I started going to jam sessions at some point, long before I studied in preparation for a Master of Music degree, and to be honest, the first one I ever went to was a horrendous experience but also terrific in that I learned more about musical expectations and social politics in one evening than I had ever learned in my more formal music studies.
Fast forward almost twenty years and I now know that one of the best ways to grow musically, meet “cats”, and find playing opportunities is by heading out to some jam sessions.
I always encourage my students to participate in live sit-ins and well organized jam sessions. This video was taken at Capitol Cider in Seattle, WA, last Monday night. The tune is called De la Noche a la Mañana by Elefante
Show up, sign up, sit in, and play
Here are some things that I have learned from participating in jam sessions:
- Come with low expectations, and I mean that in the most gracious and respectful sense. For example, signing up then not getting called up can be a big drag or just downright insulting, but then again, so is taking extra choruses or being aggressive about getting a turn to play.
- The genre and musical expectations of the host or house band often determines what types of tunes get called. Are you heading to a jazz jam? World music? Latin? As a horn player, you should be prepared to play anything or step aside when a song with which you are unfamiliar is called out.
- Be prepared to take some criticism, it is common, painful, and always more true than we want to admit. It is also the reason why we get better. Some people are just jerks and will make suggestions that are really outside of their expertise, but be willing to consider any honest feedback that you receive, no matter how humbling it may seem.
How will you know your ready?
As an instrumentalist, my personal opinion is that you’ll want to be able to repeat simple melodies in the original key. You’ve got to have a goal of learning verse, chorus, or bridge melody quickly. It does take lots of practice to get the ears trained up for this, but in time you’ll find you can do it on the spot in a live audience type of situation. The next step is creating harmonies and background lines that accurately reflect the song’s structure and form. Transcribing music by ear from recordings has helped me in developing this skill.
Other Prerequisites
- Learn all of the Major, Minor, Diminished, and Whole Tone scales by practicing them in a variety of directions and patterns.
- Put together a list of popular songs including or featuring your instrument and then try to memorize the melody and form of each one.
- Ask yourself, can I follow the form of the songs that might be called? Do I know the key signature or tonal centers? Can I play the melodies?
Have confidence and go for it
If you’ve done some research and have a general idea of what tunes you might have to play and you feel comfortable improvising a short solo or two, you’re ready to sit-in at a jam session and take your small group playing to the next level!