So You Went To An "Open" Jam.......

[electracoyote]

My experience with open jams is, they're a lot more fun when everyone knows a significant amount of the same material.

I sometimes attend an open blues jam, and the guys hosting it are good. You play with them, you had best know the songs, and I ain't talkin' I-IV-V 12-bar walkin' the dog.

Sometimes a group of totally different players ends up on the stage, some know each other, some don't, but the rule still applies. If you don't know the material, they will leave you in the dust wishing you could crawl into your shoes.

See if you can get a playlist in advance from the host or BL, and then when you sign in mention the song(s) you'd like to play. It can be a great networking opportunity, but not if you stink up the joint.

 

[peledog]

I don't blame him one bit for disappearing from his own thread when the very first response he got was so cold.

Agreed. The OP may be one of the 'awkward' and 'fumbling' players - he's just starting out, it seems. And that's absolutely ok. We were all there at some point.

 

[radioface]

I find jazz jams, which are usually attended by the best musicians, to be the most challenging. With blues or rock jams, it gets to be the s.o.s., with people who play to loud, or the same songs everytime they get on stage because they don't practice.

 

[Max Blasto]

I don't blame him one bit for disappearing from his own thread when the very first response he got was so cold.

Well, it's already four pages long and he knows it, so I'm sure he's aware that folks have more to say.

I do find it interesting that people here are speaking for him and interpreting what he thinks. But he's not here to verify. Hmmmm....

 

[Dlinqnt]

Internet forum tip #1:

some people are ===D-heads.

Tip#2:

some people aren't.

Good luck

 

[Old Blastard]

Fortunately, we've got good jam leaders. We've had some rank beginners who were, honestly, kind of rank. Everyone supported them, invited them back. Now, six months and 18 jams later, these folks have improved a great deal. I mean a GREAT deal. They were encouraged to come back and went home and practiced. Each time they were better. Sometimes we only get a chance to play four or five songs before we rotate players. We had some folks who KNEW exactly how GREAT they were -- they were perfectly OK -- but after a few jams of getting only five or six songs to play, they dropped out. In short, go. Use it for a learning experience.

 

[fhm555]

Git in the pit and try to love someone.

Cumce cumsa on the open jams. It's like gold mine records. The gold is there, you just gotta dig for it. Leave your preconceived notions at home and go have a little fun. I'm always planning to go to our local jams, but I wind up busy and only make about half of them, but it's still a large time, even suffering through the third go round of blues before sunrise with a harp player channeling bonzo, full throttle blow AND suck from beginning to end.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I'd be interested in hearing your results from attending "open" jams......

Blues are common, but knowing some classics can also go down well - e.g. some Beatles, Stones.

Or there are folk-based ones - so a bit of Simon and Garfunkel, Waterboys, folky end of REM go down well.

But then you can also start your own if there is a bar enough basic gear, and you don't mind making a regular commitment and target it more towards what you want, perhaps.

 

[sm49341]

I've had some fun at the open jams. When I go I usually make a note of the tunes I don't know. You might play a lot of old worn out stuff. But maybe some cool stuff too. I've got s lot of stage experience. If you're new ya might want to just watch the first time. But don't be surprised if you are asked to play. In my area it's the same few people every time and bass players have ample opportunity to jump in. I would advise to play to fit in. Watch the drummer. It'd live, the song can go anywhere.

 

[azureblue]

My jam session experiences, that I can recall:



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.)

And woe to you if you don't know Cajun French and Cajun Waltzes. I played a South Louisiana band for a time, that did a bunch of R&B,and they had some Cajuns in the group and would do some Cajun music to make the audience happy. Sung in French,of course, and after maybe a dozens gigs, I finally got the changes right -the rule was,when you run out of words, change the chord... Or maybe not.. Zydeco I love. But True Cajun music is a thing of it's own....

 

[HolmeBass]

I found that the blues jam I went to was good because the guitarists/singers knew some great tunes. Hacking through Stevie Ray Vaughn is kinda stale, but playing on a really well-done version of "Crosscut Saw" is just cool be me. The idea that a "shopworn" song is inherently bad is kinda silly. The classics are classic for a reason: they are excellent songs. If the rendition is stale, it's on you, not the tune.

I also have gotten the draw to play with some of the lesser experienced and seasoned musicians and I viewed that as giving back to the music community. I am happy to help up-and-comers sound good and have a good time, and in the jam I play in, it is obviously appreciated that I have good attitude about that. The leader is very fair and cognizant of spreading the groups around.

