-I was HORRIFIED hearing my guitar tracks from our last gig! Check out all my lesson vids at: www.the-art-of-guitar.com Facebook: / fansoftheartofguitar / theartofguitar Thanks!!!
Playing for videos on RU-vid and taking just the best and cleanest and on-the-spot take is nothing compared going live. This is a GREAT video for everyone to hear and see. People should really appreciate your release of this video so they can see what RU-vid vs IRL really is for playing. Not many have a backbone like you have. Old school guys are old school guys apparently. I salute you, brother.
Do have to continue sligthly. Live also has to be live. Not just the same songs I played the same way sounding exactly the same as on record. That I can do at home on the couch. That's why I ain't into modern metal. So you miss a note? You play something 'wrong'? Those old jazz guys used to say 'if you play it wrong enough times it sounds right'. The whole live setting is about band on stage connecting with the audience. Is the audience having fun? That is EVERYTHING. That is all. Those people come to the next gig, they tell about you to their friends, they listen to your releases and so on and so on.
Seconding this comment! You said it like it is @MaestorRasanen. When I'm sitting here in front of Logic I can clearly hear the metronome ticks, I get multiple takes and patch then often. (Often I still don't sound as good as your live version, Mike, but that's for me to practice more lol). In any case, this is a controlled environment I can go back and do what I want. If you can CTRL+Z, then it's not really the same as performing. Playing live is a different game, the drummer will have a swing even when playing with a tick, bass will have to find a pocket on a somewhat moving target, and that will vary, so the guitar will also need to respond. Even if it was a drum machine, the string players would still have a swing. This is natural and of course results in missing notes, harmonic pinches not sounding sometimes, bends going a bit sharp or flat, etc... We just gotta channel our inner Bob Ross and embrace those things are "happy little accidents"! Most often the music actually sounds better or more energetic live because of those happy accidents. It will certainly sound more human and less robotic. Last year and this year I was playing live with a band and if I could get 90% of my parts right I would feel pretty happy about myself! And that's my perception of that 90%, if recorded and listened to in isolation it would probably be more like 50% 😁! But that's ok! As long as it sounds cohesive with the band and works in the mix in the context of the show being played, you're good!
Dude... Playing live, individually, we're only as good as our worst practice session. I learned that a long time ago and took a lot of pressure off. Doesn't mean it's okay be complacent or lazy, just know that in the excitement of a live performance, we get squirrelly. Good to analyze but don't beat yourself up! Cheers!
@@davidhan635 Short answer: It seems not. Slightly less short answer: Much like that one Voltaire "quote", it seems to be in line with what he thought but expressed by someone else. Apparently, one of his pupils (Ferdinand Ries) has described how he was fine with technical mistakes but would get angry when the expression wasn't right.
After years of trying to nail perfect shows, I've realized something cool. Unless it's a total trainwreck, the crowd doesn't care about our slip-ups. I've had folks praise me for a song even when I messed up. Striving for perfection is nice, but let's not beat ourselves up over it. Only us musicians notice the imperfections. Here's to enjoying the music without sweating the small stuff!
I had a drummer once that would count everybody's mistakes. I finally said, ok, next show, we will all sit on bar stools and nail it. No running around, no interacting with the audience. Of course didn't do that but the point is, there will never be a perfect show (not wise) if you are entertaining as well. ANd like you, I've totally butchered a solo and had people say how bad ass that solo was. And there I was kicking myself. Play for the 99% casual fans. Not the 1 guitarist in the back that is critiquing everything. (All this said, try to be as precise as possible younguns, but understand if you are entertaining the crowd and putting on a show, you probably will flub up some.)
This brings back memories! I played a gig with a cover band once, since their regular guitarist had quit. I had practiced A LOT before, well... except the solos (I'm not a solo guitarist). I knew the riffs but not the solos, so I mostly improved some sh*t to fill out some of the empty spaces. It sounded like balls to me - I'm my own worst critic - but apparently people liked it, they told me afterwards. That just goes to say... people are weird.
Yep somebody told me this when i was a kid and first started gigging, the audience is 99% not musicians, they do not notice even major mistakes, just do no stop playing, ever, and they wont notice.
