I played last night! What is your worst guitar expeirience? (Page 1 of 2)

I have found that I must go through a warm up before I can actually play the songs that I know. If I attempt to play without warming up, I simply mis-finger (I finger pick - or try to) the strings/notes. After I've warmed up a bit, everything seems to come into sync and I can tell how out of tune my guitar is.

If I just start playing a song, I will almost always miss the root note several time when I change chords.

Damed B chord.... I fight it too.

When I was learning to play, I had re-tuned the guitar so that I could play this little song I'd written easily. So my mate...John Rodge, came down, he was helping me learn [hard work for him] and tuned the guitar properly...result...NO CAN PLAY THE SONG, can't have been that good, I can't even remember it now.

Phill

Like 4gits I try to warm up before I go out to play, but however well I sing & play at home I always make mistakes in front of an audience! Of course, they usually don't notice.
My worst experience was when I invited family & friends to come & see me play at a pub. They were all very quiet afterwards! I had got my wife to video me & when I watched it back I realised that my singing was almost inaudible. I wiped the tape & almost gave up completely. I had been playing at that pub for about 6 months, so why had nobody told me to just sing louder?! Even on the night my family & friends could have done that after my first song!
Anyway, rather than give up, I resolved to try & improve, which I think I have. I'm better with a mic, though!

norm

your story reminds me of my very worst guitar experience under very similar conditions.  some friends came round to dinner and to cut a long story short by early evening they were sober and I was not. infact I somewhat beyond caring. it all seems to have gone very well. However but the next morning  I thought, ye gods, I butchered those songs on the guitar. ever since then I  never play after a drink. 
   

j

Tine, playing in front of my whole church i almost dropped my guitar

My worst guitar experience was when I was lying in a hospital bed in Charlottesville, Virginia, doped almost into a state a total unconsciousness from morphine rushing through my veins,  dreaming that my dream guitar (    1976 Fender Stratocaster) was sinking in the mud and there was nothing I could do to stop the destruction..................... I'm glad it was only a dream.

The thing is.... now that one person now knows you play and sing and has heard you play and sing, you can count on it that at least a few more will have heard about it by now. So even if the guitar is hidden away, when you have friends round again it WILL be mentioned. Especially after a few drinks. I rarely get away with leaving the guitar alone when I have folk in now. And if my nephew is one of them then you can count on me getting talked into a couple of songs. Go with the flow. You'll love it.

I remember once taking my guitar away camping and then totally forgetting every song I knew. Nightmare! I leave it at home now.

I always pack some cheat sheets in my guitar case now. Saves you making a complete hind end of yourself.

Yeah! Lessons learned. I now get talked into a few songs on a regular basis. I'm even starting to remember a couple. The longest I played at one party was about 3 hours. The more alchohol consumed the greater the need for singing. I'm kinda trying to get it together for my sister's 40th birthday in August. There WILL be A LOT of singing!!!! Could be a noisey night, my brother plays the bagpipes

I sailed to Montserrat (sp?), in the Carribean, in 1995 (just before the place was wrecked by a Volcano).  Anyway, me and my mates went ashore for a few bev's and we ended up in some bar that was frequented by all these young Doctors from The American Hospital (or a name to that extent).

It was mobbed with all these bright young things from the states, and both myself and my mates were absolutely ballbagged.  One of my pals, Tim, told this compere fella that I was an ace guitarist and would do a show for them (I'm not 'ace' on the guitar by the way, far from it).

Anyway, they got me up on this stool, and with Tim and Pat holding me up on either side, I crucified Bob Marley's 'Redemption Song'.  I really couldn't see the guitar or nothing for the booze comsumed.

By all accounts, the curtain came down on the show when my shorts had ridden up and all these (mainly female) beautiful young doctors were treated to the sight of my plums hanging out my shorts.

The wee-taking for weeks after took a bit of getting used to after that like.

Oh, new poster here, er, hello.

Aye, no problem (although, believe it or not, I did tone down my original, quite graphic, description).

No problem'o though fella.