I am not asking when is the "right time" to step up and go to a jam (I know that there is no answer), I am not asking for advice. I would be happy to hear your experience, and maybe whit that I make the big decision or maybe not.
We've tried for a year to get my son into hockey. I don't like hockey, but he took to ice skating and is very good at it. His three closest friends are really into hockey and you could tell he was interested.
He spent all last winter refusing to even try using a stick on the ice. He just skated around his friends while they played. This fall, he has been on rollerblades everyday shooting at a net in our garage. So we signed him up for a "try hockey for free" thing. He was very timid about even getting dressed.
When we got there, he wouldn't get on the ice. He finally got on the ice bought fought it for the whole hour. He was very overwhelmed. He readily admitted he wanted to do it, but there were too many kids and he didn't know what was going on.
Day two, after 23hrs of telling us he never wanted to play hockey again, he decided to go at the last minute and loved it. We took him to open hockey on Wednesday with the choice of watching or playing. He said he would only watch. He got home and out of nowhere said he wanted to signup and start Saturday. For the last couple of days, it is all he talks about.
I thought it was a very irrational fear and couldn't figure out why he was so wishy washy (you could tell he loved it, but didn't want to admit it). Then, I realized I would have done the exact same thing. I studied harmonica for a full year before I even bought one. I had an interest in it and was listening to tons of harmonica for several years before that.
Point being, for some people, it works really well to know what you're getting yourself into before jumping in. My son and I both need to know what to expect to be comfortable. He had to see what "hockey" really was before trying it. I had to understand what harmonica playing was before trying it. We sorta have big picture brains (my daughter, on the other hand, will jump right in to just about anything without a second thought).
My suggestion, if you have some anxiety about jams, is to go to a few and get a feel for what to expect. Get to know the regulars. Maybe try jamming with them off stage some time before going fully live.
I went to a jam to check it out and the next tine I took a few harps with me just in case, the fact that I had my harps with me tells me that deep down I really wanted to play.
I was very nervous about playing and I needed a push to get up on stage, my friend ended up putting my name down and I had no choice but to get up and play when my name was called.
I have ony played at a few jams and I have had one major train wreck, but the good thing about getting up and playing is that you learn very quickly what you need to work on.
Getting up at a jam, train wreck or not, can only make you a better player.
Last Edited by on Nov 09, 2012 1:00 PM
@Rogonzab. My opinion which I doubt few will agree with is, it's harder to play with backing tracks than to play along with a group and singer. My reason for saying this is, with a backing track you feel the need to play continuously and you need to be really good at improvising a really decent melody line and keep it fresh for the length of a track.
At least with a group in a jam, you may only need to fill in when it's your turn and it probably won't be for the full length of the tune. If you are fairly good at using backing tracks I'd say you'd find the jam a breeze playing-wise but you'd need to contend with nerves and the jokers who throw you a weird key to play in.
I've not done a jam yet so I can't qualify what I've said but that was just my opinion. I find playing for the full 4 minutes of a backing track difficult and that's why I edit them to reduce the length to a more reasonable 2 minutes or so.
I went to a jam just to check it out because I felt like I might be capable of playing with others. I brought a few harps with me. After a while of watching and listening I thought, "man I really want to play." So I checked the list and it was full. I was too chicken to ask anybody about jumping in.
A couple of weeks later I made it out to a jam and brought my kit. I saw a fellow harp player and asked if I needed to sign in or if I could jump in at some point. She said, "oh yeah, sure! we look to be the only harp players here so how bout we rotate every two songs or so?"
I thought CRAP now I'm stuck. I gotta play. I was so nervous. But after the first nervous song I got into it and had a great time. I still get nervous when I first get up in front of people but it doesn't last long anymore.
Even though I didn't feel comfortable I was curious enough to try and worst comes to worse, I could just play the root with the drummer and not step on the lyrics. That was enough to get me through to being comfortable. ---------- Brad
Last Edited by on Nov 09, 2012 1:45 PM
harpninja- you studied the $30 toy for a whole year before buying it?!!? that, my friend, is the most willpower i have ever heard of!
i agree with tooka. bt are very tough. i feel the need to play for thru the entire thing! with a band at a jam- you can just comp softly in the back and you are still part of the band!
...but don't play in the audience. If you can hear the band from outside/out back, or similar then it's great to just groove to what's happening that way. I appreciate Mikes detail, I way-over analyze it all, especially a new band I want to sit in with. I would rarely have gear with me the first time. Just me.
rogonzab, just do it. If you wait until you feel 100% ready you will never play in front of people.
Here's my story: I've seen dozens of nervous new harp players come to my jam for their first stage experience. A few leave before they were called up. But none of them ever sucked bad enough that they got booed or anything like that. If I find out they are first timers I give them advice to not try anything too tricky, just take it easy. I announce AFTER they play that it was their first time on stage and they always get a nice hand. Some are self-critical, most are beaming with pride and fun.
