Jam Etiquette

[Mike]

Jamming is one of the single best things you can do to increase your abilities. I always tell my students one real live jam session is worth 10 face-to-face lessons.

Let’s get a list going of jamming do’s and don’ts:

Do:
1. Take a solo on a song you’ve never heard to practice (when it’s your turn).
2. Play louder and softer so other people have a turn to play
3. Ask what key the song is in

Don’t:
1. Call multiple songs in a row without letting someone else have a turn to call a song.
2. Close the jam circle to not allow others to participate.
3. Call a super complex song that only you know (Jam Buster).

What other things do you like/dislike when you go to jams?

– Mike

[bruces2]

I found the jam to be the BEST way to improve. But…in my area there are not many jam options. There is the really beginner one, where everyone is sitting with a music stand in front them or the “pro” jam where everyone knows each other and there is no music and it is assumed you know all the songs. Neither is a good place to start…everyone is nice but its hard to get much out of either style. The beginners play so slowly and try to read (hence not listen) so it really hard to even chord along. The pros are overwhelming and you feel really dumb.

I my case, I started my own jam with a few friends…more like a band, we only worked on a few songs until we all got them. Its been a couple of years now and the group has grown and we actually can sound pretty good (one a good night with enough wine:). So I finally feel ready to try the pro jam …

[Luke Sommers]

For many, many years I was too afraid to join jams. Over the past 6 months or so, I took the plunge. My first attempt was not that pleasant, because two of the other guys playing (there were only 3 others) seemed impatient with me. After going two times, I quit. It was just too intimidating. But then I found another one where there were probably almost 20 of us, and what fun!! It was helpful that, like me, most of them had been playing for a long time, but weren’t a whole lot better than I. I did play on songs that I had never heard and it was both fun and educational. So I’d have to say it’s the best thing I’ve ever done (other than signing up w/ Mike Hedding 😉 toward advancing my playing. I couldn’t recommend it strongly enough. All those years I used the same excuses Mike gave in his lesson on jamming. One of the biggest things that helped me is that I got a better sense of rhythm, beat, and the flow of songs. I was amazed with how well I could pick up with the other folks there.

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