It Sucks To Suck

Young people have a phrase.  “It sucks to suck.”  And it’s true.  It really does suck to suck.  Whether it’s playing music or sports, working your job, or whatever else.  It just doesn’t feel good to not perform well. 

As a professional musician for the past 30 years, I’ve had some experience with screwing up on the bandstand.  Although we constantly try to eliminate it, mistakes are just part of the deal.  Perfection is rare if not a complete fantasy.  So what can we do when we’ve gone out and sucked?  Here’s what I’ve learned. 

As far as musical performance goes, once the “suck” is out there, you can’t get it back.  Sometimes an apology to your bandmates may be in order, but otherwise all that can be done in the moment is to move on. 

The key is to prevent the “suck” from happening in the first place.  It’s just like that old saying, “failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”  It’s cliche but true.  So what is preparing? 

Preparing might mean the obvious things like keeping your chops in shape, having your technique and playing skills at their best, or studying the music until you’re confident you’re going to play it well. 

Preparing might mean more subtle things too, like knowing who’s on the gig with you, what type of music/songs they’re likely to call, or what the vibe or energy of the group is likely to be.  Bringing the right equipment helps a lot too. 

Even more subtly, preparing might mean showing up to the gig in your best mental and physical shape.  Well-rested, properly fed, mentally refreshed, and with a strong body.  It’s amazing how much better everything feels when we exercise regularly.  That feeling transfers to music performance as well. 

Preparing also means practical stuff like knowing how long it takes to get to the venue, arriving early enough to set-up, greet the other musicians, change clothes if needed, warm-up and get settled before starting time.  Driving like a maniac to arrive at the gig 15 minutes before starting puts stress on you, the band leader, and everybody else.  Not cool.  I used to do that all the time when I was younger, and didn’t realize how stressed I was until I took my wife’s advice and got to the gig a little earlier.  Big mental improvement! 

But sometimes, even with the best preparation, things don’t go well.  Sometimes unexpected things happen that change the dynamic of the gig and effect our performance.  Just like in any other area of life, we need to stay calm, deal with things the best we can, and do our best.  Maybe we don’t end up playing as well as we would have otherwise, but keeping a relaxed, positive attitude will enable us to do the best we can in any situation. 

Last month I played a wedding on Long Island in New York with great band called Modern Luxe.  The way things were scheduled, the band and crew had about 50 minutes to set everything up and be ready to play before the guests came in.  Usually 2 hours is allowed for set-up.  Everybody stayed calm and did their jobs as best they could.  We were ready just a few minutes after guests began arriving, skipped sound check altogether, and started the show as if everything was fine.  And it was fine.  Things went great!  Had the band let themselves get all worked up emotionally, wasting time and energy complaining about the situation, we probably would have gotten less done.  We also would have started the gig in the wrong state of mind and may have sucked.  Like the T-shirts say:  Keep Calm And Carry On 

Even when everything is perfect, sometimes we still suck.  We’re human, and we make mistakes.  Sometimes they’re big, ugly, embarrassing mistakes in front of lots of people.  That sucks.  But at their core, music mistakes are just bad sounds.  They don’t hurt anybody.  It’s not like brain surgery or anesthesiology where mistakes can kill people.  We’re just playing music. 

Several years ago I was playing Handel’s “Messiah” with a massed choir in Lancaster.  The conductor wanted to fancy-up the end of the Hallelujah chorus by inserting a special cue for the timpani player, right before my cue to enter.  The timpani cue came out of a silence.  At the performance, I forgot about the extra timpani cue and came in loud, strong, totally alone (except for the timpani) and totally wrong.  Embarrassing?  Oh yeah!  But nobody got hurt and no lives were negatively effected for more than a few seconds.  Had I made a blunder that big in the medical profession, people might have died.  Fortunately for musicians, music is just music. 

When we do suck, mental strength and attitude is a key to recovery.  If we start to suck early on in the gig, it’s important to not let that dictate the rest of the show. 

When I was younger, I would let a few early mistakes ruin me for the rest of the night.  I’d think, “I’m just having a bad night”, or “I’ll do better tomorrow”.  I had 2 trumpet player friends, both named Doug, that were the total opposite of me.  If they struggled early in a gig, they would somehow turn it around and play great.  By the end of the gig, nobody remembered the few little mistakes they made early on, just all the great things they did during the rest of the concert.  They stayed confident and determined.  I copied their mental approach and it’s made a big difference! 

Lastly, when we suck, we just have to let it go and move on.  Unless it’s the last song of the night, there’s always something up next that needs our full attention.  Playing one song while reminiscing about screw-ups on the last is a very bad recipe for success.  Football defensive backs have it down.  They might get burned for a touchdown one play, but they’re right back at it playing aggressive, confident defense on the next play.  After the game, they watch the tape, analyze their mistakes, and learn from them. 

Performers need to do the same.  Forget the past and focus on what’s next.  After the gig, take the time to reflect on what may have contributed to our episode of “suck”, take steps to prevent it in the future if we can, and then move on. 

Unfortunately, no matter how good we get at our craft, there will be times when we think we’ve sucked.  Hopefully, if we prepare, reflect and keep the right attitude, those times will be few and far between.  And if they aren’t, well thank goodness nobody dies of bad music.

 

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