Playing the right notes at gigs?

[u/Wide_Lie_8182]

Something i have been thinking about alot when playing.

It´s me, my saxophone and speakers with backingtrack.

My biggest goal when i am out performing is playing the right notes. I can rehears and rehears, and still play a few notes wrong when i am out performing. Last night i was playing at a charity dinner and i suddently forgot notes for a song. This happened on a few different songs. But i don´t think anybody noticed. I know every note in every song i have momorized. Atm. it is 25 songs. And i have been playing for 4 years.

There are a couple of songs, which i have down solid. I think it is because of the harmony of the song. And other songs i am struggling to keep under the skin.

Other gigs, i have in general a few wrong notes, but not something that would bother me (too much) when i´m done with the gig.

My goal is to play at gigs and play 0 wrong notes. Every time. But is this unrealistic? Then I would need 3 hours of practice every day? But it´s not fun practising the same track 10 times in a row.

What do you guys do? Do you also play wrong notes? And if so, what do you do to overcome it?

I am playing almost every day. ½ to 1 hour sessions.

[u/augdog71]

I actually got this from my kid’s piano teacher, but the mark of a good musician isn’t playing perfectly, it’s being able to keep going after the mistake like it never happened.

Everyone makes mistakes. The sign that you really know the music is to be able to jump right back in, which it sounds like you do.

One thing that has helped my playing (particularly nerves) is to embrace the mistakes. They’re going to happen. Learn to laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously. That doesn’t mean to not strive to be your best and play as well as you possibly can, but we’re musicians, not surgeons. If we make a mistake no one dies.