First time jamming

Hey guys, I've got a jam session coming up pretty soon, and since I've never tried jamming with other living people (I've played along to the backing tracks in various lessons in the Rock Course), I'm not quite sure if there's anything special to be aware of. Of course, I know it's important to make sure my guitar is tuned properly, and that I have plenty of picks and spare-strings at hand, but is there anything else to be aware of? Also, if it makes any difference, so far, it will only be me and a drummer, since I've begun trying to form a band and I haven't heard from anyone else yet.

Furthermore, what's the best way to transport an amp (single 12-inch speaker) on the train while ensuring that it's protected against weather? I'm thinking of checking if I have a big enough trolley, and if so, stuff it in there. Other options will be appreciated.

I may just be overly concerned, since it's not a gig, and only a jam-session, but I'll rather have things go as smoothly as possible on my half, than show up and look like a fool or even a disaster. I know that with only a single guitarist and a drummer, there's a limit to what you can play, but still, I'll try to make the best of the experience and just, you know... do the most important thing... Have fun :)

Kasperow,

If you have one, bring a metronome. Just like some guitar players some drummers do not use one starting out. No one has to argue who’s out of time if it’s working as you jam.

With luck you will both know a couple of the same songs and have a good time. For the amp, protect the speaker, it’s a big soft spot.

So did you jam yet?

Originally Posted by: haghj500So did you jam yet?

Yeah, didn't go quite as well as I had hoped for, though... But, the important part of it is that I learned an important lesson: I really suck at keeping my pace steady. Most of the time, I just slowly accelerated in speed, against my will...

I should try paying more attention to the decades-old advice of practicing with a metronome, I guess...

A metermone will help. The challenge of playing with others is that you have to focus some attention on what others are playing, not just your playing. You just gotta keep doing it. It will click - one day you will lock into the groove. It is one of the best feelings!!

I've jammed with friends, played in a high school garage band, and played in a church choir. Even playing the simplest thing is so enjoyable when you all get into the groove.

One question - what's the drummer's experience level? If he is inexperienced playing in a group setting, he may be making adjustments too. You would just have to work on it together.

One more...were you trying to play something that was technically challenging for both of you? If so, you might want to try playing something dead simple that you both know. The point of the exercise would be to find the groove and not have to focus so much on what you are playing. Not only will that help with your sense of timing, but it will boost your morale so you can feel better about what you are doing.

Originally Posted by: maggiorA metermone will help. The challenge of playing with others is that you have to focus some attention on what others are playing, not just your playing. You just gotta keep doing it. It will click - one day you will lock into the groove. It is one of the best feelings!!

I've jammed with friends, played in a high school garage band, and played in a church choir. Even playing the simplest thing is so enjoyable when you all get into the groove. [/QUOTE]
Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by: maggiorOne question - what's the drummer's experience level? If he is inexperienced playing in a group setting, he may be making adjustments too. You would just have to work on it together.

He's been playing for about three years, I don't know how much experience he has with playing in a group, though.

[QUOTE=maggior]One more...were you trying to play something that was technically challenging for both of you? If so, you might want to try playing something dead simple that you both know. The point of the exercise would be to find the groove and not have to focus so much on what you are playing. Not only will that help with your sense of timing, but it will boost your morale so you can feel better about what you are doing.

We started out simply, just to warm up the muscles, with "Smoke On The Water", but I somehow managed to play that out of time. It'll come with time, though, as you said. Afterwards, we tried a few slightly more mixed things, some fast, heavy rock-jamming, and some slower jamming too, as well as bits of various songs we could both agree on giving a shot, mostly just with some progressions/riffs (I'm not quite sure about the difference between those two...) I've come up with myself, although we did try playing some other stuff too (like the Rhythm-portion of "Chinese Democracy" by Guns N' Roses, for example. Awesome main-riff in that one). If there'd been a second guitarist, it could've been fun to try improvising over my own progressions/riffs too, but that'll have to be another time, then.

I'm hoping to get some more people together and try jamming with an actual band (and learn more from it), and start making some music that's just as awesome as some of GNR's, Aerosmith's and Deep Purple's best rock-hits, without having to resort to covers all the time.

Kasperow,

Sounds like a lot of first jams, most importantly you learned a lot. For one, all jamming kind of have to know where the other person is going next or a jam will not sound good or feel good to play.

For working on your timing I have two ideas.

