Legendary Guitarists Making Mistakes Live

[@zodiacbluesbaby]

'To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without feeling is unforgivable' - Beethoven

[@Crawdini]

He also said there are no wrong notes , some just sound better.

[@heitord5539]

​@@Crawdini He didint say that. Not AT ALL.

[@ajmusic4500]

‘You’re a douche’-me rn

[@williamdonnelly6606]

Really?😮🎼👌🎹

[@leighsayers2628]

Hmmmm...well ..there ya go ..some aweful playing ..omg

[@rodnyg7952]

the trick is knowing how to recover from mistakes. Most mistakes made by good musicians usually go unnoticed

[@cobrakaiX]

To be honest I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Just shows how dedicated most successful guitarists are.

[@MrFed.]

In all my gigs and festivals, I have never seen anyone hit a bum note. Where as I hit at least one per song 😂

[@markharding9263]

I play/sing full-time, just small stuff, but doing it every day, I rarely mess up now. However, just a couple days ago I started this song I know really well three times wrong and then gave up lol. It doesn’t surprise me that the famous guys occasionally do the same. Thankfully I was in front of an audience that knows and loves me 😅

[@mokshmeditation]

I have been playing guitar for around 14 years and I only make mistakes when I consciously think about the stuff I'm playing. If you're a musician yourself then you already know what I'm talking about.

[@markharding9263]

@@mokshmeditation Understanding that is one of the biggest keys to success as a musician I think.

[@Link-ji7kx]

Not to mention, drinking makes playing way harder. So it really is amazing they don’t mess up more. But honestly, they probably do but no one really notices because the whole band is playing loud af- unlike most of these clips.

[@redghost3170]

Even when Clapton makes a mistake it sounds awesome.

[@emdblues]

I think he was immediately aware he hit the wrong note and he just bend it even more :D

[@mikemc5221]

What song is Clapton playing?

[@brunobritodasilva8537]

​@@mikemc5221badge by cream

[@Caroledonaldgmail]

​@@mikemc5221sounds like badge

[@mikemc5221]

@@Caroledonaldgmail I don't htink it is

[@theonlyredspecial]

Slash loves the drink. Remember reading the story on him saying to his manager he was looking forward to playing the gig that night and the manager told him he already played it last night.

[@ilikebacon860]

He used to, not anymore. Almost 20 years sober.

[@gavinjamesmusic5734]

When Steve Vai plays a wrong note, the note immediately apologises to him.

[@aaronwelch5391]

that got me good... cheers!

[@ElSantoLuchador]

"There are no wrong notes, only wrong resolutions" -- Bill Evans Or as they say in jazz, "you're always a semitone from salvation". There are no mistakes, only poor recoveries.

[@frido9793]

Clapton masked it quite succesfully 😂

[@andreashoppe1969]

Did he fuck up? Didn't notice!

[@AmericansforTrump]

@@andreashoppe1969I was gonna say I didn’t hear a Clapton mess up

[@ricemartini2135]

@@andreashoppe19691:49-1:51 sounds flat

[@nealatthecrossfishing]

Sounded out of key to me.

[@frido9793]

@@nealatthecrossfishing it was , he started to low and then he bended it back in key

[@gab99]

Rolling Stones, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Scotland, 60,000 crowd, hit the stage with "Start Me Up" and Keith hit the opening chord like a kid on their first guitar lesson. Just kept playing.

[@philipp9288]

What year was that concert?

[@pauljames6843]

​@@philipp9288 2018

[@johncasey7080]

He's aways been a poor guitarist...May have written great riffs but he is not a good guitarist

[@gerryboyd178]

June, 2018

[@robertwiesler381]

I have been to many Stones-shows Keith made mistakes at each of them I guess he makes mistakes at every show Sometimes he makes really terrible mistakes, when he messes up (or even forgets) the intros of Start Me Up, Satisfaction or Brown Sugar But without any doubt he was, is and always will be the greatest guitar player of all time

[@santanafan1713]

As lead guitarist in my Santana Tribute band I've studied hundreds of Santana Live videos and Carlos actually often makes mistakes. But he taught me a very important lesson. Never express or show you made a mistake but learn how to always finds a way to make them work out. Meaning mistakes arent mistakes.....they're just interesting side steps from original intended path that find their way to the place you want to be.

