Novice fears, nerves, and welcomes?

Good advice! I'll watch for the camps etc. may be a good way in :)

Larrivee DV-09
Taylor T5C2-12 Koa
'73 Granada Modified
Kids got the others

Novice jammers of any acoustic instrument will find WONDERFUL advice at Pete Wernick's website. There is a lot of banjo coverage AND info for pickers of all kinds of instruments. Here is the link: http://www.drbanjo.com/instructional/instruct10-ask-cat-jam.html

He also hosts several Bluegrass Jam Camps around the country, many of which precede festivals. Check it all out: http://www.DrBanjo.com

Hi -- I have been successfully running a jam for the last 3 years. My suggestion to you for creating your own jam might be:

1-Go to jams or festivals in your area. Walk around and see whats going on. Generally you will find a group of folks that play around the same ability as you. That would be a great place for you to start. Just wait until they play a tune you know and just jump on in!

2-Invite all the pickers you know! Have them tell their friends to come too.

Here is an article I had published in the local bluegrass association newsletter several years ago that might be of help. Happing picking!

shelah spiegel
fiddle teacher/performer/jammer
southern california

JAMMING ETIQUETTE
by
Shelah Spiegel

This article is rewritten from an earlier one I wrote about 5 years ago for the SWBA Newsletter. It was a need that I felt should be shared due to actions I had first-hand seeing at the Blythe festival and thought that these views could be used to help with getting along better in jamming situations.

Since the decline in bluegrass festivals in the Southern California area, it seems that bluegrass jammers who are new to this genre of music have not had the opportunity to pick with other, more experienced musicians, or at the least, listen to a group of experienced pickers jam. As a newby to jamming, we have all come into contact with our own inability to feel comfortable joining a jam session for the first few times. Those leering, pinched-lipped pickers who make you feel unwanted or just tell you to play more quietly, can cause a feeling that you aren’t allowed to play with them. In actuality, you are probably doing a jammers faux pas by playing too loud or playing through someone’s break. I would like to add my $.02 to this by showing below my 10 Commandments of Bluegrass Jamming Etiquette. Keep in mind, the reason we play an instrument is to be able to play with other people. So keeping this in mind, go out, how fun, and listen to the other players too!

10 COMMANDMENTS OF BLUEGRASS ETIQUETTE

1. THOU SHALT jam to thy left. Upon completing thy break, the fellow immediately to thy left shall partake of playing next. Shouldest thou choose the tune or song, the fellow immediately to thy left shall thereupon choose the next tune or song.

2. THOU SHALT play backup quietly. Shouldest it not be thy break, thou shalt play quietly. This manner of courtesy allows thy fellows to hear the heavenly melodies of the person in lead and thou mayest pick up some chops in the process.

3. THOU SHALT put thy strings in tune. It is an abomination to the angels shalt thy instrument be of faulty pitch. If thou canst do it by ear, use thy tuner. Intonation of thine instrument is to be held in the highest and will be respected by all.

4. THOU SHALT open thy circle. Allow thy fellow picker to enter the circle if they be of new and fresh meat. Part thy circle and make way for more music. If thy circle be of intimate content, courtliness in manners excusing the fellow from thy practice session is a kindly thing indeed.

5. THOU SHALT play thy break and step away. Do not hoggest the tune by sharing all thy musicality throughout the number loudly. Allowest other pickers opportunities to shine with the wealth of their harmonies.

6. THOU SHALT not turn thy back on thy fellow pickers. It be of rude and contempt toward thy fellow picker.

7. THOU SHALT let someone else be in charge. Since no one is of highest and mighty power and charged with leadership, thy jam be for one and all to call out new tunes.

8. THOU SHALT play thy kitchen, washing, blowing or honking items within a discrete distance away from a serious jam. Bluegrass instrumentation shalt be of stringed instruments only and any other that go before shall be with tolerance and foreboding and within the scope of acceptability of the jam as a whole acceptability.

9. THOU SHALT step away from thy jam if thou canst play the tune. If thou noodlest in the background until the closure of said musicality, rejoin thy jam and make merry with thine instrument.

10. THOU SHALT have fun. Play thy music, make good and beautiful sounds and take pleasure thyself in the sounds that eminate from thine instrument. Speedist not up in thy rhythm nor sing off pitch. Should thy be a fiddle or mandolinist, thou shalt play backup on the 2 and 4. Do not be discouraged by the loathsome 5-stringed demon who plays continuously and at alarming rates, but enjoy the challenge.

