Playing without mistakes?

Hi sweet-chan,

I'm one of those lucky beginners who never actually makes a mistake. :D However anything I've ever played always contains one or all of the following:

Unexpected note re-arrangements and musical re-interpretations. 8)

Audacious tonal variations :?

Vividly unusual structural experimentations. :shock:

Sudden improvisations. :o

And an astonishing range of Spontaneous Sonic Surprises. :wink:

Personally I see it as a sort of gift really….. every attempt is unique and different.

Seriously though, what sort of “mistakes” are you talking about? Hitting the wrong notes through forgetting the piece, failing to hit the right spots, or what? “Mistakes” covers a lot of territory (at least it does with me). Can you be more specific? Memory, finger placement. technique or what?

I'm glad I read this post before leaving for work. That is, if I can stop laughing I will leave for work.. Maybe I should stay home and and work on my own unintention musical transposition of notes and timing.

Hi Sweet-Chan

Welcome to GN

If it was not for mistakes I would have no musical style of my own :lol: . I honestly believe that mistakes will always happen unless you are one of the exceptional talents and I think they make mistakes also. Why else would songs sound different each time they are played live. If you miss a chord here and there or a strum no one will notice. It's just those real flubs and chunks that stand out.

Chris

Your outline clearly defined my musical style :lol:

LMAO at Chris C....

"I'm one of those lucky beginners who never actually makes a mistake. However anything I've ever played always contains one or all of the following:

Unexpected note re-arrangements and musical re-interpretations.

Audacious tonal variations

Vividly unusual structural experimentations.

Sudden improvisations. "

And an astonishing range of Spontaneous Sonic Surprises."

Summed it up perfectly....the one thing you forgot, Chris, was that amazing chord you hit purely by accident and can never ever ever find again....

:D :D :D

Vic

Chris C, that was one of the funniest things I've read in a while.

I too am perfect like you, but constantly improvising. Sometimes I even decide a verse would sound better if I sang the first verse again, spur of the moment. :D

Chris, I loved that :D

Remember, a mistake is just an unwanted result.

Famous players make mistakes, too, and some of them leave them on the recordings. People laboriously copy Eric Clapton's and Jimi Hendrix's mistakes.

It depends on the style of music you play.

Playing the guitar is partly art, and partly craft. The 'art' part is about expression, entertainment, and creativity. The 'craft' part is about getting the notes right.

As everyone has noted, 'mistakes' are a part of improvisational style - I like Thelonius Monk's take on it... "if a note ain't right when I start it, it's right when I'm done with it"

On the other hand, classical music, and certain performance areas like jingles demand a much higher level of perfection. When you go to a sympony performance, you've got about a hundred musicians playing perhaps 10,000 notes each per night - a million notes in total - and most nights won't have a single 'mistake'.

So figure out the level of perfection that's appropriate to you. You'll probably want to be playing the right chords, and at least approximating the melody, no matter what style you do. If you can't do that, slow it down until you can, then speed it back up.

If you've got the notes and chords mostly right, the next step is getting them to happen at the right times. Metronome work helps with this.

At higher levels of craft, like classical music, you'll want the dynamics and phrasing to be the same each time you play. That takes real dedication in your practice... playing the same thing over and over, aiming for the same tone each time. You probably won't want to work on that until you've fixed accuracy and timing flaws, and most guitarists will never really work on it.

A couple years ago I overheard Dale Clevinger, one of the world's greatest French horn virtuosi, tell somebody he has never had a perfect performance. I've heard Dale play dozens of times, and I've never heard a mistake. What's acceptable to him as a performer is different from what I ask as a listener.... and what he strives for as a performer is what makes him a virtuoso.

There's one key to better performance, though, no matter what your style or level: Play it like you mean it! A performance by Hendrix or Monk that's loaded with notes they didn't intend works because it's played with conviction... and a timid performance that's got every note probably won't sound as good.

LMAO@Chris_C

i move that Chris_C be awarded "Full Member" status with all privileges based on that one post reply alone :lol:

seriously tho if you were perfect and never made a mistake life/music would get boring awful quick eh?

i can't think of anything to add that hasn't already been said save for this;
if what you mean is that you are frustrated with your performance level then you are in good company, every musician/plunker i have ever known has felt the same way about their performance.

as my Sifu used to say; "if you think you are doing perfect then it's time to quit" :wink:

:lol: :lol: :lol:
thats classic

im put in my sig!

Hahahaha... You've got some wicked pressure on your next post Chris_C. I'll sure be waithing for it :D

One of the best guitarists I know says: "They're all passing tones..."

We have an old saying in the IT Industry "It's not an error, it's feature"

Take what Felonoius Monk said to heart.

Thank you guys for the advice!