Why can't I play songs perfectly every single time?
- Thread starter johmica
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NoTeleBob
Poster Extraordinaire
A practical tip: Play at night, just before you go to bed. The last thing you do before literally climbing in bed. Your brain will work on it overnight while you sleep.
Wooly Fox
Tele-Holic
I'm learning "Blackhole Sun" by Soundgarden at the moment. It's a basic song but certain aspects of it I know I'll never match (Kim Thayil's solo for example) so I play what fits and is in the pocket.
Being in the pocket is more important than getting the dynamics and notes exactly the same as the original.
Being in the pocket is more important than getting the dynamics and notes exactly the same as the original.
sax4blues
Poster Extraordinaire
I wonder how many, if any, top professional guitarists which we admire would be there if they followed TDPRI wisdom to just play whatever and don’t worry about perfect? Every interview I listen to has stories of how hard they worked to get things just right.
Stuart Smith said when he came to the Eagles he learned every guitar part, in the style of the original player, just to be sure he could cover.
Stuart Smith said when he came to the Eagles he learned every guitar part, in the style of the original player, just to be sure he could cover.
I think I make little mistakes EVERY time I play ANY song ( including one's I have played/sung 1000+ times at gigs)
AND this is compounding with age as:
1) I do think my body and mind are 'slopping downward'- so I gotta put in even more time and effort, just to keep things 'status quo'
2) I have played a heck of a lot of guitar ( styles) and learned a ton of songs over 45+ years, so, I'm constantly recalling songs and the guitar parts that go with them-
Some stick around in the repertoire, which is cool- but some are just brought back briefly, for special events, Holidays- and I'm always 'rusty' on these.
So I'm a paradox of being a really solid performer, who is always ****ing something up!
AND this is compounding with age as:
1) I do think my body and mind are 'slopping downward'- so I gotta put in even more time and effort, just to keep things 'status quo'
2) I have played a heck of a lot of guitar ( styles) and learned a ton of songs over 45+ years, so, I'm constantly recalling songs and the guitar parts that go with them-
Some stick around in the repertoire, which is cool- but some are just brought back briefly, for special events, Holidays- and I'm always 'rusty' on these.
So I'm a paradox of being a really solid performer, who is always ****ing something up!
You're probably trying to remember too many things.
SRHmusic
Friend of Leo's
Hey, that's a great point. With a lot of these things it's better to get the point where we're thinking of longer lines and phrases than individual notes. With jazz or any genre there are things that show up in more than one tune, but it takes getting familiar with more tunes or more by the same artist to see the connections. @johmica Maybe don't get too hung up on any one tune just yet, but assume you'll need to circle back after some time (like, even a year or two) of working on more things in this direction. Sometimes that does wonders.
SRHmusic
Friend of Leo's
@johmica A few more thoughts while we're at it, in no particular order.
I once read an interview with a top classical player that said it's easier to memorize pieces by starting at the end. Learn and play the last few bars. Then back up to add another few bars and play through the end, etc. until you get all the way back to the start. Then the song gets more familiar as you go, instead of the usual thing where we repeat from the beginning when we make a mistake.
Be able to sing the lines you're playing.
Figure out how the lines fit the underlying chords and try to see them as bigger, simpler things than a collection of notes, e.g. "this one starts on 3rd of A minor (C), and goes down through the C major/A nat. minor scale to the 5th of A minor (E)." It's less to remember - to @ndcaster 's point.
Once you recognize the intervals or scale degrees, you can try to play the lines in every position you can find. For this, you probably need to know your scales, and for the basic chord types the arpeggios and the basic triads and their inversions. (This is what I neglected for too long: applied theory like this. It makes a big difference. You had another thread on learning this stuff without theory, I think? This is where it helps.)
I once read an interview with a top classical player that said it's easier to memorize pieces by starting at the end. Learn and play the last few bars. Then back up to add another few bars and play through the end, etc. until you get all the way back to the start. Then the song gets more familiar as you go, instead of the usual thing where we repeat from the beginning when we make a mistake.
Be able to sing the lines you're playing.
Figure out how the lines fit the underlying chords and try to see them as bigger, simpler things than a collection of notes, e.g. "this one starts on 3rd of A minor (C), and goes down through the C major/A nat. minor scale to the 5th of A minor (E)." It's less to remember - to @ndcaster 's point.
Once you recognize the intervals or scale degrees, you can try to play the lines in every position you can find. For this, you probably need to know your scales, and for the basic chord types the arpeggios and the basic triads and their inversions. (This is what I neglected for too long: applied theory like this. It makes a big difference. You had another thread on learning this stuff without theory, I think? This is where it helps.)
fretknot
Tele-Meister
Give yourself permission to be imperfect. I've heard top level pros make mistakes at large events and that kind of thing makes them more endearing to me. They are just people, like the rest of us. I was at a Santana show and Carlos made an obvious error on a song he must've played thousands of times, but it didn't matter.
