How to find someone to jam with?

Hi guys,
So, I have finished my course and workouts, and now as I am an official bass badass :sunglasses::laughing::laughing::laughing:, I was wondering, how to find people to jam with :thinking:. Any insights on this topic would be much appreciated. Thanks :blush:

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A few years ago when I was living out of state and didn’t know anyone, I placed an ad on craigslist, the community section/ musicians. I wanted to find 50+ yr old folks who just wanted to jam every so often. Got about 3 guys to respond, however the one guy had to have emergency surgery for an eye issue and we never did get together, but craigslist may work out.
Also, check with local music stores, some have bulletin boards, possibly post a message there, and ask the employees too, they may have knowledge of folks wanting to jam. Good Luck

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@DonOnyx: there should be several threads in here already discussing this and slightly related issues - among others the “Playing your first gig” thread.

I think @Vik even posted a template for an ad that he used (successfully) to find others to jam with.

I hope you can find some of the stuff with the “search” option - if not, @eric.kiser probably knows :grin:

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Hey, @DonOnyx! . . . :slight_smile:

@joergkutter is right . . . there are indeed a few threads in here addressing this.

Check out a place called “Bandmix”:

HTH and best of luck in your search, Joe

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Congrats on finishing the course @DonOnyx , yeah, I tried BandMix, but had way better luck with Craigslist, as in, enough people calling or texting that I could pick and choose and screen who I wanted to play with. Oh yeah, you can also find open mic nights in your area and meet people that way. As @joergkutter mentioned, here’s the link for the ad I posted, if you’d like to modify and use as a template:

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I have just started a facebook page for local musicians in my area. I started on the 20th of dec and we already have 15 members so you might consider doing something similar.
Another thing I am doing is organizing group lessons with a music school. My wife has drum lessons and I go along so the teacher gets her going with a rhythm and then we work on a bassline. I have a pianist who is interested in joining us and we will find a guitarist and maybe some brass players or sax and have weekly group lessons/guided rehearsals sort of thing.

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Another thing I did was called a local phone in radio show to advertise my facebook group but to also just put a shout out to local musicians. They have invited me back in a month for a progress report.

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Welcome to the forum @DonOnyx and congrats on finishing the course! And nice SOAD avatar. :slight_smile: Fav nü-metal band of all time.

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Thanks for your answers everyone :smiley: :upside_down_face:
I checked out the Craigslist, and found few people there, but they’re all based in London and I would like to meet someone from Brigthon or surrounding areas. I have an impression that craigslist is more popular in the USA than UK :slightly_smiling_face: Bandmix gives me more hope than Craigslist, because I saw few musicians from Brighton in there :upside_down_face: The third step like you all advised will definitely be facebook, music shops and open mics. My only concern is that I am a bit of a shy type of a guy, so atm I’m more brave to make the first step online :blush::laughing: Also, yesterday I started to read the ‘Playing your first gig’ thread, which I’ve found very helpful too, cool to have a chance to hear about other people’s experiences :slightly_smiling_face::slightly_smiling_face::upside_down_face::upside_down_face::metal:

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Thanks. I have enjoyed every single second of the course :star_struck::heart_eyes:
SOAD is my fav nu-metal band too :metal::metal::metal::metal::metal:

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Glad we could help you out a bit, @DonOnyx :slight_smile:

Wishing you good luck . . . and please keep us posted on your progress!

Cheers, Joe

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I didn’t know we even had Craigslist. :smirk:

Hmmm, I kind of am too, but only until the ice is broken or somebody makes the first move. I’m a total chatterbox after that. But yeah, this isn’t just about meeting people, is it? This goes into our self confidence in our ability to play. What I would say is; if we feel like that, then so do other people, and if we’re completely honest about our stage of learning then anybody who responds is likely to be much the same, possibly worse, better but shy or patient, or a complete weirdo (but you’re gonna get them eventually no matter how you go about looking for folk).

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Craigslist for me has 2 musical instruments for sale within a 150 mile radius. For our ‘big country’ members, this isn’t the distance between towns, it’s more like the whole width of the country and half it’s length.

[UPDATE] After trawling some of the CL areas, I conclude that it’s just not popular anywhere within about 300 miles of me - and the ads that are there are all selling items for £1,000s, or some odd dating/socialising practices that I don’t understand the rules of.

@DonOnyx, think about Gumtree too. I see ads on there for players, bands, instruments/equipment, etc.

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@Jazzbass19 Thanks, I definitely will :wink:

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@PeteP Yeah, we do have Craigslist, but it’s more useful if you’re living in London :smirk:
I’m checking adds on Gumtree almost daily, maybe one day will find someone in there :crossed_fingers::sunglasses:

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Just wanted to add that there are plenty of digitally connected bands as well if you are considering that. e.g. They don’t play together in person, but through online mediums (like Bandlab). Obviously face to face is preferred though.

The one major advantage you have is that for traditional bands (2 guitars, bass, drums, singer) there are less bass players out in the wild than the other instruments, so bassists are usually in the most demand.

I’ve not actually had to seek out bandmates as people just find me since I’m a bass player and they need one.

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Take a saturday and hang out at the local music shop. Grab an instrument and start noodling. Most places have a room set up just for testing. Somebody will sit and listen or sit and play.

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