I guess you could call this video "The Man Who Sold the SOLO." I thought that was pretty clever, haha. Check out all my lessons at: www.the-art-of-guitar.com Patreon: www.patreon.com/theartofguitar
@@McCready12 actually he did. July 22nd 1986, second night of the St Louis, Mo shows with Sammy Hagar on the 5150 tour. He was doing his solo , sat down on the edge of the stage and lit a cigarette, told Alex hold up, let me try this again. I don't remember what he was playing at the time, but it made him seem like a mere mortal that night. I've always remembered this. Even Ed screwed up from time to time.
Whenever you make a mistake, you need to stop. Then tell the audience “I made a musical boo-boo” Then take a really long time to start up again, sipping the beer on the mic
true. its just his style, unintentionally muting strings or hitting strings that should have been muted etc it goes well with his voice cracking. i dont think this is intentional but it just works because its a recurring theme and his overall composition and rythm carries his music anyway
First time I listened to this son I thought that little note what’s not only intentional, but rocked so hard. I’ll always turn it up for that solo it’s just so special and raw. Makes me cry. They’re cover of this song will forever be elite in my vision. Rip Kurt
I actually play this song live, and I've been purposefully playing the "mistake" that Cobain made all along. I had no clue! I actually think it fits the song well, since so many people know the Nirvana version and are attuned to those specific notes in the solo.
My band teacher always told us that if you make a mistake, play through it because time keeps moving, and never do anything that'll telegraph to the audience that you made a mistake. It was good advice then, and it's good advice now. Thanks Mike!
Kurt was never, ever a truly great player. Kids at my school were literally buying acoustic guitars, and having their entire discography down perfectly after a few weeks! It's on a level with Oasis as far as complexity is concerned. I am a huge fan of both bands, though, so don't take this as me knocking the man.
I never considered this a mistake but I guess it was now that I look back. The way he resolved it sounds great and that’s all that really matters. Great video
@@mtvssanctuary9652 When I was looking at guitar tabs years ago, people would always have the chords down correctly, but inevitably there would be these little asides where they'd say something like: "I'm not sure how he made the noise heard here." He was very expressive, and NIRVANA's music was always a nice marriage of dissonance and melody because Kurt needed to find other ways to emote that went beyond the limits of the chords he knew. He knew how to manipulate noise and shape it into something musical, and you can't really teach that.
Man, actually Kurt used a lot of chromatism and that was a big part of Nirvana sound, how Kurt crafted really catchy pop using dissonant chromatic chords/notes. That was a thing very pointed in 90s, as no one was used to it, even more in pop music. Thats part of why hes considered one of the greatest ever. He didnt a mistake, thats part of his playing. Also, just for fun, quoting another genius from another beautiful long gone era "Theres no mistakes, just little happy accidents - Bob Ross"
This is such a cool/classic Kurt moment. I remember watching this set live the night it aired and just being glued to the tv the entire time. I’d just turned 16 and had just began to get serious about my playing. I remember hearing those wrong notes and not knowing if it was intentional or not. That was the magic of Kurt Cobain...and the mark of any great musician, really. It just wasn’t a big deal. In fact, anytime I hear this song and it’s not this version, it makes me think something is wrong, lol.
That's interesting that there's actually a technique for that. Watching all these older videos from the 90s on RU-vid & seeing newer videos like this makes me realize that Kurt was a way more studied guitar player than he liked to lead on. Also hearing some of their rehearsals where it's not as serious. He was a born performer & could turn it on like a switch.
When I learned this cover in highschool, I always had to play it wrong as well. To me, that wrong note is now part of his cover so it would feel extra wrong without it.
tbf, with kurt it can be hard to tell whether he made a mistake or did it intentionally he was very "uncaring" about hitting the wrong notes, specially in solos and it always was more likely than not intentional granted, this was the unpplugged which was not savage and grunge as their regular gigs but i can't be convinced by either answer by watching it
Oh trust, he messed up that solo and winged it well afterwards. There's a live and loud version of man who sold the world. There you can hear what notes he intended to play.
It's funny, I've never played guitar for an audience, I just like to noodle at home, but I used to DJ in bars and clubs and this is totally my experience. I could mix records brilliantly sometimes, and sometimes the beats would be off during the mix. There might have been a few people noticing, but most of the audience didn't notice or didn't care. The reaction to a new record coming in was almost always the same, brilliant mix or not.
I never even knew that was a mistake, I always thought it sounded cool. there’s also a part in like the 2nd chorus where you hear some feedback, I love that part. little imperfections like that can be just as beautiful as playing the “correct” notes
I never knew that was a mistake, I thought it was intentional to add to the unplugged version of the song. I thought it sounded really good. A happy accident like Bob Ross says...