Join the club.
I just finished up a musical theater show, "Rock of Ages" where every night I had to play the exact Neal Schon solo in 'Don't Stop Believing'. It's not particularly hard and it's only 8 bars but I could not mess it up ... because EVERYONE knows it. A spotlight was on me and the entire cast gestures towards me. I absolutely practiced that until I couldn't get it wrong.
During rehearsals, the MD would occasionally throw a wad of paper at me to try and break my concentration. I never flinched.
There are times when you really do have to be perfect.
In music where improv is big component, i.e. jazz - not so much. You do though have to be competent, sure of yourself, and kind of aggressive.
*I know that some will take umbridge with that last bit but it's true. Good jazz improvisation is a bit sporting and competitive.
During rehearsals, the MD would occasionally throw a wad of paper at me to try and break my concentration. I never flinched.
There are times when you really do have to be perfect.
In music where improv is big component, i.e. jazz - not so much. You do though have to be competent, sure of yourself, and kind of aggressive.
*I know that some will take umbridge with that last bit but it's true. Good jazz improvisation is a bit sporting and competitive.
Charlie Bernstein
Doctor of Teleocity
No sympathy here. Been playing for over fifty years, and I haven't played a song perfectly yet.
And what the deal with perfect, anyway? Waitresses are always saying it to me:
Waitress: "May I get you something to drink?"
Me: "How about an iced tea?"
Waitress: "Perfect!"
In my experience, perfect is overrated and overpaid.
And what the deal with perfect, anyway? Waitresses are always saying it to me:
Waitress: "May I get you something to drink?"
Me: "How about an iced tea?"
Waitress: "Perfect!"
In my experience, perfect is overrated and overpaid.
Charlie Bernstein
Doctor of Teleocity
I don't. You shoulda played it for me.
For $256.00, I will!
On the other hand, he used to fine his musicians $5 when they made a mistake, so they probably asked themselves the same question as the OP
if the question is "why can't I produce an exact replica every time?" then we've been answering that
but is the question broader?
I'm learning a half-dozen new American songbook tunes for a singer and have downloaded ten versions of each song, such as:
Fever
Cry Me a River
Girl from Ipanema
Night and Day
I Won't Dance
Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
ten versions ... so what does playing each song perfectly mean, really?
I don't intend to mystify the question. I think it doesn't mean "make no mistakes," but rather that I can:
play the melody in multiple positions in case I have to play it myself or save her
keep the train running and never get lost in the song's harmony or form
play the changes in whatever key she sounds best in (which means at least one key focused around roots on the fifth string, and another with roots on the sixth string)
describe and help to express the essence of the song, even if we change its arrangement and feel
"the song" is more than its notes
but is the question broader?
I'm learning a half-dozen new American songbook tunes for a singer and have downloaded ten versions of each song, such as:
Fever
Cry Me a River
Girl from Ipanema
Night and Day
I Won't Dance
Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
ten versions ... so what does playing each song perfectly mean, really?
I don't intend to mystify the question. I think it doesn't mean "make no mistakes," but rather that I can:
play the melody in multiple positions in case I have to play it myself or save her
keep the train running and never get lost in the song's harmony or form
play the changes in whatever key she sounds best in (which means at least one key focused around roots on the fifth string, and another with roots on the sixth string)
describe and help to express the essence of the song, even if we change its arrangement and feel
"the song" is more than its notes
Diminished7
TDPRI Member
Well there's Tommy Emmanuel and then there's the rest of us. The pros know how the flub the right way. They just keep going like nothing happened or bring in a passing note per-se so it didn't sound so "off". That's the thing, don't stop and look at your guitar. Force yourself to play through.
Oh yeah and practice. If you are thinking about it then you aren't there yet, it should almost be a stream of consciousness thing when you really get a piece under your fingers.
Oh yeah and practice. If you are thinking about it then you aren't there yet, it should almost be a stream of consciousness thing when you really get a piece under your fingers.
I’ve been a working player for 50 years.
I have had great nights.
I can count them on one hand, though.
I gig a lot, too.
I’m calmer (older) now.
It makes me play better.
Really.
I have had great nights.
I can count them on one hand, though.
I gig a lot, too.
I’m calmer (older) now.
It makes me play better.
Really.
I believe it.
We can't learn or perform when we're in internal turmoil from fear or whatever.
The only way out is through.
Just do it till it goes away.
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