Finishing a song before the rest of the band

S

Stickman

Silver Member
Has this ever happened to you?
You are playing an unfamiliar piece live on stage and not sure of the ending.. and the lead singer or guitarist makes a move that looks like a signal to wrap up the tune. You go for it.. and play some sort of cutout - and you are the only one that stopped! Then you have to sheepishly join back in like 'Ya I meant to do that!'

Happened to me a few times over the years.. and the only rule I've come up with in these situations is try not to finish first! Wait until there is definite eye contact or a major cue before pulling the plug.. I figure the worst that can happen is the band cuts out, you keep playing and it provides a perfect opportunity for a short drum solo! Then cue the band back in for one big closing shot.

One time a guitarist held is guitar up vertically in the air and then jerked it back down.. I interpreted this as the universal signal to end the tune! Doh.. he was just being dramatic Lol.
Another time, I was playing with this incredible fiddler playing Orange Blossum Special.. and in the middle of this very fast train beat.. he walks over to the bass player and plays these syncopated 'slowing down' descending low notes.. and having never played the tune before - I thought he was winding down to a close - so I stopped.. but they didn't so I immediately jumped back in. I kicked myself after because I fell for it.. I hate being faked out by physical cues.. and it usually comes down to a split second decision in these odd improvised cases.
 
Happened to me on our first gig last week. I chalked that up to my own newness to the group (joined 2 weeks ago). I just wished I had turned on the Zoom H5 to capture whether or not we played the tune to the version we rehearsed.
 
I know zactly what you speak of. In an effort to do the best job, sometimes we take chances and commit to something we think is right when actually it's all wrong lol. I've done my share of misreading, forgetting the fact that there's another solo before the end of the song...I've fallen for the false flag guitar neck signal, kept going past the ending, forgot to play the wipeout solo we quoted in a song....I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.

There's only one way to handle it in my mind, laugh it off. A wrong musical decision never killed anyone.

Cue an example where a musical decision killed someone. Or is the proper word queue?
 
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Yup, that's happened to me before. It's embarrassing, but it happens.
 
Shoot, we do it all the time. And we've been playing the same songs since the get-go five years ago. Different bands, different priorities I guess. I don't worry too much about it anymore
 
Oh yeah...happens more than I'd like to admit.
What I watch for is how the other guys handle my mess up. Do they play it off & all is well & good (trust me, the audience doesn't care), or do they make it obvious to them that you messed up by turning around on stage to give you the stink eye?

If it's the latter, then there needs to be a Sopranos-style sit down as to how to making mistakes look like it was part of the show & move along.
If they're going to always call you out on each & every imperfection, then it's time to pack up & head on down the road.
 
moxman said:
Has this ever happened to you?
You are playing an unfamiliar piece live on stage and not sure of the ending.. and the lead singer or guitarist makes a move that looks like a signal to wrap up the tune. You go for it.. and play some sort of cutout - and you are the only one that stopped! Then you have to sheepishly join back in like 'Ya I meant to do that!'
Click to expand...

Oh man, that got a sympathy cringe out of me!
 
rhumbagirl said:
Happened to me on our first gig last week. I chalked that up to my own newness to the group (joined 2 weeks ago). I just wished I had turned on the Zoom H5 to capture whether or not we played the tune to the version we rehearsed.
Click to expand...

same here years ago with my country band. I knew nothing about country music when I joined (which is why I did...to learn about that genre) and it happened A LOT as I was cutting my teeth. Luckily, it is a no pressure kind of band, and the other guys were also often times making mistakes....I would say 99.9% of the audiences never even knew
 
Probably every other gig. The band's music is still newish since they play so many songs. Songs that fade, they've developed their own endings.
 
The unwritten rule is: The song does not end until the drummer stops playing.

If one or more of the other band members stop playing but the drums keep playing; the song is not over.
Think about it. Nobody can stop the song if the drummer keeps playing. If you keep playing the drums it makes them look bad. LOL

Yes, playing a drum solo at the end waiting for the rest of the band to come back in again works for me.


.
 
That's only happened to me in rehearsals. I think the the thing to do to avoid it is to have a briefing before the gig to remind everyone to make eye contact with eachother. I don't stop until I get a nod or a throat-slitting mime from someone. Then when I do, I slightly slow down the tempo a give a few thuds on the snare and floor tom at the end of the final bar. They get the message when you do that.
 
Larry said:
I know zactly what you speak of. In an effort to do the best job, sometimes we take chances and commit to something we think is right when actually it's all wrong lol. I've done my share of misreading, forgetting the fact that there's another solo before the end of the song...I've fallen for the false flag guitar neck signal, kept going past the ending, forgot to play the wipeout solo we quoted in a song....I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.

There's only one way to handle it in my mind, laugh it off. A wrong musical decision never killed anyone.

Cue an example where a musical decision killed someone. Or is the proper word queue?
Click to expand...
I think a few careers have been killed by mistakes at critical moments though 💀
 
Hollywood Jim said:
The unwritten rule is: The song does not end until the drummer stops playing.