[@MeAndTheBoys_]

The thing is this....people do not want to buy a ticket, seeing and hearing you, trying to find the "path". People expect for you to have found your path, when they come to see you. Find your fuckin "path" on your own time and dime. Carlos is just not the best of players.

[@megadethmofo2001]

Old trick.... If you make a mistake, do it a couple more times...then it sounds intentional.

[@santanafan1713]

@@MeAndTheBoys_ The thing is.... If you want 100% perfection stay the fuck home and listen to a cd. It will save you money and there will be 1 less asshole in the crowd. Win Win

[@brucehazen8982]

Stay away from concerts with humans then, Mr. Perfect.

[@MrMaynardWR]

@@MeAndTheBoys_ Maybe but if a player is too focused on not making mistakes then his playing might be too predictable and lack surprises. I mean we go to concerts for the live experience and the serendipity that goes with it -- otherwise we would just listen to the albums which are generally flawless. Also Carlos might not be the most technical player, but his appeal is his feel and melody. I've seen him play with jazz giants like Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Stanley Clarke etc --these guys are virtuosos, and yet Carlos has something to offer that they respect and I enjoy.

[@davenilaya]

I loved the approach of Steve Vai:” you deserve better!”. High class!!!! Legend!

[@costabotes9107]

We’ve all had moments like these. Nobody’s perfect.

[@BigBri550]

Yep. One night, I broke a string on a guitar with a floating bridge during a completely solo moment, no band accompanyment at that moment. The guitar went badly out of tune - boy, did I look like a schmuck in front of everybody!

[@Jazman342]

"I've been copied so much they even copy my mistakes" Hendrix.

[@HenriqueAlvarezDamaseno]

John Mayer is so legend that he didn't even mistaked the note. He was just in other tone

[@bobbydoodle6257]

Another key

[@HenriqueAlvarezDamaseno]

@@bobbydoodle6257 Yes. Thank you

[@GlennJimenez]

Yes he didn’t play the song wrong he just played it in the wrong key

[@troy8420]

I think it was the original key actually from the recorded version

[@toivonencresto]

What is the song?

[@BrandonScottFox1]

When Clapton plays the wrong note it’s still the right note.

[@lesbois53]

Clapton only started to play bum notes when he changed over to that horrible Fender Stratocaster. With Gibsons, he WAS. God! I have seen Cream many times in my long life. Hendrix was the Stratomaster by the way.

[@Jakob-zs1qu]

Vai doesnt make mistakes his guitars do 💯

[@peghead]

Nothing ever messed with my head more than when my guitar was out of tune, I fondly remember a gig in 1976 when my guitar stayed in perfect tune for the whole gig, other than that, it was uneventful.

[@markburnham7512]

Always feels good to see that my heros are human. A very short highlight video is me NOT making a mistake.

[@tonyjones1560]

Feel free to use my old line…”Mistake? Mistake? It’s supposed to sound like that! It’s my interpretation of the song! You cretins just aren’t advanced enough to appreciate my musical genius!” The guys I played with started calling me “Tone.” It was sarcasm. I dodged more shrapnel at band practice, back in the day, than I did during the Gulf War. Coins, shoes, mike stands, drumsticks😏🤣

[@bripslag]

@@tonyjones1560I just call the mistakes "jazz notes". 🤣

[@tonyjones1560]

@@bripslag I wish that had occurred to me at the time. Now, if asked about my sound, I say, “In my head, I hear hard rock but coming through the amp, it sounds like jazz. Very BAD jazz…”

[@Wileylikethehawk]

It’s so hard when you’re in a tribute act because the audience knows every note.

[@M5guitar1]

My bandmates drink too much and often lose it. Mistakes are part of reality, i just roll with it and keep going. Sometimes a little lack of concentration will derail a song.

[@CaptHiltz]

Sounds like you might need some new bandmates.

[@markusaurelius777]

@@CaptHiltz Yep. Drinking or drugs during rehearsal or especially LIVE is NO-NO. I'd fire the ones who did that.

[@rustler160]

That's what makes them legends, they were always just a heartbeat away from making a mistake.

[@edge1289]

I never met a player who didn’t make mistakes…. We all do, even the greats.

[@thorstenriedel3152]

This is the Difference between robots and human players

[@spunbearing65]

Wah Wah Hammet. I want to thank you for burning me completely out on that tone and playing.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

Love these, makes it all the more real and humanizing and helps me appreciate the good.