I'll guarantee you that 99.9% of the audience didn't notice and still thought you sounded awesome 😂. That's the beauty of it man. The average person is just psyched to hear us even if we know we're screwing up.
probably because alot of what you do as an artist or gutarist, is train your ears. you train them for playing on time signature/metronome, and the notes of whatever scale you plan to play in. having trained your ears for so many years will cause you to notice a minor mistake more commonly then somebody whos drunk and just there to head bob. I mean i guess you can technically say your training your ears when listening to music as a fan, but really it's much less intense because you aren't applying that to something like playing the Guitar, or Singing; It takes alot more focus and time to train yourself in that sense obviously.
As amateur musicians we are always much more critical on ourselves than others ever are. We know what we CAN pull off but doing the same thing live is a whole different story.
About 10% of the audience or more are musicians... But, unless they are stuck up aholes, they also understand the reality. All that matters is if you and the audience is having fun. I sound engineer in a local rock club, some of the sloppiest bands are some of the best acts. But.. i do have to say that there is a correlation, above certain technical threshold it does sound better and audience will get on board MUCH easier when every note hits them just right.
Dude. It's literally all about how it sounds in the mix with live recordings. That's what makes it feel exciting and raw. The studio is for perfection, the stage is for energy and connection. Your performance sounded awesome.
I once played a gig and a string snapped during the final song. I bluffed my way through the solo at the end, when I got off stage it turned out that NOBODY NOTICED and they all thought it was great. Audiences mostly aren't musicians and often don't pick up on the things that musicians agonise over. Playing live is about projecting passion, that's what the average audience member responds to. They don't care about the details that you do.
Metal gigs are a bit different... the audience has quite a lot of musicians.. Depends on the exact scene, but those musicians usually do understand that having fun is still most important, they understand punk.
The funniest thing to me is that often even other musicians won‘t notice the slight slip ups. If they are looking for mistakes, sure. But if they are invested in the show, unless you‘re actually missing more important parts consistently there are few people who will notice. Small slip ups often even go past your own band if it doesn‘t affect the rythm.
Man, we're not machines. It's not about everyone playing perfectly, it's about how you deal with mistakes and keep going. Yesterday I was at one local band's show. I noticed a couple mistakes the guitarist made, but he got through it, and I believe nobody even noticed. The overall vibe of the concert was great! And if I wasn't playing in my band for a while I wouldn't have noticed any mistakes either!
I really like when good musicians share their fails stories. Not because I want to see them fail but because it shows that even them are imperfect and I should not beat myself for comitting mistakes.
Watching the game tapes is important. You SOLD IT, though. That's the important part in a live performance. We didn't know it was "wrong" until you told us.
I use custom IEM's on stage and have been using them for the last year now - the difference in what you hear is crazy. Definitely affects how you play live, and its way more difficult - because you're more aware of the clarity of what you're playing, but also trying to keep the 'feel' of playing live and the different atmospheres of each gig. It's tough, but you've gotta enjoy playing live and not worry too much about the odd mistake, or part you only nailed like 80% that the crowd probably wouldn't ever notice anyway!
Because he has passion man, people dont care about small mistakes, its live music bro and also you're harshly exaggerating how much he messes up, occasionally in solos he hits bum notes but never messes up riffs and stuff.@@rockapartie
I've always been a home player so I have no concert stories to tell. I dig the fact that you're willing to be really open about your playing- warts and all. A lot of RU-vid guitar personalities don't open up like that. Great video.👍
In a curated world of “perfect” performances it’s refreshing to see someone with such an honest take. Way to lay it out there and be vulnerable. Makes me feel like it’s not just me! So thank you. It’s inspiring!
I fell of a drum riser in the middle of a song...luckily it was during a pause and I had just enough time to jump back on stage and finish the fill like nothing ever happened. Epic learning experience...don't put your drum stool a couple inches from the edge of the stage. Lol
You are so honest and open about yourself. That humble, down-to-earth attitude shines through in your lessons, which I am enjoying immensely. The learning never stops.