I don't feel the need to be too inventive with backing tracks. I will play the same thing verse after verse to ingrained it, work it out. I figure that's what they're for. Scales, chord tone patterns, arpeggios, triplets...whatever...constructing a break...and sometimes improvising for fun but mainly for working on stuff. I don't jam publicly. When I play publicly its with a band and its essentially rehearsed... My solos are always in the same place and they tend to be the same. This is not a blues band and there aren't many improv opportunities. Soon though, I am quitting this band. Just gave notice actually. The new act will be a blues duo, and there will be more improv as we will busk it for a season to work out how it goes.... There's only one public blues jam in this town anyway and I'm always busy...I guess my neighbours don't count as the public hey? ----------
Backing tracks have a purpose, albeit a limited one in my experience. Nothing will get you to force your "A-game" like live playing. Plus, if you stick with BT only, you never live to experience the true joy of being drowned out by 3-4 guitarists, the drummer, etc-lol But seriously, if you can, get out of your comfort zone and start playing live! BT will be a bore after that!!
I had been playing about four or five years before I got on stage. They didn't have backing tracks in those days. How did I know if I was ready? I guess I didn't. It was one of those thing where I just sort of did it.
I went to a 50's bar. They had an open jam. There weren't a lot of jams in those days. I went and listened. The band seemed to play Blues. It turns out that one of the guitar players played fro years with Eddy Clearwater, Floyd McDaniel and a bunch of other guys in Chicago.
I guess he could see that I was interested in learning to play Blues and he started introducing me to people. Sometimes, they would let me sit in at their gigs. After leaving Chicago, I quit playing in public for a number of years. I would drop into a jam very infrequently while on business trips.
I started playing regularly about ten years ago after several blues playing friends encouraged me to play again.
A few years ago, I discovered backing tracks. I messed with them a bit and posted stuff on harmonicaboogie.com. It was fun and more importantly, it caused me to record and listen. I also started working on improvisational skills. As someone said, it is hard to fill up four minutes of music and keep it interesting.
I think that site is way better than putting stuff up on youtube. You get feedback and it causes you to listen a bit more. If the playing isn't great, people are somewhat honest, but always nice about.
Let's be honest. Quite often stuff that gets posted on youtube or the Internet is mindless noodling that has little to no musical value or they are tunes that have absolutely zero arrangement or thought put into production quality, because it's youtube.
I think playing out is much harder. You have to listen to many pieces, pray the drummer has a pocket and fit into it. If it isn't a song that you're familiar with, it's a trial by fire. That's one of the things that I like about jams. You never know what will happen. I like the spontaneous nature of them.
This guy play on the street. I know them, I had drinks whit them, they are good guys. I am good enough to the people in the audience (the guys that think that Bob Dylan is good player), but the guys in the video will know that I am still learning (altough my harp teacher tell me that I am good for 2 years of playing).
Only three people have heard me play: my harp teacher, my girlfriend, my best friend
let's not forget one other use for a bt. you can practice your singing. it fills some of the time so you dont have to play for 3-5 minutes. it gives you other ideas for when you are playing. you can practice your fills and comping. and you are then one step closer to busking.
It is not necessary to "move on" from backing tracks. Of course, there is no substitute for jamming with live bodies, but often the people playing at live jams just are not as precise, especially the rhythm section. It really pays off to practice precision so that playing with others becomes much easier. And when I, as an amateur, step up to play with professionals, my game is much better for having practiced with these tracks. Quite frankly, I don't know why this is even an issue at all, unless some people feel that they are taking a step down in doing so. Maybe it's an ego thing, I don't know.
Jams are so weird, anything can happen. Maybe even Pink Floyd on harmonica. But, go.
If you are playing to jam tracks now, you know enough to sit in with just about whatever will happen at a jam and you will recognize when not to play. Go.
Another option is accompanying that guitar player on the street corner or the folky chic at the coffee shop.
Put on your extrovert alter ego, and git out & play.
I live in Norway and bluesjams are very rare in my part of the country. So my first time on stage was with my band.
Long version:
My brother and I started to play blues together,he's a guitarplayer. We got to know a drummer who's been playing for years and suddenly we were a band,practising once a week. The drummer suddenly booked us a gig, and after two years of playing I was standing on the stage. Scared stiff!! This is now two and a half years ago and in 2012 my band ends on roughly 25-30 gigs, which is not bad here in Norway. And my playing,and stage presence, has really developed this year. I agree with the people that say that you learn ten times as much playing live. There are many good "backing-track-players" out there, but it's something different playing live with a band!
I used to be afraid to get up and jam because I was afraid of failing and trainwrecking.
What I learned (and it felt painful at that time) was that failing/trainwrecking are almost inevitable during the learning process.
What I also learned is that there is life after failing/trainwrecking and that I was much harder on myself than everyone else at the jam...as a matter of fact, my trainwreck brought out a lot of support from the more seasoned players (see - they had all been through the same experience). ---------- The Iceman
Another thing to remember when playing at jams is that the audience will hear things differently than you will. Quite often, we are our own worst critics. When I am on stage, I will know when I am "in the zone" and when I am not.
