![\"whoops_man\"](\"https:\/\/www.community-choirs.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/whoops_man-300x225.jpg\")
Much as we would like to think that every time we open our mouths in a musical setting, it is like angels singing, and we are always perfectly rehearsed with exactly the right words in front of us, and remembering every single tip and hint we’ve heard whilst learning the songs, we know it doesn’t happen like that.<\/p>\n
It is a hard thing to accept, but the mark of a professional is not the ability to never get it wrong. \u00a0The mark of professionalism (and I count choirs in that as well) is the ability to get it completely, appallingly, skin-shrinkingly wrong and still carry on with a smile. \u00a0Because it happens to us ALL. \u00a0Everyone who has ever performed live has had something go terribly, terribly wrong. \u00a0I am now going to share one of my all-time favourite Youtube clips with you. \u00a0If 1980’s glam rock ‘n’ roll isn’t your thing, I apologise, but I want you to stick with it. \u00a0This is supergroup, Van Halen, playing their huge hit, “Jump” and getting it so appallingly, terrifyingly, sickeningly wrong that watching it is like watching a train crash. \u00a0You know you shouldn’t look, but somehow you just can’t stop… \u00a0(For those who want to know what had gone so wrong, apparently the keyboards are pre-recorded and got played at the wrong speed, there was no way for the guitarist to play the same notes without retuning his entire guitar). \u00a0Please watch this. \u00a0It’s about 6 minutes (the guitar solo is a particular highlight at just after 3 minutes), but really, you’ll feel better about everything you’ve ever got wrong afterwards, because you’ve never got it wrong in front of several thousand people who all paid \u00a350+ for tickets…<\/p>\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/yXPM6d9IdiY?list=RDyXPM6d9IdiY<\/p>\n
Oh, but it’s a hot mess. \u00a0But notice what they did? \u00a0They didn’t stop. \u00a0They didn’t glare at one another. \u00a0They didn’t look distressed. \u00a0They jumped a little higher, sang a little louder, smiled a little harder and (if you made it to the end) rode a giant inflatable microphone around the stage like a bucking bronco! \u00a0Notice what the crowd did? \u00a0The crowd went WILD! \u00a0They loved it! \u00a0How could they possibly have loved a version of a song so bad that not even its mother could love it?<\/p>\n
The thing is, with this performance, and every performance ever (even more so with community choirs, I’ve found), is that the audience really want you to get it right. \u00a0The fun for them is in seeing something confident and effortless. \u00a0I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a really scared or upset performer, but it’s not a good thing. \u00a0You feel awful for them. \u00a0You want to jump up, take the microphone away and cuddle them. \u00a0There is no enjoyment in watching someone getting something wrong and then being uncomfortable and scared in the spotlight. \u00a0However, watching someone get something wrong, and turning it into a joke, or smiling, getting the right note in the second verse and carrying on? \u00a0Yes! \u00a0That’s great! \u00a0If the performers are comfortable and smiling, so is the audience. \u00a0You get extra brownie points for carrying on and turning it around. \u00a0Because that’s more professional than giving up or bursting into tears or storming off the stage. \u00a0So here are my top tips for what to do when it all goes wrong…<\/p>\n
The greatest piece of musical advice I was ever given was this: “Start well and finish well, and they’ll forgive *anything* in the middle”. \u00a0It’s very, very true.<\/p>\n
If you need anything else to bolster your confidence by remembering that this happens to professionals, I give you my last offering: \u00a0Paul McCartney screwing up “Hey Jude” at the Olympics in 2012, whilst THE WHOLE WORLD was watching. \u00a0Poor chap.<\/p>\n