You'll find that each jam you
join will have a different "flavor" and different interaction.
We want to keep ourselves open to change - but a good group functions
best with some basic guidelines . Here's what we seem to
have so far...
WHAT
SONGS? When
seniors ( who are our hosts) are in attendance, we try to either use tunes from our Oldies book for a round ( or
two) For the next round ( or two ) we want to again
encourage familiar tunes ie familiar to the SENIORS -
not just to us . Many of these familiar tunes can be found in
our Play
In Around SongBook or the Bluegrass Fake Book , for instance. We
aim to
build a repertoire of songs that we can perform together well. Doing so
helps us refine our group jamming techniques. After we have
played sufficient oldies & familiar tunes to treat our audience,
then introduction of new songs is fine and a little more typical freestyle
jamming.
WHO
LEADS? On
your turn you may lead a song or ask others to lead it for
you. Whoever is leading a song is in charge of announcing
the key it is in, telling the order of verses and breaks,
finding out who can take breaks or deciding on "group breaks"
, and maintaining eye contact with the group during the song so
that everyone knows who is breaking and whether they are to play loud or
softly. Songs are usually ended with a raised foot .
It
is always helpful if new songs are introduced with sheets to share
around. (And it is helpful to have chords written in over ALL of
the text - not just the first verse. The goal in this
group is for everyone to be able to play along with every song if
possible, not just listen in. So the sheets are a big help. And someone
is bound to love your new tune and want you to make them a copy
anyway!!!!
Do not enter or leave a circle or make other noise in the middle of
a song - please wait til it is over
There are so many wonderful songs with CLEAN lyrics - please save your
seriously
"x-rated" ones for a different audience. A little "risque"
or an "implied" bawdiness is fine - but let's keep this a family
event and respect the different standards of each generation.
When someone else is leading a song, those playing along should greatly
reduce their volume so the leader can be heard. The more people in the
circle the more important this is. Please do not take over & lead
with the version you know - it may be very different than the leader
intended.
Our hope is to go acoustic as much as
possible but if you do have something to plug in , it should be kept "low
volume" so as not to overpower other instruments or voices .
Be prepared. We'll be going right 'round the circle - so know
when your turn is coming and have yourself ready. When the person before you starts playing, make
sure you have YOUR song in mind . Be ready to tell us the song &
the key or to pass right away so we can keep it moving along. We'll
come right back to you when you're ready if you need an extra
minute.
Relax & have fun . If someone does interrupt your
"plan" , try to remember we're all in some stage of learning,
so we all need to be encouraging and light-hearted.
_____________________
If you want even more info on
Jam etiquette - try the old Slow Jam
Jamiquette page
If you don't like ANY of the jam rules you have seen - then the Alternative
Jamiquette Rules are probably just what you're looking for !
___________________
SOME TIPS
Bring your own
music stand if you have one -
Come with a song or two (or three) in mind that you can lead -
either from our books or from sheets that you bring - it's a friendly crowd - so
it's a great time to try leading
Questions
e-mail Lora or call Lora (215 -
885-6661 )
JAM IDEAS
share time - oldies, sing
alongs, popular or audience participation - required if our "hosts" are there )
group jam time - lead a song at your own pace - or just play
along ( if leading, see the responsibilities of the leader
explained above)
slow jam time - play slowly - everyone who can tries a break one at
a time - keep
it going around til all have had a chance to break
open time - solos, original tunes or anything at
all that you choose to do - free jammin' (no sheets required for this session
only )
featured performer time - someone is chosen to prepare one or two songs
to play at the next session as an opening
or between "sessions"
workshop time - sharing knowledge ( ie: songwriting , learn
techniques, festival info, etc) - this normally would be best near the end of a
session as it may not be of interest to everyone
game time - challenging each other to play certain songs
theme time - pick a theme the week before ( or impromptu - on the
spot! )
and find a song that fits it.
............got any more ideas?????