Anders Mouridsen teaches La Grange. Check out the Have Mercy: First Solo Rhythm.
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1452

It’s a great easy rhythm and you can force yourself to play as slow as he does jamming along. Match him strum per strum, I’m not talking about the lead, just the rhythm. Plus, La Grange is kind of like Smoke on the water. Every guitar player should know it. Guaranteed to get a crowd on its feet.

Metronomes are great, but how are you going to keep a beat if one is not around and a guitar is. Tap your foot 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 bounce your leg, get more of your body evolved so you can feel the tempo trying to change.

Being aware of the problem will help a lot.

Originally Posted by: haghj500Kasperow,

Sounds like a lot of first jams, most importantly you learned a lot. For one, all jamming kind of have to know where the other person is going next or a jam will not sound good or feel good to play.

For working on your timing I have two ideas.

Anders Mouridsen teaches La Grange. Check out the Have Mercy: First Solo Rhythm.
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1452

It’s a great easy rhythm and you can force yourself to play as slow as he does jamming along. Match him strum per strum, I’m not talking about the lead, just the rhythm. Plus, La Grange is kind of like Smoke on the water. Every guitar player should know it. Guaranteed to get a crowd on its feet.

Metronomes are great, but how are you going to keep a beat if one is not around and a guitar is. Tap your foot 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 bounce your leg, get more of your body evolved so you can feel the tempo trying to change.

Being aware of the problem will help a lot.

Thanks. I've tried to learn to play La Grange in the past, but I always find the main-riff to be incredibly hard to play properly, mostly due to the last portion, where you have to play notes on the second and fifth fret, and my fingers don't like to stretch over that big a gap.

As for the part with bouncing my leg, I already do that a bit, usually just tapping my foot, but occasionally, I begin to do it with the whole leg. It also does explain just why some guitarists move their legs up and down when playing live. I've seen it done in various bigger concerts on youtube, I've seen it in some huge live-gigs I've had the chance to attend, and I've even seen it in some small gigs for a 50-man audiende, but I never really thought about why they do it. Thanks for shedding some light on that, haghj500.

The tapping the foot thing is a good idea. I've seen that called out in lessons - perhaps here, possibly in some random youtube video I stumbled on.

Something else that I thought of is how well do you know this drummer? Jamming and playing is a lot like having a conversation, and conversations are better when you know the person better. Conversations with somebody you just met can also be awkward. In a musical context, this means that you know a bit about their playing style so you can anticipate what they may do next...and the first time you play together may have some awkard moments.

Next time, just try making up your own songs or riffs. When you go to play a tune that everyone knows, like "Smoke on the Water", you're still competing with the original, which was performed by seasoned veterans. More over, how many jams or live renditions of "Smoke on the Water" have any of us heard where everyone, especially the guitar players, knew the whole tune? More likely its just that opening riff, and you repeat repeat repeat until its flogged to death. Same thing with "Crazy Train"... everyone knows the opening riff, but it often ends there... fun to "jam" to because the opening drum and bass line is both catchy and simple to play. But once again, it usually just falls apart after that.

When you jam someone else's tune, especially when you're new and the tune is not particularly easy to play, it just ends up making everyone realize that they kind of suck. Which, is true if we're really talking about how did our jam compare to the album recorded original. This can just make things feel awkward.

Instead, just ask the drummer to lay down a beat... anything he likes. Now he's playing what he likes to play, what he KNOWS he can play, so he/she will play it well. Now its your turn to see if you can tap into what you KNOW how to play, use the technical skill you've learned so far, let your mind go, feel the music and see if you can come up with something original that works with what the drummer is playing. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but a lot of times it does, and now you are getting to know who you really are as musicians.

U2 started from very humble beginnings. Adam Clayton could barely play bass when they started, but he got swept up with group because he was their friend and they really needed a bass player (lucky bastard). They actually learned their instruments as they jammed and played together. Small wonder that they would develop a cohesive sound.

So try it yourself... its way more fun to jam with your own creative energies at the helm, without any "no, its not played like that" bouncing around in your head. And who knows, you might come up with something that is truly original and your band's journey will have begun.

Originally Posted by: Slipin LizardInstead, just ask the drummer to lay down a beat... anything he likes. Now he's playing what he likes to play, what he KNOWS he can play, so he/she will play it well. Now its your turn to see if you can tap into what you KNOW how to play, use the technical skill you've learned so far, let your mind go, feel the music and see if you can come up with something original that works with what the drummer is playing. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but a lot of times it does, and now you are getting to know who you really are as musicians.

