Your most embarrassing performance ever?

[kurzya]

What's the most horribly cringe worthy performance you've ever done? Would love to hear from everyone here 
Mine (perhaps fortunately) isn't too exciting... I need to prepare 6 pieces for an exam, and I forgot the 6th piece until a few days out.. So my memorized version was pretty awful... I somehow managed to score Honours (an a) in the exam though.. I think my examiner took pity on me 

How about all you guys?

[abel2]

What's the most horribly cringe worthy performance you've ever done? Would love to hear from everyone here 
Mine (perhaps fortunately) isn't too exciting... I need to prepare 6 pieces for an exam, and I forgot the 6th piece until a few days out.. So my memorized version was pretty awful... I somehow managed to score Honours (an a) in the exam though.. I think my examiner took pity on me 

How about all you guys?

A very young performance of Bach Invention 13. I had stage fright, panicked, and lost where I was in the middle of the piece. I did not do well.

[iansinclair]

Years ago in another life I was first chair, first French horn in a symphony orchestra.  For a pops concert we were doing a medley of South Pacific tunes.  The medley opens with a solo horn high D -- where horns are, to put it mildly, treacherous.  The conductor made the down beat, and I came in with a beautiful... slightly sharp C.

Sigh...

[dcstudio]

you mean I have  to pick just one?  impossible..  

there's of course my horrible rendition of the Pathetique back at university that caused my world-famous professor--a teaching descendant of Liszt himself--to get up and start watering his plants in the middle of my juries.

the Urology convention where I was forced to set up amongst some really strange looking contraptions used for God knows what, then the power went out and I had nothing but an acoustic guitar and a few folk songs...

the Jewish couple who hired me to play at the reaffirmation of their wedding vows and asked me to play "This is my beloved" from Kismet... and then NOTHING but Mambo music from that point forward...and all the Mambo I knew at the time was "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"

the day I was supposed to play a wedding with a 12 piece band and there was a hurricane... only 3 of us made it to the gig.   There was a keyboard, an electric guitar, and a trombone to play the entire service and reception...  right before the service a trumpet player walked in (thank God!) which helped a bit... but I had to cover for the vocalist... eeek.
later that same day I had to play a wedding on the other side of town...  more band members made it to the night gig... but it was still one heck of a day...

oh...and rounding out my top five would be the time I was accompanying an incredibly talented singer who was singing the Allelujah chorus by Mozart... which has one word to sing--but is a pretty quick moving piece to play..  well I used loose copied sheets spread out all in front of me so I wouldn't have to turn the pages...I thought I was so smart..  In the middle of the performance the a/c came on and all of the music went sailing off the piano onto the floor.


 

[shostglass]

Its was 7th grade I was in the advanced orchestra class and I wanted to play a violin solo so I asked the teacher could I play twinkle twinkle little star 2 months in advance, and then the day before the performance a group off kids asked if they could play twinkle and the teacher said your out there in. I asked for another solo she said you have to show me it now so I improvised John Cena's theme song(this was when he was getting popular) and she said ok but since I played before the solo thieves I played twinkle twinkle and they were stuck.

[abbyes]

Years ago in another life I was first chair, first French horn in a symphony orchestra.  For a pops concert we were doing a medley of South Pacific tunes.  The medley opens with a solo horn high D -- where horns are, to put it mildly, treacherous.  The conductor made the down beat, and I came in with a beautiful... slightly sharp C.

Sigh...

Oh gooooooood !! I can feel your pain >.<.

A very young performance of Bach Invention 13. I had stage fright, panicked, and lost where I was in the middle of the piece. I did not do well.

Well, I'm with you. Like 5-6 years ago I performed that piece for first time in an audition at my conservatory, and then I got lost at the middle section, and I had to repeat that section like 5-6 times before I could catch it up again...I was as red as a tomatoe and all I was thinking was to finish that f**ng piece as fast as I could, so I started to increase the speed radically, it seemed a Chopin's piece with a piu mosso....Horrible, it was hilarious. It's fair to say that there were tons of mistakes after the first one...oh god....

[senanserat]

Like two months ago I was going to close my school's piano recital with a rendition of Lilium, I started to play but I was so damn nervous... I just forgot it. I couldn't, my teacher came to me and asked me if I wanted to go out for 5 minutes while he played something so I could get my sh*t together.

So...I went and played again after 5 minutes and managed to make it through. After that my hand were like ice and shaking, when the parents and audience were leaving and I was talking with my professor many of them came to me to tell me that they were happy that I decided to come out again and finish what I (didn't) started.