If one or more of the other band members stop playing but the drums keep playing; the song is not over.
Think about it. Nobody can stop the song if the drummer keeps playing. If you keep playing the drums it makes them look bad. LOL

Yes, playing a drum solo at the end waiting for the rest of the band to come back in again works for me.


.
Click to expand...
A bar or two of the drumbeat, solo can make a lovely ending.
Got the perfect moment for it at open mic one night - everyone stopped except the piano player, who thought the song must be carrying on - and away we went...
We're still playing as I write this.
 
Yeah it happens to everyone, anyone who tells you otherwise is lying!

It's a perfect opportunity to play the most tasteless fill ever to come back in. Then play it again so it looks like you meant it lol!
 
We were playing at an outdoor Relay for Life cancer benefit. Nice covered stage, wind protection on three sides, I've got OH and bass mics, soundman and board in a tent out front. Nice. In the middle of a song the power to the stage cuts out. Vocalist (acoustic guitar) and I kept on playing while the rest of the band are looking at each other and us. The crowd is looking at each other and us. Power is restored and of course the mics and acoustic guitar "wake up." The rest of the band jumps in. Applause. And "The Band Played On."

Not quite the same circumstances, but a reasonable recovery nonetheless. Live music seems to have a life of its own. Fun!
 
I remember finishing Pump It Up a verse early on a fill in gig. I dunno. It sounded so right to end it there at that time that everyone finished the song with me. It was a nice tight ending haha. I only found out when the singer politely let me know during the break. Oops. Oh well, it's a tiring song. The shorter the better ;)
 
moxman said:
Has this ever happened to you?
You are playing an unfamiliar piece live on stage and not sure of the ending.. and the lead singer or guitarist makes a move that looks like a signal to wrap up the tune. You go for it.. and play some sort of cutout - and you are the only one that stopped! Then you have to sheepishly join back in like 'Ya I meant to do that!'

Happened to me a few times over the years.. and the only rule I've come up with in these situations is try not to finish first! Wait until there is definite eye contact or a major cue before pulling the plug.. I figure the worst that can happen is the band cuts out, you keep playing and it provides a perfect opportunity for a short drum solo! Then cue the band back in for one big closing shot.

One time a guitarist held is guitar up vertically in the air and then jerked it back down.. I interpreted this as the universal signal to end the tune! Doh.. he was just being dramatic Lol.
Another time, I was playing with this incredible fiddler playing Orange Blossum Special.. and in the middle of this very fast train beat.. he walks over to the bass player and plays these syncopated 'slowing down' descending low notes.. and having never played the tune before - I thought he was winding down to a close - so I stopped.. but they didn't so I immediately jumped back in. I kicked myself after because I fell for it.. I hate being faked out by physical cues.. and it usually comes down to a split second decision in these odd improvised cases.
Click to expand...
It has happened to me with songs that we just added to the setlist and didn't rehearse much. To avoid that, we came up with the guitar player turning my way discreetly and either a nod to signal an important change, or to indicate that the song ends on the next measure. That worked perfectly as none of us missed anything. Usually if the bass player misses it isn't that noticeable (nobody cares about the bass player.. or the bass for that matter), but if you make a mistake with drums everyone notices even if they don't care about the drummer or drums.
 
rhumbagirl said:
Happened to me on our first gig last week. I chalked that up to my own newness to the group (joined 2 weeks ago). I just wished I had turned on the Zoom H5 to capture whether or not we played the tune to the version we rehearsed.
Click to expand...
One song that I had difficulty without the guitarist queues was Rage Against The Machine's Killing in the name of. The song is awfully repetitive and if you don't count you could easily get lost specially on the very long drum roll that jumps back to the groovy part. Other than that a very easy song to play. Another song that I got right but the others did not was Black Eye Peas Let's get it started. When the song starts, it opens with the singer just repeating "And we are running running, and running running..." and that gets repeated a few times then the music starts, I kind of automatically had that count correct, so I never missed it, the others didn't so they always did. the solution was to add the bass drum in increasing speed to indicate where they would come in. Basically the next part the singer starts singing, the guitar and bass play too, but the drums stop, I believe there was 1 or 2 verses and then all instruments play (I haven't played that song in over 20 years so I am not exactly sure).
 
Larry said:
I know zactly what you speak of. In an effort to do the best job, sometimes we take chances and commit to something we think is right when actually it's all wrong lol. I've done my share of misreading, forgetting the fact that there's another solo before the end of the song...I've fallen for the false flag guitar neck signal, kept going past the ending, forgot to play the wipeout solo we quoted in a song....I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.

There's only one way to handle it in my mind, laugh it off. A wrong musical decision never killed anyone.

Cue an example where a musical decision killed someone. Or is the proper word queue?
Click to expand...
Breaking off Pantera Got Dimebag and 2 others killed.... Not sure if it was a wrong musical decision but it seemed right at the time. now Phil and Rex, (the only surviving members) are playing as Pantera with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling in for the Abbott brothers... They seemed to be doing ok..
 
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