Thank you sharing this. There's not a lot of RU-vid guitar players that would put their fails out there. You're one of the realest guitar players on RU-vid. I've been watching you for years and I appreciate all the free education you've put out there for the world to enjoy.
I told my girlfriend the secret to playing fast. When playing insanely fast... make sure you hit the first and the last note correctly. Everything in between is a distorted blur. Especially if the crowd has been drinking a few. They won't notice. But you missed the first note!! I do it all the time too.
I absolutely love how real you are Mike. Yes ! i have definitely cringed when I've listened again to myself, particularly when soloed out, when it sounds fine with the other tracks or players, I discovered this big time just lately. But I also agree so much with you, to improve, I like to pick out where I've gone wrong and you have to listen back to do this, i believe it's fundamental and practised by anyone who seeks greatness in anything and we need to hear really what others are hearing from us. Also helps to be reminded how overdubbed/autotuned so much of what we listen to is when we are comparing. It is painful sharing our embarrassments but if you can, it's inspirational to me. Thankyou again Mike for an honest review of yourself, as an incredibly talented guitarist as you are, you remain so humble, sets you apart in my opinion and a really nice personal quality in all the noise out there.
Hey Mike, we multitrack record all of our shows and this happens to me every time! Working on trying to not let it overshadow the great times at the gigs and how into it the crowds were. It's easy to be overcrital and to hyper-analyze the recordings, when in reality - the crowd loved it and the band had a blast. Thanks for the video!
For some reason I feel more relaxed and in the pocket while on stage. While prepping set lists during practice everything gets picked at...no pun intended. Great upload.🤘
You're so right about the "flow" of some parts. It's one of the problems with muscle memory. If it gets derailed, you have not been practising "how to get back on track" from a trip up so there's nothing to fall back on. You can play these impressive parts because you don't think about them, your hands just do it from countless hours of practice. We generally put little to no practice in about recovering quickly from a slip up, playing under pressure or in an odd position. Instead, we jump onstage and just hope for the best! The bright side is, most music sounds a little bit better if it's not 100% perfect. A little looseness can bring the feeling of danger and energy. Love your videos, man. You always come up with great and creative topics and seem like a decent dude in general.
I wouldn't worry about it! Barely notice sitting in the live mix. But good on you for picking it apart to improve yourself! One again like you said its one thing to be sitting in your room playing and a whole different world up on stage.
Long time musician here. My advice to gigging novices is to practice while in the position you will be in while performing. That is if you are going to be sitting on a chair at the performance, practice sitting in a chair. If standing, practice standing. Get nervous when a spotlight is in your face, yes, as funny as this sounds, practice with a light shinning in your face. Practice in the dark. Do anything to get over the butterflies while you practice and to reinforce your body playing position. I had the spotlight stage fright pretty bad so I set up our practice space with spotlights in all of our faces. I think it only took me a couple of practices and now no stage fright at all. Now we practice in a room lit only by black light mostly because it just looks cool but there are some pretty dark venues out there!
This was a good honest video, and you earned my Subscription today. It takes guts, to do what you did here. We are often our own worst critic. However, you were honest about your performance, and it drove you to become better. You can’t ask more than that. Great solo too!!!! 🤘🎸🤘
Good video. Thank you, Mike. The same is true of martial arts. If you have ever videoed yourself, it can be quite painful going back and watching yourself, but its a very good learning experience.
That whole solo sequence was well put together. You guys sound tight! Dude even Satriani and Govan and Paul Gilbert flub stuff. The beauty of it is it shows our humanity and its show business floating by
I agree that watching or listening to gig and rehearsal recordings is increadibly useful, both for improving everyone's individual performances and just generally getting tighter as a band. I generally have the opposite experience you are describing here. I'm pretty critical of my playing in the moment -- I know exactly what I'm trying to do, so I notice every imperfection no matter how trivial it might actually be. But when I listen back afterwards, it is almost always better than I thought while I was performing -- the mistakes are there, but they are usually smaller and less consequential than they seem at the time. That realization has helped me to play with more confidence on stage and not let the inevitable imperfections undermine my performance. Afterwards, I dig into the problem areas during practice and rehearsal to try to do it better the next time, but I don't worry about them as much in the moment.