A old man came out and shook my hand and told me that he was proud of me. I almost cried, my mother is too busy to see my recitals, my brother doesn't care and even if they came I would feel pressured to play better.

Damn... That day was stressful.

[abel2]

Well, I'm with you. Like 5-6 years ago I performed that piece for first time in an audition at my conservatory, and then I got lost at the middle section, and I had to repeat that section like 5-6 times before I could catch it up again...I was as red as a tomatoe and all I was thinking was to finish that f**ng piece as fast as I could, so I started to increase the speed radically, it seemed a Chopin's piece with a piu mosso....Horrible, it was hilarious. It's fair to say that there were tons of mistakes after the first one...oh god....

The worst part was, my computers teacher was there (as an accompianist) and she proceeded to tell the entire class about it when we got back to school (competition was on a Saturday). I was so mortified. I didn't do another piano solo until this year competition.

[senanserat]

The worst part was, my computers teacher was there (as an accompianist) and she proceeded to tell the entire class about it when we got back to school (competition was on a Saturday). I was so mortified. I didn't do another piano solo until this year competition.

Oh man I am sorry for your experience, your teacher was kind of a cunt to do that.  I totally feel you though. Remember what doesn't kill you just leaves you with crippling psychological scars.

[abel2]

Remember what doesn't kill you just leaves you with crippling psychological scars.

Haha, so true.

[abbyes]

Oh man I am sorry for your experience, your teacher was kind of a cunt to do that.  I totally feel you though. Remember what doesn't kill you just leaves you with crippling psychological scars.

So true, since then I've hated Bach my whole life. Still I'm afraid of playing Bach nowadays and I find it really mortifying...I love listening to Bach, but I hate playing it.

I find Chopin etudes fairly easier than Bach inventions and symphonies   my trauma

[senanserat]

So true, since then I've hated Bach my whole life. Still I'm afraid of playing Bach nowadays and I find it really mortifying...I love listening to Bach, but I hate playing it.

I find Chopin etudes fairly easier than Bach inventions and symphonies  my trauma

I actually love Bach but lately I've feel like such a chore practicing it I dunno. I think it has to do with your inner mood of as late, perhaps try starting with a happy, easy-ish piece that you enjoy?

[abel2]

So true, since then I've hated Bach my whole life. Still I'm afraid of playing Bach nowadays and I find it really mortifying...I love listening to Bach, but I hate playing it.

I find Chopin etudes fairly easier than Bach inventions and symphonies   my trauma

It did the same thing for me!!! I have a personal hatred for Bach now xD Listening and playing, though. I only like some of his organ tocattas and fugues (Not necessarily together)

[abbyes]

I actually love Bach but lately I've feel like such a chore practicing it I dunno. I think it has to do with your inner mood of as late, perhaps try starting with a happy, easy-ish piece that you enjoy?

Does Bach have a happy piece haha ? well, his inventions are quite easy ( technically ) ;  still I cant take it.

Well, the only piece I really want to play of him is his Tocatta and Fugue ( the famous one, you know, in films, the " TA TA TAAAA" ) 

It did the same thing for me!!! I have a personal hatred for Bach now xD Listening and playing, though. I only like some of his organ tocattas and fugues (Not necessarily together)

Yeee.... Seems that I'll never be able to play Bach, ( and I aspire to be a professional pianist hahaha ) ...

I love his organ tocattas and fugues too :p

[abel2]

Does Bach have a happy piece haha ? well, his inventions are quite easy ( technically ) ;  still I cant take it.

Well, the only piece I really want to play of him is his Tocatta and Fugue ( the famous one, you know, in films, the " TA TA TAAAA" ) 

Yeee.... Seems that I'll never be able to play Bach, ( and I aspire to be a professional pianist hahaha ) ...

I love his organ tocattas and fugues too :p

I actually wrote up a fun piano version of that toccata, but I haven't done the fugue because I like playing what I write and I'm terrible at contrapuntal playing.

[abbyes]

I actually wrote up a fun piano version of that toccata, but I haven't done the fugue because I like playing what I write and I'm terrible at contrapuntal playing.

