After almost 3 years of playing, I am looking to expand outside of the bedroom and start playing more regularly with others.
I have recently found an interesting group in my city, which is a collective of 20+ different musicians that jam and gig occasionally. The idea is that the group would book a gig and everyone would take turns playing a few songs. Mostly standard 4 piece rock covers, but they occasionally do other stuff too.
I’m attending my first jam with them next week to see if its a good fit.
**My question is: How do you all prepare for a jam with new people? **
I don’t know anyone or have a list of songs to learn. Wondering if I should try and brush up on a few crowd pleasers that other people are likely to know?
Know your songs
Get your gears ready
If you have active bass then pack a spare you have no idea a normal 9v battery would technically last about 300 hours of plug in time yet somehow it seems to be out of juice minutes before or right in the middle of your performance
Nerves is good, it’s your friends.
Clip on tuner is a must or tuner in general. It doesn’t take much to bump your bass out of tune and if you didn’t know it when the song start you are going to be in the world of pain,
In contrary to popular beliefs, picture your audience naked is never a good thing. Just have fun it’s more than enough.
You know, @dvarley96, I’m kind of in this position myself. I think I’ve gone about as far as I can in my liiving roon and I’m trying to find some real life mates to practice with. I recently went to a couple of really informal jam sessions with a group of hippies which were a great laugh but I think they got kicked out of their rehearsal room…
What I would say is the main aim of your first session should be to get to know everybody, sort out your logistics (gear, transport etc) get the feel of the practice space… that kind of stuff. Playing music should really be a secondary aim.
Maybe in the first session just try to “accompany” everyone? Chug along on the roots and see if they expect you to do a little more. Probaby good to know some classics but stick to simple stuff you won’t mess up under pressure…
Anyway - dead jealous of you - tell us how it goes
What a cool collective idea! I love things like this. I hope it works out and bears rich, delicious, musical fruit.
If you have a contact for anyone else in the collective, I would heartily recommend getting in touch and asking:
for a sample of some songs that they regularly play
If they hand out charts, or have anything written down
Make sure you feel good playing a 12 bar blues in a bunch of different keys!
Also - don’t feel like you have to jump in at the first jam session you go to.
Sometimes it can be really helpful to just watch how it goes down, pay attention to what songs get called and what everyone does, the vibes, the on-stage eye contact and such.
Then you go to the next one super prepared.
Please keep us posted! I live for these moments on the forum!
All the best to you in your bass adventures!
Don’t overthink everything in advance and start worrying. Just turn up with your bass and tuner and see how they run things. With that many people there will be a whole mix of playing standards.
Everything that @Gio says is the exact way I would approach something like this. I would turn up without my bass and take mental notes, then go away and learn some of the songs you hear on the night. Keep us posted!!
I’ll cover one thing I haven’t seen mentioned. Bring your “listening ears”. They key to fitting in well at an open jam is to listen to what the rest are doing and fit your bass lines to that. Great timing and feel are the key not how many notes you can play.
This is a good post. I’m pushing myself to be able to jam with my brother who’s been playing guitar since '78 and my other friends since the 80’s.
Luckily for me I’ll have a heads up on songs.
One thought I had is, if a large group jam is too much for your nerves. Look around for small Open Mic nights.
I’m in the Chicago suburbs and theres a ton of small bars that on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays they have an Open Mic.
Some of the bars draw a high level of talent, other places the bar is set really low. (Where I’m heading! )
Many of these places like to have bassists or any other “non-guitar” people join in. You could talk with someone one week, agree to meet back at a future date and play a certain song / set. Usually only 2-4 songs max.
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