In a "free range" jam (as opposed to a student jam), pickers know songs to start with (if they're leading the song), or (if they're not leading) learn them--and arrange them--on the fly, in real time. There's no set list made up before hand, no chord charts, and usually no set arrangements.
I'd suggest that a student jam can--and should--be used to teach the actual skills that students will eventually have to use in free-range jams. That's how I've run the daily slow jams at Augusta's Bluegrass Week ( https://augustaheritagecenter.org/bluegrass/ ) for the past three years, and it's worked very well. If anyone wants more detailed instruction in jamming skills, I'll be teaching another Wernick Method jam class this fall in Alexandria. See http://www.drbanjo.com/classes/2012-10-ira-gitlin-alexandria.php for more info, or to sign up.
--Ira Gitlin
On Sun, Aug 5, 2012 at 10:14 AM, mikemarceau@juno.com <mikemarceau@juno.com> wrote:
---------- Original Message ----------
From: Dirk Johnson <roiwebsites@gmail.com>
As another choice for these people who are learning, I'd like to see
"workshop jams" that are structured and focused a bit different than
an open, social jam.
Maybe we'd post a few songs (and the key to be played) in advance, so
people can practice their changes and even learn the words before the
jam. That would minimize the inevitable "I know this but not that, and
you that but not this"syndrome.
---------- Original Message ----------
From: BanjoManFC@aol.com
Regarding your request for input, I sometimes use chords over slashes to bring to jams. It only takes a minute to do a quick chart that way. When you just put chords over words there is often confusion about the timing, particularly between phrases. Each player need only do a few of them. Words can go under the slashes. Often folks just need the words to the chorus, and I sing the verses of the songs I call. That's my 2 cents. It helps a lot if folks bring copies of their songs, so we are not all crowded around one copy of the Fiddler's Fake Book, or whatever
Dirk seems to be saying that jammers should learn songs in advance. Frank suggests bringing printed copies of the songs to the jam. I agree completely with Dirk', but not with Frank. The idea of a jam is to PLAY, not to learn. You can learn at home between the jams. Nothing slows down a jam like people flipping through their songbooks to find a song. When they do find it, they wind up looking from the book to their hands on their instrument trying to keep a steady tempo. If you know most of the songs/tunes beforehand, the jam goes much smoother. That's why I encouraged the jammers to go "paperless" and keep the session moving.
When we first started the DC Bluegrass Union jam at the Takoma Park VFW about 10 years ago, those of us on the board of directors decided that we wanted to make everyone feel welcome. I was the facilitator for the first 4 years. We stood around in a circle and someone usually volunteered to kick off the first song. After that we went around the circle. Our idea was to give everyone a chance to play by letting them choose the song, the key, and the tempo. I told the pickers that we would play their song as slowly as they wanted us to. This seemed to set them at ease and lots of them became regulars at the jam.
Many of the pickers never took a break when they had the chance, and that was fine with all the jammers. It was exactly the tone we wanted - no pressure on anyone. Our idea was to give everyone a chance to take things at their own pace, and hopefully at some point in the future they would feel comfortable enough to take a break.
One thing I used to do each month was write down each song and the key. I then emailed this "set list" to all the jammers. That gave the pickers time to work on the songs before the next jam.
Mike Marceau
www.veteransforpeace.org
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