MADE A MISTAKE?? MOVE ON!!!

[Ken Byng]

I was surprised at one or two of the players over the SoESTF weekend who were beating themselves up on stage if they made a boo boo or forgot where they were in the song.

Every man jack of us made a mistake of some kind. It's live folks. I've seen Buddy Emmons make a mistake, let out an ironic laugh and then forget about it and move on in a millisecond, and he was the best there has ever been. Likewise I have seen Lloyd and Paul F too make mistakes on live shows. Sometimes a mistake is quickly forgotten if you don't draw the audience's attention to it. We're humans, not robots and I think those people who are in the audience at steel shows know only too well the pressures that we put on ourselves when we play in front of them.

[Will C]

Great advice, Ken, I think I'd need to take it, altho' the problem can be that you lose your way in the backing track. But yes, of course, learning the backing track is part of the preparation time we need to put in. As time goes by we not only get better at playing, we get better at "fronting out" those blooper moments.

[Willie Gamble]

Will and Ken, how right you are, welcome to my world Will, as Mr Bing will verify, my playing is a series of bum notes interspersed with the odd right ones.
In my humble experience the odd mistake can lead to a very pleasant discovery

Asleep at the steel

[hickenjr]

I love one of Franklin's live performances where he goes out totally and says "oh and starts laughing".
Want a perfect recording? Go to a studio.
Want some great fun and a buzz? Go play a steel show (mistakes included).

Footballers miss sitters that are far easier to score, *my nan could have tucked that away*, than playing a steel guitar. They on the other hand are expected to pick themselves up in front of 30,000 angry fans and another large section of laughing and banterous away fans to score on the next attempt. (Yes, I put ous on banter).

Make a mistake? Fix it with a worldy bar slant. They do say a bar slant is the steel player equivalent of a 2 footed tackle...I love both.

Cheers lads.

The Ninja... Ninja Hicken

[Ken Byng]

Good observations Steven.

3 or 4 years ago, Paul Franklin was at the Dallas Show and ran a seminar during the day and had a live slot on stage in the evening. He had a go at Night Life during his set, but very shortly into the number he just completely lost it. He blamed the fact that his brain was addled from several hours worth of live tuition, and I can understand where he was coming from. It was definitely not good preparation for a live set full of complex and challenging material, even for someone who is as great a player as PF.

Because the steel guitar is all about co-ordination, I think that a short warm-up away from the stage at a steel show is really helpful in getting the fingers loosened up. A green room or practise area is ideal. Preparation is key - a significant amount of pre-show woodshedding will ensure that your confidence levels are reasonably high. If you don't put seat time in, you can't bluff your way through a show unless you are an exceptionally good player.

Crib sheets of notes can be useful if you are playing to tracks, to give a reminder of the format of each number in terms of intros, verses, choruses, bridges and endings etc. Band In A Box is great for being out able to print out a fakebook facsimile of each number.

Try not to beat yourself up if you make a faux pas during your performance. It can just put added pressure on the rest of your set, and pressure can transfer from the brain to the hands and feet in the form of tension.

[dessa]

Well said Kenny. We all make them, I've lost count!! At the end of the day they are history and a learning curve. I remember having to restart "Farewell Party" for Gene when I made a complete a**e of the intro!...was he he bothered? Nope, he just laughed with me

[Dave Kirk]

Whenever I play at Steel Festivals and the like, I always do my best to rehearse plenty of mistakes just in case the audience think I am too good a player. Now that’s my excuse and I am sticking to it!

[mick hearn]

I would like to thank Will C for his comment on Facebook - 'he was the only one who did not make a mistake'. In truth I made several compared to how I had rehearsed but I was able to cover them up - even though I was S******g a brick. My daughter Kay and I have done several gigs together both country and 50's/60's. If I cock up she laughs out loud and we make a thing of it. The audience love it so long as its not all night.

[SHAKEY]

Well I'm surprised JD hasn't piped up here, he is the self confessed king of bum notes. I remember seeing Paul Franklin restart a number 3 times at the Newbury festival and Russ Hicks also, so yes of course everyone makes a boo boo now and then and I reckon the only people that notice are other steel players. 99.9% of Joe public wouldn't have a clue, so as Buddy said "make a bummer cover with a harmonic." Best advice ever in my opinion.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Well I'm surprised JD hasn't piped up here, he is the self confessed king of bum notes.

Guilty as charged David, but the crown does not sit there easily, tis only the thick skin and the brass neck that keeps it up there......