Thanks for your response, as I mentioned to James here, I have no problem struming and picking up a beat in progression, my wife with the autoharp on the other hand is going to take some coaxing. We've got her working a half hour a week to start, with a bluegrass player who we hooked up with as a teacher at a local music shop, real basic, but it's keeping her focused, not bad for me either. We will keep exposing ourselves to the functions we can find, and I'm sure we'll eventually work our way in. Seems like a familiar circle that the folk and bluegrass crowd runs with, at 1st glance it appears a lot of people know each other. Thanks for the encouragement.
Larrivee DV-09
Taylor T5C2-12 Koa
'73 Granada Modified
Kids got the others

James, Thank you for your insight, and help. I don't have to much fingerstyle and flatpick experience, and zippo bluegrass (mostly old soft rock, some folk). But I can pick up a beat follow a chord progression and strum along. The open mics we've been seeking out are pretty much folk, solos, maybe duets. But they certainly are not the bluegrass in the books my wife had me get for us. We have located a few jams we will be trying to visit and we'll keep going to the festivals, camps and open mics we source out of here, I figure we'll eventually hit it off with a group that we will feel comfortable with and learn some of their favorite tunes to participate with. I don't really mind a cover if I were to know what I was getting into, heck I'd gladly pay up for a group that felt welcoming.

Larrivee DV-09
Taylor T5C2-12 Koa
'73 Granada Modified
Kids got the others

i have found the best way to join a jam is to walk in and see what is going on then deciede if you can join in type of music speed ect that only you can choose
as for paying some jams do charge to help cover costs involved i play at one "the great northern music hall" charges $4.00 at the door to listen and $2.00 if you go on stage they have several jams in the basement
if you come in the room i am in you will be welcomed with warm hearts
but some rooms are groups praticing to go on stage and want to be left alone
i guess the best advice i can give is check it out and you decide for yourself
keep pickin
randy

looking for ,old rock, country ,bluegrass, gospel

I did a few of those open mike things and finally stopped. I'm not out to impress anybody. Besides, the groups that back up the guys who sing cowboy songs are comfortable with that genre. I waltz up with a huge hammered dulcimer and they get this deer in the headlight look. The backup is pretty awkward. The last time I did it I walked out promising myself the next time THOSE guys heard me play they'd have to buy a ticket. If your asked for a cover charge go somewhere else. You shouldn't have to pay to play. In the Irish circles tradition says the performers get a free beer.

I guess Scott has got to get the word out to folks in Florida about his jamming site. I know there's a few of my snow bird friends who hold their meetings in Florida. I could look around for you a bit. You might also check the local folk arts society using the yellow pages or the local library. Most larger cities have them.

I don't think anybody will have problems with your recording the jam session. The only ones who fuss about that are major recording artists. Actually they don't care but their agent will. To loose the buck 85 from an unsold album keeps them up at night.

I'll contact a friend of mine in Florida to see where the hot jams are.

Jim

Larrivee DV-09
Taylor T5C2-12 Koa
'73 Granada Modified
Kids got the others

Thanks James, my wife and I are just starting to make the rounds, we attended an open mic session yesterday just to familliarize ourselves with the atmosphere, we've been doing some on-line searches for activities (that's how I found this site). It seemed that most of the few people there were well acquainted with each other (we felt a little like fish out of water), the weather wasn't the best so there was just a small group of people there. We seem to have a few more open mic sessions than organized jams in our area, but I have found a few jams listed. We went to one last week some 45 miles from here, however on arriving we found a sign on the door stating closed, but for a cover we could go to another address at a different time, which we choose not to, are cover charges common? There are several scheduled that we intend to search out to attend to just watch at 1st. Is it acceptable to just show up, or is it advised to register or call ahead? And, also is it alright to record (small pocket recorder), if we are not participating? Sorry if I seem anal about this, eventually we'll get the hang of it, but any help would be appreciated.

I guess the only time I felt excluded in a jamming session was at a bluegrass festival where inadvertently stumbled on a large group who were practicing for a show. Rather then tell me what I'd done they closed their circle tighter and kept playing. My reaction? If they want to hear me play they'll just have to buy a ticket from now on.

Jamming is inherently inclusive. Normally in my experience the better players tended to move to the center of the group. I'm guessing most are old and hard of hearing? Maybe not but sliding into a jam session and start playing is acceptable in almost any genre. Walk up with your instrument and somebody will give you a nod in. Trouble comes if your out of tune, don't know the tunes and play anyway, your off beat, you don't listen to others or call out tunes nobody knows. Most jams have a standard fair of tunes most everybody knows. For old timey or Irish you might hear Whiskey Before Breakfast, St. Ann's Reel, Irish Washer Woman and a few others. Bluegrass has their own set of standards along with vocals and ballads. Bluegrass also has the advantage of strong chords. If your familiar with the song's structure you can chord along. If the members are familiar with each other they might skip the standards and go into stuff they've worked up over the years. It's kind of a grab bag if you don't know the group. The best thing I guess is to listen for a while. If you know the majority of the tunes join in. Since I'd drag in a hammered dulcimer and a guitar I could cover most of the tunes. The most important equipment though was the tape recorder shoved underneath my chair. The months of January - March are spent working up tunes I don't know but heard around different sessions.

Jim