Open mic open jam session question ...

[lopxtc]

So Ive been playing for about a year now ... and I know that Im still very much a beginner and that I do suck in areas LOL ... so Im not ashamed to admit that.

Recently Ive started looking for others to play with, as I am really bored and finding my interest lacking in just sitting around doing scales and such ... so I thought I would check out some of the local bring your instrument and jam sessions that are here in St. Louis. I dont know alot of songs, but I understand chords and playing in the key of a song.

What Im wondering is what should I do if I go and someone who is leading the jam (say for simplicity the vocalist) says lets play the next song in E ...

Should I just following along with the drummer and try to lay down the best rhythm I can even if just going 1 .. 3 .. 5 .. etc? And try to catch the chord changes as they happen?

Aaron

[RED5]

Good question. Really. If I were you?, I would go to an open mic in your area and watch and listen to what goes on. They're all different. Get a feel for what type of jam it is, Blues is the big standard here, not too hard to play, but if you get a real hardcore blues jam?, it's likely they got a pocket full of tunes down cold. Like I said? see what the tone of the jam is and pick a song they're doing ,learn it at home and show up next week with it worked out. try and get there early too. We get the early new guys on fast, so they get a chance before the late night shift shows. Get out and play. Best thing you can do.

[Earthday]

Bluegrass jams can be a lot of fun. It's usually nothing but roots and lower 5ths with some walks here and there, and there's usually not more than 3-4 chords. The fun is that you are the timekeeper and you can really focus on time and groove.

It's more of an upright bass thing, but I'm sure they'd accept an acoustic bass or an electric with a small amp (fretless would sound nice)

[joelb79]

Learn the blues. Blues is simple, in the key of E, the 4 is A, the 5 is D. Most music is based off the blues. Also, scales are great for anything when your jumping in between notes you can just run the scale. Learn where ALL notes are located on your fretboard. Play along with the radio in a style of music you don't normally listen to. And please please please, never learn that new punk rock crap. Its too simple anyways, there is no reason that any player cannot play that stuff if they know the basics.

I also found that learning basic guitar chords helps a great deal. Over time, I've been able to read guitarists hands from behind. Of course its better if I can actually see their hands, but I get offered a lot of gigs because of this little feat. Most of the time if I'm wrong, they just turn and I correct.

Another thing I've found, if you make a wrong note, fix it on the next beat. If that part of the song repeats, try to repeat your mistake. That way nobody even knows you didn't mean to do that.

[jfv]

Blues is a good answer, but if you are talking
a real jazz jam where there are usually horns
then E is a really bad key to begin in. I play
in a big band and I bet half the music I play
is in Ab, you are almost NEVER in a sharp key
except for the bridge. Most starting bass books
from jazzers will have you start in F or maybe
Bb.

Best advise was to go and check it out first,
some jams are pretty high power and unless you
wanna really embarrass yourself you should just
listen and learn.

Good luck,

[photoshopgeek]

Love playing blues! Pretty much 1,4,5. You can be as simple as you want and it sounds awesome, or you can really go all out and and it still sound good.