Great video. I appreciate the transparency. It's a horrible feeling when you realize you aren't killing it but instead, you are shitting the bed. I just had this happen to me recently as well. It's quite disappointing and shocking.
It’s this kinda mentality that has lead to so many bands using backing tracks, that quest for perfection when music , especially rock / metal, isn’t really about being perfect it’s about the vibe and energy of live music. In that moment no one would notice a few slipped notes. The energy was great.
I’ve had some terrible mental health as a result of examining my live recordings. It’s taken me beyond imposter syndrome. I’ve felt like a complete fraud and that I don’t deserve to assert myself as a shred guitar player. Seeing a professional relate to the cringe and misery of putting a sloppy solo under the microscope and then go so far as to show it to everyone is so sincere, refreshing, and just the encouragement that I needed. Even our heroes have these moments, we just rarely get to observe or notice. Most wouldn’t dare put them on display even though it would probably benefit a lot of people. Thank you for this. Very glad the RU-vid algorithm put you back on my feed today.
That took a lot of guts. If I wasn’t already a subscriber, I would be now. But keep in mind, at a live show, no one else is hyper focused either, so don’t let anxiety over perfection take control. Rock out with your clock out and enjoy the stage time, my friends.
Like people already commented, the solo however precise you wanted it to be, sounded incredible with the rest of your band doing their thing. You still nailed the sound and feel. I know feel isn't really a thing if you don't know how to play, but you do and you were making up for your mistakes pretty quickly.
Man, can't believe you did this. It's so hard. Playing live is about attitude. I played a song this weekend and the sound was just off and mics not working. Just powered through screaming rather than singing. But all had a good time, even got compliments. The video, however, does not lie. lol. Rock on!
I feel that a few drinks is honestly my limit if I wanna be happy with my playing. Any more and my fine motor skills go out the window. However, a lil slop and loosey goosey makes the live feel for me. I feel like the studio is the place for perfection but live, it’s about the energy and vibes. I love your willingness to analyze your own music and talk on where you feel improvement is needed. Super big cheerz from ya boi in Wisconsin!!!!!
It doesn’t pay to put the microscope on your live performances. You nailed it at the end, everyone was into it and the band had fun but guitarist are such perfectionist.
Eh, there's a line between accepting that you'll make occasional mistakes, and accepting that you're being sloppy. If you're being sloppy, it does pay to take the ego hit and scrutinize what you're doing wrong so you stop doing it. Example here from OP shows sloppiness. He didn't just miss a note or two, he straight up garbled the whole solo.
So cool and honest video you made. I makes me feel that I'm not alone in this hahah. I can relate to almost everything you explain. And like you said. This happens to a lot of musicians.
Man you guys have some really good songs . Shows how tough it is to make it big as a band because everything from Sanctus I've seen you post here is really good . I'm in a band playing bass , guitar is my first instrument but hey no one wants to play bass so I volunteered lol . Anyway we've only had a couple live gigs so far so not much to go on but we recorded the last one . We had a great time and people were into it and it did go well , but yeah listening back exposed plenty of mistakes and things we wished we had done better . Thankfully I think most of the audience at a gig really don't notice these things , at least hopefully they don't lol .
Another amazing video as always Mike. I’m a drummer, and I had all my recitals recorded as well, and I don’t like how they sound either, mostly due to me looking more rigid and not as relaxed as I play drums now. Also, love the guitar you’re holding, it’s pretty much the exact thing that Trivium’s Corey Beaulieu uses. I really like you to make an artist series video about my favourite heavy metal band Trivium. Keep up the great work all around.
The crowd's reaction is the most important! We've done shows where everybody made mistakes and afterwards people were like "That was the best show you've ever done!". Playing live is all about the atmosphere and having fun basically.