[@IchGlaubEsHacktWohl]

Fun fact about Gary Moore: I saw him severeal times live - he never made a mistake. But his most popular Video of “Still got the…” has a big mistake in the beginning of the solo

[@gman1550]

When AI takes over music, we’ll be longing for these mistakes

[@RonBaker456]

We are several huge leaps in multiple fields of development (ie robotics, cybernetics, programming, processing power) from having anything created by humans that can play an instrument and sing for a live audience, and read a crowd, let alone a synchronized band of them. By the time we get to that technological point it's fairly likely that everyone reading this thread will be dead.

[@ef7480]

@@RonBaker456 just like the technological point of the 'internet'? it didn't take that long..

[@wrigleyx]

Clapton Mastering & Class

[@christopher4842]

Clapton masterclass on recovery.

[@robertcovell2787]

Steve Vai, now that was class act!

[@Ukraineaissance2014]

Yeah id usually say dont ever stop but in that situation that's all he could do, handled it well

[@tristan_840]

Steve Vai is such a class act

[@BatMite19]

Most of them just laughed and shrugged it off, which was funny. But the *really* funny one was when Santana didn't acknowledge it, and the keyboard player was just shaking his head.! 😆

[@RipperFromYT]

I can't remember where I heard it way way back but .. if you make a mistake do it twice so people think you meant to do it! The second time around you find a way to wiggle (bends, chromatic scales, etc) the bad note back into key like it's a resolution.

[@odairbonfim]

B. B. King said something like that.

[@ggoncalves80]

At least they are playing live! This is rare nowadays

[@ef7480]

'rare' lol

[@philturner6642]

Lifelong player.....it's always embarrassing but it doesn't matter how many times you've played the song you can still get distracted or maybe something going on with your overall sound that's bugging you.. people must always keep in mind... musicians or any other performers are just people and at times are just simply not going to be at their best..lots of reasons..

[@ronedee]

A good backing band is a great help. I had a drummer that would actually stop, mid-performance when he, or someone else made a mistake. He couldn't get it through his Neanderthal brain that the average listener wouldn't even notice!

[@rklewis2]

Oy, that's awful! That's the 100% worst thing to do, lol. Like Dora the fish...Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. That's the key. Move on, right away. Give it no thought at all.

[@marvinwerth9421]

We all waited for Garcia to make a mistake....everyone would roar! Good fun! Proves that these "heros" are human too!

[@DaddySantaClaus]

people who don't play live don't understand that there are a million distractions, way more than in your bedroom at least.

[@BasedEnjoyer]

Diddums

[@tonyharley5230]

I'm a tribute band guitarist. Make a mistake just carry on, nobody notices not even the band manager ( the Mrs) however my son over on sax glares at me 😂 Also worry or think you're gonna make a mistake and you will.

[@blessedwithchallenges9917]

The cool part of what you just wrote is that you are in a band with your son!!!

[@JKFlaker]

I feel like I can’t get through a single song without making a mistake

[@goodbyepolarbears172]

I usually fret over making a mistake in a particularly tricky part then don't make that mistake, relax and make a mistake in an easy bit!

[@georgerodrigues4638]

Happens a lot with even big name veteran bands now, they'll have one of their kids in the band. ​@@blessedwithchallenges9917

[@caramanico1]

I love this - it shows they're human. The best goof I've ever heard was actually a band goof on a Zeppelin boot. They're in the middle of Kashmir, things start to sound not right, then hesitant and out of sync. You could tell they were all looking at each other while thinking "WTF?"

[@masseyanderson35]

Vai's reaction was perfect. I'll do that next time

[@magdump7380]

I always liked Eddie’s blooper at the beginning of Unchained from back in the day. 🐐

[@Patriot-x8y]

That wasnt even a mistake mdump. If you are referring to when eddie played the intro twice,,its because roth missed his que. Eddie made very few mistakes for decades. Good ,luck finding some that were before the 2004 tour.

[@magdump7380]

@@Patriot-x8y 🤡🙄

[@sodasplash79]

@@Patriot-x8ythere are plenty mistakes in the studio records, the most notable being in the keyboard track for Jump. There’s quite a few in there. I love EVH and Van Halen, in their 2004 tour, he was a wreck, quite glad he became sober after that

[@christian-van-e]

You can make a 2 hours video of Kirk Hammett making live mistakes

[@BigBoaby-sg1yo]

You mean 2 days ?😮

[@tattoodude8946]

Goes to show, even the best in the world get it wrong from time to time! Don't beat yourself up if you have trouble.