 

[flojob]

I go through phases about open mics. I love having random one-off jam sessions, too. Even post craigslist ads on my off nights trying to get one together.
Truth be told, I'm a horrible blues player, and I know it. I warn the folks when I show up that I don't know any covers. If it's an open jam, and the folks running it know that someone playing doesn't know the tune that has non-standard changes, it's rude to play it anyway and leave a player "in the dust." It's not an audition.
That's never been my experience though. There have been times that the leader asks if I'm familiar with something, and I tell them let's play it anyway, just tell me the key. If they don't mind my mistakes, neither do i. Most folks are nice.
As a side note, I also show up to coffee ship open mics. Full of singer-songwriter types, and i try to convince someone to let me play bass to their original tunes...that I've never heard. Sometimes they do, sometimes they dont. I just love to play, and will do it every chance I get. Except metal. I can't play metal.

 

[RoadRanger]

Maybe I just live in a bad place but when they don't even know the proper chords and structure to "Folsom Prison Blues", "Johnny B Goode", "Mustang Sally", "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" and "House of the Rising Sun" it just turns me off big-time.

 

[veebass]

To the OP, I didn't think any of your assumptions were stupid, and am shocked at the meanness of the second post.

Open jams are tough on bass players. Everyone else can be a sideman--fill in where they want. Bassists have to provide the foundation for the entire song. Often you are called upon to fake a tune you've never heard.

My advice is go as a spectator a few times. You'll become aware of the other players that fit your style and repertoire. Then when you're ready, bring your instrument, and try to go up when they do.

I play in a covers band- same band for 6 years.
So, I enjoy going to open jams and do so a fair bit for something different and challenging. I agree that it can be demanding on bass players, particularly when you haven't heard the song before or only vaguely know it.
The ones I go to supply words with chords written over them. Sometimes it is a bust, but other times it can be really good.
I really appreciate the drummer in my band, after some of my experiences at open jams.
I have been offered quite a number of openings through open jams, so if you are looking for guys to play with, this can be a good way to find them.

 

[worxforme]

I do know that all open jams I've attended sucked...



once I started playing, that is

Seriously they are always fun and unless your expectations are too high I don't see what you have to lose.

 

[Jefff]

Open jams in my town happen usually on tuesday nights. You sign a sheet and maybe you get on and maybe you don't. Then you get home about 1am, I am old and I work days. The only open jam that ever really worked for me was a south suburban bar that had what my daughter called a "geezer jam". Sundays from 3 to 7. That was nice,,

 

[GregT]

I go to open jams. I get to play as a guitarist and sing. I play bass for other guitarists. Then....... I play bass and sing, which is my favorite. I like the jams that welcome the beginners and the veterans because it allows new musicians the opportunity to give it a try. I've backed up my share of new musicians and did my best to help them sound good. Whatever the music, whatever the musician level, I have usually had a great experience.

The jams that have been less fun were because the hosts were rude to newcomers before they heard them play. It happened to me more than once, so I just got up there and showed them. The hosts cannot deny crowd response...... After a few times, you become part of the regulars and hopefully you will help other new people feel welcome.

Best idea is to keep things simple. At least until you figure out the other musicians' playing level. Don't play a 12 chord song at a jam. not good jam-etiquette. Have fun!

 

[eff-clef]

Why don't you go to some instead of making stupid assumptions?
The ones I attend are run by some of the best musicians in town.
You will have a much better chance of finding people to play with at a open jam than CL

This was a rude response. He didn't make an assumption. That's why he posted this inquiry.

 

[JoeWPgh]

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You can sit at home and make all the beautiful music you like by yourself, but you aren't really a 'musician' until you can carry on a 'conversation' with other musicians in a live setting. And yes, there will be stuff you don't like, some stuff you hate, and yet other stuff that makes you cringe. But there will be other times where it goes other places you never even considered., And then there's the networking aspect of it. Do it.

 

[coyote1]

My musical undertakings consist of playing keys and bass, learning covers, writing and recording my own stuff (or reworkings of covers), singing, all done at home.
I have plenty of recordings of famous groups that I fire up and sub as the bass man.

No problem.....all good.

Lately I've been contemplating putting an ad in Craigslist to get together with some older dudes for informal playing and jamming etc. just for the hell of it.....

There are also some "open" jams not too far from me. Pub variety mostly.

When I think "open" jam I envision a bunch of people awkwardly fumbling through shopworn blues tracks,
mainly because everybody's likes are different and nobody knows anybody else's songs....

I've never participated in one.

I'd be interested in hearing your results from attending "open" jams......

I used to be the drummer at an open jazz jam. How it worked in those days was a resident host band - and then a couple players at a time brought up to play.

The host band is expected to be very well versed in the styles advertised for the jam. They also need to be comfortable with all the basics of harmony: know all the usual progressions and substitutions and rhythms so that even if you don't know a song, you can guess where it's going next and be on target. Hopefully you all read music...