Could you share that version ? I would really love to see it. If not, doesnt matter :p

Yeah...I love polyphonic and contrapuntal pieces...I really love multi-voiced pieces, It's marvelous how music can produce such effect ; And it's such a shame that I'm not able to play pieces from the master of contrapuncting ;(

[georgey]

Hello. In another life, I was a classical guitarist attending U of Toronto for Master’s degree in guitar performance before going into math for a math career.   I was okay in my recitals on guitar, but I remember my mom telling me about her piano career.  She played very well in high school.  At a recital, she was playing a Chopin nocturne, forgot where she was in the middle of the piece, re-tried several times to get the piece going again, was unable and ran off stage crying.  She never touched the piano again.  I recently also saw the finals of a state wide high school piano competition where the pianist was playing a Beethoven sonata and for the recap she mistakenly repeated the exposition and improvised an ending to end in the correct key.  Another pianist at this contest had a memory problem, went off stage for 5 minutes before finishing the piece very well.  He played great except for being off stage for 5 minutes.   Piano players should be allowed to play with music if you ask me.

[abel2]

Could you share that version ? I would really love to see it. If not, doesnt matter :p

Yeah...I love polyphonic and contrapuntal pieces...I really love multi-voiced pieces, It's marvelous how music can produce such effect ; And it's such a shame that I'm not able to play pieces from the master of contrapuncting ;(

Sure, let me find it quickly

[abel2]

Sure, let me find it quickly

Ah, I found it. https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/108d16df4256e7d4b083b4ea478f077ffccc3123

[senanserat]

Ah, I found it. https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/108d16df4256e7d4b083b4ea478f077ffccc3123

Love that piece...

[abel2]

Love that piece...

Mine or the Bach? xD

[rubinsteinmad]

Ah, I found it. https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/108d16df4256e7d4b083b4ea478f077ffccc3123

Ur a great transcriber!

[abel2]

Ur a great transcriber!

Ah, thanks! Thankfully, that's one of my better ones. I wrote some shameful studies after other composers xD The fourth one is just ugh...

[xdjuicebox]

Interestingly enough, it was at my girlfriend's house when I was 17, after I "decided to give up piano and do other things in life."

She was having a family dinner, and I was there...and I played Jarrod Radnich's Pirates of the Carribean.

Every time I listen to the recording, I die a little inside, but it made me get back to practicing LOL

[senanserat]

Interestingly enough, it was at my girlfriend's house when I was 17, after I "decided to give up piano and do other things in life."

She was having a family dinner, and I was there...and I played Jarrod Radnich's Pirates of the Carribean.

Every time I listen to the recording, I die a little inside, but it made me get back to practicing LOL

Now I want to hear that!

[perprocrastinate]

My worst recital involved the performance of Chopin's 10/3. I remember it very clearly. I thought I had the piece down pretty well the day before, but as soon as I started playing on stage, I knew that this wasn't going to end well. I had never played on a grand piano before, and my fingers took a while to get used to the touch. I was nervous, shaky, and memory loss hit me badly.

Hearing my recording after the recital made me want to die. It was sloppy, unrefined, and way too slow for my ears to believe it was true. I knew I was prepared. I just couldn't show it. That was not a good first recital experience.

[Bob]

Ones that I remember...

Some kind of memory glitch in a performance a long time ago.  Slow piece.  I don't remember what it was now.

"Bleating" during a standard audition for a concert band on a wind instrument.  Some kind of nervous shake in my hands or neck.  I couldn't get rid of it.

Probably also... missing a coda and playing an entire section/most of a piece again during a more important performance.  I was aware there was the potential but purposely ignored it since it had never happened.  But then it did happen during the performance.  Probably the last time I played that piece.

Fizzling during a performance in the summer.  Too much heat.  Probably sounded horrible but no one would have heard me.  Those types of performances, ones when you don't care, might be more of an issue.

[lostinidlewonder]

When I was young I played with a piano that had a mic turned on near it. I made a mistake and muttered said F$&*en Sh$t and it echoes through the hall. Lol.

[theholygideons]

First time playing the godowsky etude no.1 in C major in a lecture hall in front of others. Couldn't get past the first bar where you play a chord in the middle of the keyboard and then both hands leap out to the extremities of the keyboard. I blame it on not adjusting the height of the stool properly, which was enough to throw everything off by a few millimeters. Needless to say, I ended up demotivated after the first bar and butchered the rest. lol. I'm pretty sure the professor was like 'lol, this sh*t cunt'.

[garry813]

I was playing a Beethoven Sonata once...forgot an entire last section just before the Development and improvised a very Romantic sounding bit to try to try to modulate to the relative minor to get to the Development. Fortunately, the audience weren't piano aficionados or anything and didn't know the piece. Unfortunately, it was recorded and eternalized for me to relive it