[@viewoftheaskew]

A friend of mine once said if you play a wrong note play it again lol. Nice to see everyone drops a clam every now & then!

[@martinbohl8732]

If I would be a famous guitarist the video would be ten hours long. Just after one concert

[@bripslag]

Same here. Everyone makes mistakes. How we deal with them in a live situation is what separates the good players from the great players. And I'd still rather hear a player who's got good feeling and a few mistakes than a technically perfect player with no feeling.

[@davidsmith5899]

Keith’s weird intro actually sounded pretty cool (when the band came in) haha

[@prathameshbhambure]

Clapton's mistake, if handled a little differently, would sound splendid as a jazzy solo.

[@skigib]

I saw Tom Petty on his final tour in 2017 in Houston before he died and on the last song he says "we're gonna leave you with this one" tries to play D, the opening of American Girl, but his fingers are on the first fret (so its Db) He strums \\\\ and quickly stops and says "Not that one" laughs and plays it right and jams the night away!!!!

[@xphosphor6901]

santana doing a chromatic lick after a wrong note is so relatable lmao

[@frankstephenson1746]

Coming from the club level I’ve always approached mistakes as part of the night . Better players get better at covering them up or even utilizing them on the fly.

[@michaelsawyer6887]

Damn straight hoss. Bury them and keep goin....

[@marvinwerth9421]

Like carpenters! The really good ones can cover up a mistake perfectly!

[@johnheiserman7746]

The only guitar players who don’t make mistakes are the ones who have never played guitar.

[@stevendunn7928]

It's encouraging to realize that even the greats make mistakes, but I still realize the difference because it's so rare that it's newsworthy when they goof. For me, it's a special event when I get the whole song right.

[@slumdogjoe]

goes to show.. they are all human and acknowledge the fact that mistakes do happen to the best of us. How they recover from it is the most important.

[@freeplayfrank7736]

I like how they act like it's part of the show. Most people believe them, so it's all good.

[@jayk6194]

I actually like seeing one of these.. Their human side compared to their machine side

[@MultiGuitarDave]

Is normal and not bad at all. That graces the live gig. We are all human and sometimes you lose everything for a moment on stage.

[@theotherwind8307]

John Mayer's reaction when he starts to play in the right key is priceless.

[@jerrywestermann4435]

"If you play a wrong note,the next time you play that song,play that note again,& everybody will think it's the right note"-B.B. King.

[@johnmac8084]

I think it's usually best to keep going. If you stop, and the band stops, it's a train wreck. If you keep going most people will not notice, or think much of it.

[@scorpionwins6378]

I thought it was out of place for Vai to make a mistake during the bad horsie set, but then I realized that he was probably putting on an act for the crowd.

[@adieltm]

where is lil wayne ?

[@Legocatshouse]

Every note is a mistake, he just isn't aware.

[@teduh3344]

Motivation: "be so good untill your mistake become entertainment" 😂

[@jasontanner5836]

They are human too! 😮

[@guitareveryone]

They make a mistake, they accept,smile, move on and play their asses off. True pros.

[@scottanderson4175]

Robert Plant has on many occasions said Jimmy WTF are you playing 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@nelsondylanias9330]

It is absolutely human. When our heads are else where it can happen easily.

[@mikemarkowski7609]

It can happen to anyone, and does!

[@jimray2281]

Great humble reaction from Mayer

[@jogmas12]

Nothing wrong with guitarist making mistakes, it’s art, not science!!!!

[@blessedwithchallenges9917]

And we've seen science making plenty of mistakes...

[@Daryl_Phillips_]

Eric Clapton is so good I didn’t even notice the mistake 😂

[@isaachimself]

he was playing in the wrong key, he realized it during the bend, and continued to bend the string another half step to be in the right key.

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

There’s no such thing as a “wrong” note. It’s the note you play after it is what’s right or wrong in the context of the music. - Miles Davis. By the way Keith Richards is doing nothing wrong, the Devils telecommunication line is a bit crackly and he’s waiting for instructions!

[@elusory3735]

Well if you are just performing a written song you can’t always just freestyle your way out of a different note than you meant to play.

[@gm4050]

I like when they make mistakes. Makes it real

[@MovieRiotHD]

Where is Lil Wayne?

