Thinking About the Start of a Jam

[DrBone]

So you are hanging out with a drummer and some guitarists, just jamming on whatever you come up with. The drummer lays down a beat and you are next to give the song some life. How do you think about what you play? More specifically do you have a chord progression or harmony in mind when you start (even if it is just one chord) or do you just play whatever and figure it out later?

[GianGian]

I always choose a key or a mode before I start.

[corinpills]

I find that actually knowing a lot of songs ends up being more rewarding than noodling in E for a long time. Chord changes make things a lot more fun.

[Hoover]

Depends on whether "jamming" in your circle of friends means Playing Things That Sound Like Extant Tunes, versus Spontaneously Creating New Music That Is Unique To That Moment.

If it's the latter, I don't think about anything other than "How Can I Make This Music Interesting, Engaging, Provocative, and Compelling?"

If it's the former, I think about all that plus "How Can I Help The Other Musicians Figure Out Where This Is Going?"

[TallicaDeth]

i would think to play some simple stuff if the guitar riff is complicated and play a complicated bass riff like a walking bass line if the guitar riff is simple like power chords. just experiment, anything can work.

[oi_pride]

i just play what ever comes out. i don't think i only do.

[standupright]

i make it up on the spot. whatever my head / feelings lead my fingers to do, and then try to keep it within some form of a blues pattern as to make it easier for the others to follow.

[BB75]

Feel the Groove, it'll tell you what to play.

[Audiophage]

What ever you start with, don't limit yourself to it.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by oi_pride

i don't think i only do.

Thanks, Yoda.

[Scalestein]

so much new age wisdom in this thread

depending on what i'm trying to do I think differently. If it is the first jam and we are just warming up I usually just think about playing in a single key and make my line more rhythmic as opposed to melodic. I like to try and work chord changes in, and find that I have more success by planning it out in my head and then playing something to the changes i planned. Other times I'll do things like try and put emphasis on certain beats and see where that leads, or decide that I'll do a sixteenth note run starting on the third beat, etc.

I find thinking about what I am going to play is in a way restricting myself which always for more creativity. Choosing to play over a predefined set of changes is more likely to get me out of my box than choosing to 'feel the groove, man' and play another jam in A minor. When I just 'feel the groove' I find myself playing the same things I've always been playing and nothing new. In my mind, the place for really letting loose is once the jam has picked up some steam and you have some ground to stand on.

[robthegaff]

I can have a groove in mind before I start but in most cases that's forgotten after 5 minutes or so. It's all about locking in with the drummer rhythmically and supporting the guitarist melodically. That's not to say the drums can't have melodic parts and the guitar is rhythm deficient, but for the most part it's all about supporting the band until youre all comfortable enough with what you have to try and push it a little bit, change some chords, add stops etc. Jaming with a drummer is much more fun than with a drummer and guitarist in my opinion though as you can just go wild, it's amazing fun

[Hoover]

fwiw, I think it might be way more important for musicians to think about the end of a jam rather than the start.

[Floridabwoy]

IMO... you cant fake the funk. Start with something simple on the one like C C CD C C CD run that for 16 or 32 bars then build on it C C BCD C C BCD and so on and so on.

Make sure you remember the groove so you can come back to it on the breakdown

[DudeistMonk]

when the drummer gives you the start that easy...Starting it off is harder because I'm always concerned with what style fits the mood.

but yeah I pick a key, A minor is my personal favorite to start the night, it has an open root, 5th, 4th, and minor7 and its dots for the most part. I start simple and go with the groove.

Also a lot of times I will say screw it and switch key in the middle just because I want to play something else, even if it does sound awful for a bar or two (not so good at these transitions) and if the mood strikes me I'll go nuts and play some busy pentatonic bass solo crap or botch a thousand super busy fills trying to stretch my abilities.

Also I treat jams as learning experiences at this point since me and my drummer buddy have been jamming for like a year now. We drink a bottle of wine and a few Guinness and I try whatever weird things I can think of. I'll say to myself this jam is going to use a hell of a lot of minor 6s...or I want to get into some ambient stuff and play some slides, so I'll try to steer it in that direction...ext. If it sounds like crap all night it doesn't matter, he knows I can play.