I have been playing seriously now for 2 years. I would consider myself as between an advanced beginner and a early intermediate player. I have never played with other musicians but have been asked to join an informal jam at a local small town msic store for a long time now. I finally accepted and while they know I am not a great player, they are very encouraging for me to come. Most of the players are either working musicians or former professionals. We are all in our 50's and 60's so we have a lot of music in common. I am very anxious as the afternoon of our jam session is next week. Scared to death more like it. Any advice to not completely have a breakdown will be greatly appreciated.
My first time playing with other musicians
# 1
Hey Blakeney, I can certainly sympathize with your anxiety about jamming for the first time with guitarists who will probably be doing alot of improvisation. Unless you've been practicing improvisation with riffs and licks, and know the notes and chords belonging to specific keys, you're not going to be able to do what they do. However, if you do go (even if you just sit in and ask questions the first time) I'm sure they will set you up with a few chords in the relavent key and have you just play those in an improvised manner.
Hanging and jamming with musicians more skilled than youself is a great way to supercharge your learning... a lot. Most guitarist want nothing more that to be able to share their guitar wisdom with others. They'll probably set upon you like a pack of musical hyenas in a teaching frenzy.
Do it! I very much doubt that you'll regret it.
Nicolai
# 2
First of all, congradulations on finding people to play with! That is a real advantage that seems to be a lot harder to do than it used to be. Seriously... way to go!
Hands down, after persistant practice, playing with others is the best thing you can do to make your music grow. Jamming is a surprising endevor and that is what makes it so powerful. Once you are comfortable with the group, your own playing will really excellerate. I don't know if it is from being streached by exposure to more advanced playing, or excitement at participating in making music, or losing yourself in the moment...but Jamming with others really super charged my learning process.
Do they use lead sheets (printed words and chord names)? If so get copies so you can get up to speed with the chord changes on your own time. Get a tape recorder and record the group! Pay close attention to the rhythm as you play, that is critical to making music not noise. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN!! You are trying to blend with the sound the group makes. Most important.... Have fun!! This is where REAL MUSIC HAPPENS! ENJOY THE RIDE!!
Captcha is a total pain in the........
# 3
Originally Posted by: Blakeney8I finally accepted and while they know I am not a great player, they are very encouraging for me to come. Most of the players are either working musicians or former professionals.
Everyone gave you great advice!
Relax & try to have fun with it. If they are pros they should be able to assess your skill level quickly & adjust to your playing or help you be part of the session.
Playing with musicians more skilled or advanced than you is great because you can count on them playing solidly, giving you pointers. Often with amateurs it's hard to know if or why something is not working. Or there are people with attitudes trying to posture instead of work together.
If they have any chord charts, then get them. Review them. If not, then ask what tunes they like to play, find a basic chord chart for those tunes & work on those chord changes.
Remember that when you play in real time you have to count on whatever skills you've already automated. There's no time to stop & start over. Or learn a complex new chord shape or complicated change. This is why repetitious practice with a metronome or backing track is so important.
In order to play in real time any & all physical motions, chord shapes or changes must already be completely second nature. With that in mind, don't try to play above your pay grade, or expect that you'll be able to do things that you can't already.
This is the part that can be daunting to beginners: they think they have to know everything in order to start playing! But you don't and realistically you can't. So, don't worry about what you can't play yet. Just concentrate on what you can currently do, relax & do it solidly in time. After one session you'll have a clear idea of where you stand.
Finally, congrats on finding people to jam with. Playing music, in real time, with other people is really where the rubber meets the road. You learn so much about what it really takes to play, what you need to work on, how to play & listen at the same time, what you enjoy, what you'd like to learn next.
Have fun with it!
# 4
First time can be daunting, but you'll probably love it after the first few minutes. Then you'll be hooked.
Most musicians who like to jam are pretty easy going. It's the ones in the "We're going to be the next big thing" bands who can be a pain to get along with; all ego, and less talent than they imagine.
I wish this forum had a "block user" feature. Possibly I'm not the only one......
# 5
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"Most musicians who like to jam are pretty easy going. It's the ones in the "We're going to be the next big thing" bands who can be a pain to get along with; all ego, and less talent than they imagine."
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Well put Draconus!
Captcha is a total pain in the........
# 6
Originally Posted by: Blakeney8I have been playing seriously now for 2 years. I would consider myself as between an advanced beginner and a early intermediate player. I have never played with other musicians but have been asked to join an informal jam at a local small town msic store for a long time now. I finally accepted and while they know I am not a great player, they are very encouraging for me to come. Most of the players are either working musicians or former professionals. We are all in our 50's and 60's so we have a lot of music in common. I am very anxious as the afternoon of our jam session is next week. Scared to death more like it. Any advice to not completely have a breakdown will be greatly appreciated.
My advice would be: Calm down! haha
No but for real you probably don´t have any reason to be scared in any capacity. As you said, they even invited you to come so the just want to have fun. And another thing you could think of is this: See the whole process as major opportunity. You´ll get to know many (probably) cool musicians. You could have the chance to learn a bunch of stuff there. You could really have a fun time. So just go there, jump over your shadow and have an open mind and an open heart and no harm will be done to you :D
# 7
What a great opportunity for growth! After playing alone for years I (timidly) jumped at the chance to jam with other players at a big open area. We would each jam in a given key and I was able to explore runs up and down the positions. I will sometimes play around the 1-4-5 chords and then just stay on the key chord as a switch up. It helped so much with my timing etc. You have a wonderful opportunity, soak it up!
# 8
I am envious of your position. I have been playing a while now, but I find it very difficult to find a group to jam with. I have done it twice with mixed results. The first time was a neighborhood jam session that welcomed all skill levels. For the most part, they were patient with me and not critical. Covid hit and stopped the jam sessions have they have not resumed. Last year, I got invited to a friend's house who had another friend coming over with his guitar. This guy was not what I would call patient. I have always struggled with playing in front of others, but I know I really NEED to. Please let us know how it goes with you!
# 9
Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegelPlaying with musicians more skilled or advanced than you is great because you can count on them playing solidly, giving you pointers. Often with amateurs it's hard to know if or why something is not working. Or there are people with attitudes trying to posture instead of work together.
Lots of great advice here and particularly from Chris. This little paragraph gets right to the essence of the whole deal. If you're humble enough to be a learner (sounds like you are) and the dudes who invited you know your level, it's a win.
Being able to sit in with some good, skilled players is invaluable. Even if you don't play everything or don't know a song but start seeing what they're playing and maybe jump in for a few chords, it builds you.
About 5 minutes from my house, there's a little bluegrass venue (Everetts Barn) with live bluegrass (for a donation of your chosing. Great family place. Anyway, in addition to the actual show in the barn (it's more like a large wood shed with church pews), in what used to be the Everett family house, people show up with instruments to just jam.
I'd bring my guitar and have been playing for decades but lord almighty, those people juset showing up to jam are amazing. If your really want to challenge yourself with guitar, learn some hot bluegrass.
Even me as someone who did the shred thing and was in a couple of 80's era shredder contests, I get a little initmidated by people with so much skill. Some day I will show up with my acoustic.
The point here is that there were guys who you could see haven't played guitar for a terribly long time sitting in and getting only support. Cool people are cool people.
Go, enjoy and have fun.
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