And whenever someone compliments you after a show, always thank them for the kind words and never point out your mistakes even if you crashed and burned on stage. The audience never catches the flubs.
Indeed. We, as a whole band, do that a lot of times, and so well, nobody seems to notice we're bad, and they keep enjoying themselves as if we were gods of rock... The most we do is to give each other an inside look and smile once in a while, but that's about it. "I was feeling kinda seasick / But the crowd called out for more"... Oh, yeah, and the chromatic scale is a godsend.
So strange! This a.m. I heard the song and paid particular attention to that part and thought about how he covered it up so well. And then I see this pop up on my recommended videos. RU-vid reading minds!
Koool, Mike! Nice lesson! Another classic, slide example is when Joe Perry does that long slide in the opening of 'Dream On', right before Tyler starts the 1st verse. He slides from the 3rd fret to the 15th, if I'm not mistaken. I have to look at the fret before I slide up to it which helps...Thanks, Mike!
I never even noticed this "mistake"! It's cool though because in jazz (or music in general) this is a technique known as a surround; a half-step below and a half-step above (or the other way around) on your target note. Cool stuff, thanks for sharing.
WOW!! I heard that song 27 years ago and I always assumed he wanted to add some kind of melancholy feel, did a great job. Thank you for this video. I have actually copied what he did when covering the song. Also in the unedited version of Lake of Fire on this unplugged he starts singing the chorus early, but same, just keeps calm and starts again later.
Good concept, but of course, this video is based around a myth. It may be that it was a mistake. But before anyone can call it a mistake, you can't really prove that what Kurt played wasn't on purpose. When Kurt made that slide and landed on to the flat note, it was perfectly clean. When he took it to the sharp, I think it's possible that can wanted to have it sound wrong and fragile, just to add some character and dirt, to a clean playing context. Just to have something "bad" and "wrong" so people would complain. Nowadays the trend has caught on, obviously, people often misspell on purpose. Kinda like the same thing.
The use of delay also helped smooth that over a bit ... though his completely leaving out the whole solo in penyroyal tea out could not be hidden with effects ;)
He decided to not play it because something along the lines of the original would have been almost impossible to do on an acoustic guitar. Furthermore that performance didn't need a solo.
From playing music live over the years I've discovered that what counts is what you do _after_ you make a mistake . . . and depending on how you handle it the whole thing is forgotten by the end of the next bar.
I just went and rewatched it, and he seems to hang slightly on the 8th fret when he slides up to it, or start his slides there from then on, too. It's like he's selling that while that might not be what he did on the album version, he meant to do it. Victor Wooten talks about doing that in one of his bass lessons that's up on RU-vid. If you play a note that's a fret away from a good note, you can keep bringing it back in, to slide or bend from to make it sound like that first mistake was actually part of the music.
You can also BEND the string (up) at the fret to get the right note more seamlessly if undershot, rather than jumping up and down the fretboard searching for it hit or miss.
To be honest I have always noticed this mistake, and said to myself "this is a really famous version of this song, and it has a blatant error, I should forgive myself a bit more" and it helped me push through the tough bits.
This is something I remember my orchestra teacher once saying. “As long as you look like you know what you’re doing, no one will notice when you mess up”.
I always thought that was the way it was meant to be played. Hitting the right note when you're smacked up is probably a tricky thing haha. Anyhow, great vid - as always.
Hey Mike still can't pay for guitar lessons I need to be a better cord player and the music theory about what makes up a cord. I don't know where to go to learn I was afraid this was going to happen. I have a goal but with out my guitar teacher, the best with in a 200 miles from here lol he played studio in Nashville and toured with acts that are in the country hall of fame. Anyways with out him keeping me on the road to my goal I am just all over the place. For the next 3 years I just have no money for lessons do you have any advise thanks
Interesting. I always thought that Kurt accidentally started the solo a little early over the “A” chord instead of the over the “F” chord and just tried to adjust and find it. I thought maybe the main riff was supposed to go a little longer before starting the solo. Either way it was well done.
The show must go on. Learning how to string a guitar with the help of RU-vid, combined with my love of CNL has brought Art of Guitar to my recommended....😁
I've been listening to that record since I was 11. I always thought the first few notes were purposeful and that was he intended. Not sure who said it, but the quote is 'if you play a wrong note, just play another one, then you're in a mode'.
and my god why does your acoustic sound like Tenacious D'a Rocking Front like of the Satans Heavy Face Melting Guitarists?! It's basically great is what i'm saying
If i'm correct, the first note of the solo is on the 10th fret not the 9th. after kurt made his mistake on the 8th, he rushed to 10th fret and after that he was supposed to hit the 9th and slide to the 7th fret but he made another mistake by staying on the 9th fret.