Congrats on 842k Subscribers! 🤘🏻🔥 I thought you sounded awesome in the videos that were recorded of the performance. I loved watching those, could really feel the energy from it and the audience looked like they were enjoying it. I can't even imagine how many times I'm gonna screw up the first time I get on a stage, but I guess it'll be a baptism of fire haha 😂 That Family of One solo sounds killer. Just think of what Kurt Cobain did on the Unplugged performance where he messed up and had to slide to the right note, ended up making the performance. I can't wait to hear the full Family of One song 🤘🏻🔥 What you say at the end about going back to look at your playing. I need to do that more, especially with the video I put up of me playing the Soul Asylum song Got It Pretty Good. I only watched it back a few times right after I recorded it to check it recorded okay sound wise. I need to go back and watch it again. I need to get comfortable watching myself play.
Thanks gor sharing this Mike. I practice for gigs standing up, not sitting on the couch. Also to a click only, not even the track playing, so I can really hear only me. Record it too, this will really show you what you need to work on. Also practice your moves, choreograph them out. This process is terrible, but it will make you stronger! If you do it for 2 or 3 weeks improvement will happen. Better to sound bad in private and work it out there.
I remember playing an open mic night at a local bar. We did Crazy Train, and in the moment, I thought I nailed it. It still sounded pretty good, but going back, I noticed a few parts I flubbed, I was very shocked. Thanks for sharing this, Mike!
i love your videos... you are such an inspiration. i started playing about nine months ago at 50 years old...its not easy but man is it fun... i got a 200 dollar epiphone les paul but it is so uncomfortable... someday im gonna get a V
I would love to hear stories of my favorite artists having this moment and hearing isolated tracks from bands like Megadeth and stuff to see if this happens more than I'd guess. Also this concept makes for a great interview question!
Going back and listening to live performances or even old recordings of yourself is often a doozy. You learned from it though and that's what counts. Sounds awesome to me, mistakes or not. People are still happy to hear you live.
Nobody's perfect. U rock. Sounds good. Performing and growing, evolving, as we all go. I use this technique often. I'm of 2 minds. 1- live, mistakes included, create imo, a raw personal experience. I reliah it. No 2 shows r the same. 2- sometimes my mistakes r soooo good I can create a new solo or new song using it, or modify what I originally intended. I LOVE this. Keep up the great work
I have this experience a lot - and I am a drummer, by the way, and the one who does a lot of the recording of our bands live. I do find, when recording live and playing it all back together as a stereo track, that the effects, the other instruments, even some of the crowd noise if you have that in there, does "cover" a lot of "mistakes". So then when you listen to the whole thing as if you were there, you sometimes get a "hey that sounded pretty good" - but when you solo just your part only and delete the rest, yup, you start to hear "all" the missed steps. This is especially true if your track is raw and unprocessed. The more interesting thing, though, is talking to those who were in the crowd: they can hear a "completely" different take than the one being recorded: "man, that was great - you NAILED it!!!!".. etc. I think there's an atmosphere that is created that is greater than the sum of its parts at live performances. That's my experiences and my two bits.
Unless someone has the ability to single out your track live, then I could see why youd freak out but you sound awesome dude! I will say, thank you for sharing your vulnerability, because a lot of us musicians can relate to this so much.
I played live for the first time around the end of may this year. The band playing at the restaurant we were at wanted me to come up and play Panama. I never played with a band before and I couldn’t keep track well and I messed up the solo. But it was still a great experience.
That’s exactly it! Nobody noticed! I’ve had the same experience many times in my teens and twenties playing live. We recorded everything we could and some of those recordings were even worse than embarrassing but what’s usually missing on those recordings is the vibe of the audience and that makes half of your performance. Try hanging one or two mics above the audience next time, it makes all the difference
I had a much worse experience. Sadly it became the last show I ever played because I was so embarrassed even though it wasn’t entirely my fault. The sound guy was out of his mind or inexperienced but nothing I can do or say did he make the levels right. And there were about maybe 300 people there. I couldn’t hear the drums, other guitarist or bass so I felt like I was standing in the middle of a crowd of doing a solo. I kept turning around to look at my drummer just to predict where he was and the rhythm of his arms. Nothing was helping. I was panicking and although I knew the songs perfectly and was just hoping I was playing along with everyone, my hand kept cramping up and then I started overcompensating by adding random extra meaningless flourishes. We were opening and played about 30 min and it was recorded, not only audio, but multi cam video as it was also broadcast to a local college. I was so depressed after the show but I received everything. About 3 weeks later, I got the courage to try to listen to the audio. I got about 3 or 4 min in and I couldn’t take it anymore, I was so embarrassed. Never tried watching the video. I hung up my guitar and never played a show again. It’s been 20+ years and I still never listened to that show or any of our recordings again. Being in bands was a lot of fun but now it’s too much of a painful memory.
