |
#2
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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.
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#3
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I might steal this for a lyric.
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#4
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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.
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Please don't take me too seriously, I don't. Taylor GS Mini Mahogany. Guild D-20 Gretsch Streamliner Morgan Monroe MNB-1w https://www.minnesotabluegrass.org/ |
#5
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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.
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Best regards, Andre Golf is pretty simple. It's just not that easy. - Paul Azinger "It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so." – Mark Twain http://www.youtube.com/user/Gitfiddlemann |
#6
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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. |
#7
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If she can do it, we all can!
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-Gordon 1978 Larrivee L-26 cutaway 1988 Larrivee L-28 cutaway 2006 Larrivee L03-R 2009 Larrivee LV03-R 2016 Irvin SJ cutaway 2020 Irvin SJ cutaway (build thread) K+K, Dazzo, Schatten/ToneDexter Notable Journey website Facebook page Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. - Leonardo Da Vinci |
#8
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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!!!
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I'm learning to flatpick and fingerpick guitar to accompany songs. I've played and studied traditional noter/drone mountain dulcimer for many years. And I used to play dobro in a bluegrass band. |
#9
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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.
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#10
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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. |
#11
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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.
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#12
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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.
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Some Acoustic Videos |
#13
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#14
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#15
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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!! |