When I was in college in Ithaca a Cornell Bar/pizza place called " The NInes" had a open mic blues monday every week. My buddies were in the house band it was almost always amazing..... BOC's Buck Dharma was a regular. John Popper and other visiting musicians were in and out.....Lots of good times. In the right place an open mic night can be epic!!!
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So You Went To An "Open" Jam.......
- Thread starter ZenG
- Start date
I did a Jam for two years in CA. The range of players were from beginners to working pro.
Great place to network. I got into two Bands by doing the Jam. I enjoyed playing tunes I completely did not know, on the fly.
Great place to network. I got into two Bands by doing the Jam. I enjoyed playing tunes I completely did not know, on the fly.
Through the years I have attended many open jams. Usually, the first time I went, I brought my bass and amp, but left them in the car. Nowadays, when I show up, I am pushed into playing. I do not like playing with two bass players, so I usually pass if they already have a bass player or two. I am at best an advanced intermediate player, but I can lay a solid groove, and unfamiliar songs / chord patterns do not scare me.
Anyway, I recommend local jams as a great way to network with the local music scene. A positive way to win friends and influence people. Meet and greet people from all walks of life - with the common thread of being musicians. Plus who else is going to notice you are playing a custom shop G&L L2500 fretless?
Anyway, I recommend local jams as a great way to network with the local music scene. A positive way to win friends and influence people. Meet and greet people from all walks of life - with the common thread of being musicians. Plus who else is going to notice you are playing a custom shop G&L L2500 fretless?
I don't blame him one bit for disappearing from his own thread when the very first response he got was so cold.
Our band used to host 2 open jams per week at different venues. I often filled in on 6-string or bass, sometimes for most of the evening. It's a fun and nearly painless way to get some experience working in front of people, and learning how to listen and contribute, and flying by the seat of your pants. Great for networking. I didn't know but one of the regular jammers when I started doing it. The first time I participated my hands were shaking so much I could barely play my guitar. Eventually I got to "jam" with lots of the local folks over the few years we hosted. I say "jam" because often the "jam" is not so much "jamming" as it is strangers collaborating on pop songs. I know several people who started bands with others they met at the jams. That's how I got to meet and later join the host band. Sometimes you get stuck backing everybody who comes in, other nights there are lots of players, you get more down time, and it's more of a social gathering. Sometimes the participants can barely play, and you kinda suffer through it. Nobody ever got sent home because they were lousy, by that I mean there were usually enough good players to offset the occasional wannabe-but-will-never-be musicians who turn out. It's been a good learning experience for me and was essential to my desire to get back into the local music scene after doing the family thing for a couple decades. DO IT! You'll probably have a blast.
Best deep dish in Ithaca! I did the same thing at the ABC cafe for jazz jams. The guys there were gracious for letting me play and improve with them. Such a friendly scene up there. You went to IC? Did you study with Steve at all? He retired and does private lessons now- I used to take walk my bass from collegetown to his house. One of my greatest memories is getting chewed out by him for screwing up bass lines.
I was in Ithaca from 1986-1999....I went IC: Class of 1990. My friends were music majors in the Conservatory....I managed the Black Dog band for a spell and opened and ran the Ithaca Music in 1991. When were you there? I was the Executive Chef of the Rose Inn from 1991-1999.
+1
I don't think there is any statement you can make on TB these days, no matter how innocuous, that won't offend someone.
EDIT - frankly I've been to some open mics that consisted of a bunch of Stevie Ray wannabes wanking on Pride and Joy ad nauseum.
Bit after my time.....Were Pete Panick and the Blue cats still jamming at the Nines during your time????
This is for the stupid people out there, myself included....
How do you find an open jam? I had no clue and never saw one advertised.
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...and there's an open jam a block from my house.
EDIT: look into the schedules before going. The one listed near me was from five years ago and no longer active. But it may give you a lead on an active open jam.
How do you find an open jam? I had no clue and never saw one advertised.
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...and there's an open jam a block from my house.
EDIT: look into the schedules before going. The one listed near me was from five years ago and no longer active. But it may give you a lead on an active open jam.
There are a ton of jerks looking to fight on TB. I think it's frustration, either performance based or otherwise. I've never been to an open jam that didn't suck. The same crappy blues licks, over and over. Good luck to op, maybe you'll have a different experience than mine..
It's usually easiest if you live near a city, or one of those artsy boroughs that we have so many of in the Northeast. I am just far enough outside the city these days to make it a hassle to get downtown.
Hosted one a while back. Mostly consisted of better players we knew who were bored and felt like getting out of the house in the dead of winter
Not a stupid question. I put an ad on the local craigslist that I was a bass player looking for open mic. I found about 5 within easy driving distance from my house.
I liked your post because I agree with your 1st statement(about jerks on TB), I can't really agree with your 2nd though, but as they say here, YMMV...it probably really depends on the location in guessing
Blues, huh? Like "Blues for Alice", "All Blues", Prince's "Kiss", Paul Butterfield's "Love Disease". BB's "Let the Good Times Roll? Do you know the difference between a Chicago shuffle, a Memphis shuffle, Delta shuffle, New Orleans shuffle, Texas swing shuffle? Can you play behind the beat, centered and on top, at will?
Want to make a fool of yourself at a blues jam? Get up there and play every bass fill you can while being way ahead of the beat, all the while thinking you are going to show these old guys something cause you can play some monster two hand tapping slapping popping harmonics wanking bass riff.