When you only jam with a drummer and nobody else (no rhythm guitar, no bass...) isn't it really just about playing something cool that matches the pace laid out by the drummer? Or is there more to playing with a drummer than that?

I did try to play original stuff, though. But my creativity only goes so far sometimes. Perhaps I should try making a library of riffs I can play whenever I come up with one... I've already got some written down in Guitar Pro, so it could be an idea...

Slipin Lizard, best advice EVER!

Originally Posted by: KasperowYeah, didn't go quite as well as I had hoped for, though... But, the important part of it is that I learned an important lesson: I really suck at keeping my pace steady. Most of the time, I just slowly accelerated in speed, against my will...

I should try paying more attention to the decades-old advice of practicing with a metronome, I guess...

one other thing you learned: You'll never feel like you played your best. don't let it stop you. keep going and it'll get MUCH better. the more you do it the more everything will get better. :)

Originally Posted by: pattyb5one other thing you learned: You'll never feel like you played your best. don't let it stop you. keep going and it'll get MUCH better. the more you do it the more everything will get better. :)

I suppose that's true. Then again, if I played my best during a jam, there wouldn't be much joy in playing actual gigs, since then my playing wouldn't be as good. I'd rather have a mediocre jam and then a great gig, than an amazing jam and a horrible gig.

So, my search for jam-buddies and/or band-mates has taken an interesting turn today. I just got invited by the guitarist in a band, who's currently missing a second guitarist, but I'm a bit worried about joining them, since my guitar-playing speed isn't particularly great (I'm more of a "Less is more" kind of person, at that point), so I might get into trouble if they expect me to be able to shred 16th notes at 600bpm, and the best I can handle is a lot less than that. I've tried asking what their entrance-barriers are, but until I get a response, I'd like some "expert-opinions" on this area. They're an established band, and I've made it clear that I'm at what can be considered a mix between "advanced beginner" and "lower intermediate", when it comes to playing guitar, although my techniques (bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides) are a bit higher than that.

Other advice? Other than, obviously, jam with the and see how things go?

Go for it..
It may be a chance of a life time.
You can not learn to swim if you don't go in the water.
The worst they could say is no. Then you go home and practice and search for another opportunity..

Originally Posted by: compart1Go for it..
It may be a chance of a life time.
You can not learn to swim if you don't go in the water.
The worst they could say is no. Then you go home and practice and search for another opportunity..

Good point. And if I don't embrace this opportunity, I might have to wait years for the next one to appear. And I just got a quite positive response from their guitarist. The entrance-barriers can pretty much be summarized as non-existent, so this opportunity couldn't possibly be any better for someone as new as I am! And even if their genres don't really match up 100% with what I want to play (they play hard rock, classic rock and punk rock, I want to play hard rock, classic rock and some rock ballads), playing with a rock band is a huge step towards reaching my goals as a musician.

Go even if they didn't keep you, what you learn along the way will be worth the effort. Who knows, you may all get a long good enough, they may think it's worth keeping you around for a few weeks and see how you progress.

Any good advice for what to play when I'm going to that jam with those guys? I suspect that a bit of the less-common songs I know (the intro/chorus riff of "Chinese Democracy" for example) as well as some of my own riffs would be a good idea, since that's what we did last time, but since I have more to win or miss out on here, I'll rather be on the safe side. So what mix would give me the better chance of being inducted into the band? Only playing someone else's songs? Only own riffs? Or some mix between the two to cover the genres I want to play? The band I'll be "auditioning" for plays both originals and covers, by the way.

Again, I'm only asking because I really, really want to leave a good impression on these guys.

Originally Posted by: KasperowAny good advice for what to play when I'm going to that jam with those guys? I suspect that a bit of the less-common songs I know (the intro/chorus riff of "Chinese Democracy" for example) as well as some of my own riffs would be a good idea, since that's what we did last time, but since I have more to win or miss out on here, I'll rather be on the safe side. So what mix would give me the better chance of being inducted into the band? Only playing someone else's songs? Only own riffs? Or some mix between the two to cover the genres I want to play? The band I'll be "auditioning" for plays both originals and covers, by the way.

Again, I'm only asking because I really, really want to leave a good impression on these guys.

I would say do some homework - like researching a company before you go on a job interview. Do you have any access to some of their original songs - youtube, CD, mp3 from Amazon? I think it would be pretty impressive if you chose a track of theirs that you really liked and learned it before you showed up. Maybe make sure you know some of the covers they do to. Have you ever seen them play live? If not, you should check them out to get a feel of how they are and act on stage.