[@bindig1]

One of the hardest things to learn playing music is to keep playing when you make a mistake. It's human nature to stop and start over again but doing that live is catastrophic

[@davidwalker5054]

They say it was impossible for Django Reinhardt to play a wrong note. But even if he played a note that sounded a bit off. its what you play immediately after that determine if the note is out of contex and Django had a lightning quick musical mind so he could always resolve it and get out of jail

[@lebojay]

Clapton and Page don’t make mistakes, just happy accidents.

[@sgbh8874]

Saw John Entwistle play a wrong un in 1989 at Birmingham NEC ~ even he looked surprised.

[@matthalo89]

It was hard to watch Eddie at the end. I was playing the little guitars intro the other day on the Frankie and it’s a fun tune to kinda warm up on. Seeing Eddie play all rough like that is hard. He was a phenomenal guitarist/musician/human being. Rip Eddie.

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

I like Kirk Hammett more after seeing that. He's cool. I love it when people make mistakes live. If I wanted perfection, I'd listen to the record. Steve Vai's always a class act. This video is good for the egos of us mere mortals.

[@seanhammond4034]

Shows they are Human after all 😂

[@Fernando47049]

So good to know they are humans.

[@edwardgordon4309]

After watching this video, i feel a little better about myself 🤣. I believe I'll subscribe now 😆

[@pollymarshall21]

They are only human.No robots

[@MarkusBoettner]

Honorary mention here for my personal guitar hero, Mark Knopfler, in Munich 2019:

[@saintbees2088]

"It's not the note you play that's wrong. It's the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong" -Miles

[@Taffer9876]

Even though they are great, it does not make it easy to do. Can't phone it in. As soon as I hit the record button, things go South quickly.

[@spunbearing65]

The Eddie Van Halen clip was just sad. He was completely out of it and he wasn’t the same player in later life that he was in 1980. Henry Rollins nailed it on when he first saw Eddie rip Eruption. His jaw clearly has a scar from hitting the floor same as me and you.

[@Patriot-x8y]

But, this happened for a reason , and I believe this was a breaking point for his son. Eddie was in the hospital after this show,,then went to rehab. Wolf said he wont play with him Drinking so eddie quit. I saw him his last 2 tours, and he definitely regained his powers. The 2012 truth tour was awesome. They were great.

[@kewlfonz]

I think Eric's just discovered 'outside' playing. Trouble is, I don't he's realised... EVH must've absolutely 'effing HAMMERED to play that badly!!!

[@realledbetter5015]

Couldn’t really tell Clapton or Vai mistakes. Don’t know Vai’s music much. I have 1 CD of his.

[@mironhermaszewski]

Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Joe Satriani,John Petrucci,Santana-guitar gods shows-they not robots they are humans. Mistakes is normal but they made it a very very few for all carrer. Great video!

[@johnny5805]

This is like a video of all the GOATs being human ! I don't know why I am shocked ? The idea of EVH/Steve Vai etc making mistakes just seems impossible ! Yet here we are. 🙂

[@bradhillig9844]

I messed up the intro to Sweet Child O’ Mine back in the 80’s once at a local bar. Now I feel better even Slash has messed it up too.

[@joaquin8637]

Are you telling me keith actually plays live, holy shit

[@ZebZanko]

Everyone makes a mistake. The recovery is what counts.

[@peghead]

I remember a few decades ago, watching an ensemble of guitar players on TV (can't recall the individuals) playing a typical 12 bar shuffle jam finale in the key of A, when it was the turn of one of the guys to solo, he played in A flat for much of the time, smiling from ear to ear. I guess the stage sound was deafening or the monitors were not loud enough. In a later similar guitar ensemble telecast, I do remember Carlos Santana participating, but when it was his turn to solo, he accidently stepped on his audio cable as he was walking forward, unplugging his guitar, it was funny because he was really into it and ready to WAIL, but there was no sound.

[@carewser]

1:08 I'm suprised Axel didn't flip out over that

[@Backfromthestorm]

When Jimi made mistakes he incorporated it into what followed so well it's hard to notice, and even if you do it works

[@GodsUnrulyFriends]

I heard a live recording of Stevie Ray Vaughn where he made a big mistake. And then he deliberately played the same mistake again, as if to say "I meant to do that."

[@Yek0ms]

Mistakes are normal and natural. However, comparing all of the above, you could make a 3-hour video of just Kirk failing to play the simplest riffs. (Love Metallica!)

[@toekid7179]

Lesser known musician makes mistake: Audience boos and gets upset Famous musician makes mistake: Audience cheers