It's so great and brave of you to put out a video of yourself under the microscope. It shows that even the best of players aren't perfect and many "live" albums are fixed later in the studio... In my experience many times I get more compliments when playing a show that wasn't perfect in execution than when you play what you consider was a "perfect" gig 🤷♂️
I’m getting one of these Jackson’s this weekend. Same color too . Sick guitar. But I think it sound fine . Live you want to focus more on movement and performance . I think playing to perfection can take a back seat for the sake of putting on a good show
again with the honest critiquing. not sure how well I would feel about doing this but I know it would definitely make me a better player. you have a very discerning ear. thanks for posting.
In practice for some gigs we got in the habit of recording the sessions. Looking back at the was bloody painful but helped us focus on the areas we needed to improve.
Kudos to you shining a light on this when easily you could have a big ego and find a reason to not show this side of your performance. I respect it. Subscribed
It does make me feel better... I've suffered this depression too... playing live no matter how experienced you are is just a different beast... so easy to make a botch job.
Playing clean live is HARD. Really hard. As previous commentors already mentioned, it's a world of difference between studio or home recording, where you can get as ergonomic and comfy as possible and do as many re-takes as needed and then all the editing after. I will say that your live solo, although sure had some mistakes, actually sounded good with the rest of the band. I kind of like the imperfections that happen with live performances. The feel was on point and an errant note here or there didn't hamper that, and you definitely had the passion up there. So yeah, this was a great video man. Lastly, your singer sounds so much like the old Iced Earth singer!
You should make a video on how we tend to be to hard on ourselves live. You’re not sitting down, you’re giving a show AND playing at the same time. The live performance sounds pretty Allright to me! The other thing I’d say, and you said it, that first note… when sometime like that happens and you’re an overthinker it’s hard to get in the zone again after that.
Thats how you get better I'd imagine-by knowing your limitations and working through them. I've actually just started recording my playing w an audio interface and listening to my mistakes and weak points so I can hopefully overcome them. Great video btw! Love your channel! @@TheArtofGuitar
Great video and as someone just learning eGuitar, Sytnth keys and music design I prefer it when I just jam out then use a tab... Honeslt it just more fun and sounds better I think.
Hey great series. I really get it. Now I’m not a guitarist by any means . I have been playing about a year ( I have several videos posted here on YT) but before I was playing piano . It sounded good while I was playing but the recordings I have posted don’t sound good to me at all. Even the guitar videos I have posted sounded “ok” through a Roland mixer but when I play it through an amp with backing track just sounds very different. There’s a lot for me to learn lol!
Hey Mike, I remember reading a Dime interview from a long time ago and him talking about the importance of practicing standing up. The quote was along the lines of "you don't go to war sitting down." I would suggest you play more when standing instead of sitting on the couch.
You’re really hard on yourself- & that speaks volumes for you AS a musician, bro. May I suggest that when you rehearse for these shows- do it standing up. You’re not gonna be sitting down when you play. ESP, with a RR V. Sitting down with the V even though you have your strap pretty much where it would be in both positions, a little bit of rest on that thigh changes everything. Thanks for always bringing honest content and again- I promised no one noticed-it still sounded badass in the mix🤘🏻
I'll run through the set standing up and going through any patch changes on my fractal, trying to simulate live as much as possible, it's helped take out the variables i have some control over. It helps quite a bit, but i've had plenty of those board mixes haha
The Biggest adjustment when playing live, isn't nerves or pressure. That shit is gone by the first chorus. The thing that screws soooo many people up, is that they sit down to practice for something they'll be doing standing up