Want to make a fool of yourself at a blues jam? Get up there and play every bass fill you can while being way ahead of the beat, all the while thinking you are going to show these old guys something cause you can play some monster two hand tapping slapping popping harmonics wanking bass riff.
My jam session experiences, that I can recall:
1. A local jazz club had a regular session on a weekday night. I went once to watch. The rhythm section was professional, and the people that signed up to sit on a song or two seemed pretty advanced too. Now I'd probably prepare one standard and go back and if I'm a little lame, whatever, that's kind of what it's there for. At the time I was too intimidated, and now the place is long dead, alas.
2. My banjo- and saw-playing father in law sometimes takes us to folk-ish jam sessions in a city park community center. First a visiting performer plays a short set, then the leaders handed out music for some songs, generally traditional music everyone knows, and everyone plays or sings along. I didn't have an instrument but I'd sing along a little. It's pleasant and I can practice finding harmony parts. The visiting performers can be quite good.
3. I go to a session in a local community center twice a month. Two hours, typically 10-20 people. If you want to play a song you bring 20-some copies to pass around. All ages and levels, but typically musically skilled retirees or empty-nesters, and the song choices lean to that age group. If it's a Beatles tune, for example, people can often work out the background and harmony vocals on the spot. There are a *lot* of guitarists, so a bass player's welcome, especially if you can help keep things together. Often I'm the only bass player, sometimes there's more and I'll either just go on doing my usual thing, or experiment with playing something less bass-line-y in a higher register. Charts are just chords and lyrics and not always completely accurate, so figuring out the song structure and finding a workable bassline keeps me on my toes, usually in a good way. I've met people there to play with elsewhere too. It's a good time. Every other time there's an open mic. Most are surprisingly good. Occasionally there's a dud, but all anyone gets is one song, so it's over soon.
4. There's a group that meets to play Cajun music in a picnic shelter by a river. I know next to nothing about Cajun music, but simple basslines work fine and the Cajun flavor is mostly the job of the singers and accordion players. The harmony's very simple. (The one tricky part is like a lot of traditional music the timing of chord changes can be weirdly irregular, so sometimes I have to sit out a few choruses while I figure it out.) It ends up sounding good. Passerby are charmed to stumble across us in the park. I can watch the kayakers and crew teams on the river while I play. Nothing like it on a summer evening. Without power the amp of choice is the Roland Micro Cube (there's been as many as 3 of them there at a time...), which I don't particularly love the sound of, but it gets the job done.
These mostly seem to happen because there's one or two enthusiastic people who provide some good easy-to-understand structure and keep everyone moving along and having fun.
Another thing they've all had in common is that you're welcomed to just watch. So there's no risk to trying it out. Do it!
1. A local jazz club had a regular session on a weekday night. I went once to watch. The rhythm section was professional, and the people that signed up to sit on a song or two seemed pretty advanced too. Now I'd probably prepare one standard and go back and if I'm a little lame, whatever, that's kind of what it's there for. At the time I was too intimidated, and now the place is long dead, alas.
2. My banjo- and saw-playing father in law sometimes takes us to folk-ish jam sessions in a city park community center. First a visiting performer plays a short set, then the leaders handed out music for some songs, generally traditional music everyone knows, and everyone plays or sings along. I didn't have an instrument but I'd sing along a little. It's pleasant and I can practice finding harmony parts. The visiting performers can be quite good.
3. I go to a session in a local community center twice a month. Two hours, typically 10-20 people. If you want to play a song you bring 20-some copies to pass around. All ages and levels, but typically musically skilled retirees or empty-nesters, and the song choices lean to that age group. If it's a Beatles tune, for example, people can often work out the background and harmony vocals on the spot. There are a *lot* of guitarists, so a bass player's welcome, especially if you can help keep things together. Often I'm the only bass player, sometimes there's more and I'll either just go on doing my usual thing, or experiment with playing something less bass-line-y in a higher register. Charts are just chords and lyrics and not always completely accurate, so figuring out the song structure and finding a workable bassline keeps me on my toes, usually in a good way. I've met people there to play with elsewhere too. It's a good time. Every other time there's an open mic. Most are surprisingly good. Occasionally there's a dud, but all anyone gets is one song, so it's over soon.
4. There's a group that meets to play Cajun music in a picnic shelter by a river. I know next to nothing about Cajun music, but simple basslines work fine and the Cajun flavor is mostly the job of the singers and accordion players. The harmony's very simple. (The one tricky part is like a lot of traditional music the timing of chord changes can be weirdly irregular, so sometimes I have to sit out a few choruses while I figure it out.) It ends up sounding good. Passerby are charmed to stumble across us in the park. I can watch the kayakers and crew teams on the river while I play. Nothing like it on a summer evening. Without power the amp of choice is the Roland Micro Cube (there's been as many as 3 of them there at a time...), which I don't particularly love the sound of, but it gets the job done.
These mostly seem to happen because there's one or two enthusiastic people who provide some good easy-to-understand structure and keep everyone moving along and having fun.
Another thing they've all had in common is that you're welcomed to just watch. So there's no risk to trying it out. Do it!
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I hope some of these response helped. There are a couple condescending replies that don't warrant a boar's fart.
Best thing you can do is go. Jump right in. Learn as you go. You'll find that there are more folks playing for the joy of it.
Best thing you can do is go. Jump right in. Learn as you go. You'll find that there are more folks playing for the joy of it.