A couple of days ago, I was listening to some recording ms that I made during a jam about two years ago. I was playing a tune that sounded pretty good. At the time, we were playing it, it wasn't sounding right to me. In actuality, it wasn't how I wanted it played. I left the stage feeling like it was a total turd of a song, but two years later, I was happy with it.
I went to a jam last week. I led a few tunes. I felt okay about it, but not great. Friday night rolls around. A person that I never met comes up to me. He thanked me for playing at the jam and said it was some of the best stuff he heard that night.
It's nice to hear stuff like that as I have participated in many, many train wrecks that made me never want to play again. They still happen, but they get fewer and farther between. They become much less frequent, if you learn to lead a few tunes.
The nice thing about leading tunes is that you can assess the strengths of players. If the bass player can't play fast, don't call out a fast shuffle. If the guitar player can't play slow Blues, don't play a slow Blues. If the drummer can't play a shuffle, don't call one. If the guitar player is good, set up the tune with the harp, put it down and rely on the guitar player. If you've got a SRV guy, choose a tune that will make him look good instead of bad. If you've got a keyboard guy who doesn't know Blues, don't call out a Muddy Waters tune expecting an Otis Spann-styled intro.
Pick simple tunes. Think Jimmy Reed. No breaks. No changes that you'll have to explain. Start on the one. (You might be surprised how often starting in the five messes with people.)
The most important thing is to have some fun. If its horrible, remember most tunes only last about five minutes. It'll be over before you know it.
I've been playing for about a year now and am deathly afraid of getting on stage playing in front of people. This should not be, given that I was a competitive (natural) body builder in '89 & '90. On stage , alone , dressed in only a pair of " Superman underwear ". One doesn't get much more exposed than that. But I digress... Last night I played for the first time with a live band, at a jam that my harp friend hosts at his ranch every few months. A lot of local harp players (varying degrees of experience) attend. Two at a time were on stage trading off solos. The guy up with me was way cool. He could tell I was afraid and greatly encouraged me. I did ok. No train wreck. Toward the end of the nights jam all harp players were called up on stage. We passed the mic around for solos and played ''group" accompaniment when not soloing. Really made me feel more relaxed and in the groove once the initial stage fright had passed. By then I was actually having fun with it. It's a big difference from playing along with jam tracks but we don't always have a live band so that's why , IMO , jam trax ( I like Jimi Lee's trax best btw ) are a big plus to have. My 1st live jam was a wonderful experience. I am no longer a virgin. But...... will he call me in the morning?? heeeeeeeheeeee !
I'm not sure you ever move from the backing tracks, I just added to the backing tracks.
I belonged to a local harmonica club in which some of the times we got together we went to a local-to-the-club bar and everyone would get up and play a bit. I'm pretty sure the first time I got up and played with a band I was quite sloshed with drink and my solo consisted of maybe 6 notes, lol. But I kept going out with them and playing a song on stage with them & eventually as my education grew from lessons and practice and my nerves relaxed after being on stage a few times my solos started to span the entire 12 bars. I guess the tip here is to find a friend to go out and play with who understands where you are in your journey. Not that the people who don't know will say anything negative, I've heard positive things from day 1. The harmonica community is extremely supportive... offline.
Every time I got on stage I had a blast regardless as to how I felt about the performance I made. Eventually I wanted to jam more often on stage with musicians & looked up some jams and started going. I've been playing along with different types of jam tracks since I can remember and I still do. Nowadays I use band in the box to make my own jam tracks in the keys I want to play along as learned from my great sensei, Michael Rubin.
Everyone is on the "how to get to what's next" part of their journey no matter how good they are. That was probably the biggest takeaway I got from Dennis Gruenling during one of our few conversations and at the time for some reason I found it an awakening thing to hear (even though it obviously makes sense). You're trying to figure out where to go from jam tracks, I'm trying to figure out where to go from playing at jams & trying to get 9 & 10 overdraw, some other guy is learning how to bend, some other guy is adding chromatic, some other guy just got his first diatonic in his Christmas stocking, some one else is trying to play fewer notes, someone else is trying to play faster notes, etc. So, I guess I'm saying if the musician you idol can get on stage and play his/her heart out and not be complete in their learning you also can get up and play while not being complete in your learning.
Funny, after reading what HarpNinja said I think I can be very similar sometimes in wanting to know more about a thing before jumping in. I guess that's what they call "getting your feet wet". Though, I'm trying to push myself not to have to get my feet wet before jumping in nowadays cause sometimes I find getting my feet wet isn't enough to persuade me to jump in (hooray for metaphores, amiright?)
It seems the best continue the pursuit of practice, even when they have made the team...
A couple of hours of focused practice is worth ten sloppy rounds. Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Don't do anything in practice that you wouldn't do in the game. George Halas
For every finish-line tape a runner breaks -- complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras -- there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about. Grete Waitz
For every pass I caught in a game, I caught a thousand in practice. Don Hutson
How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practice. Practice. Saadi
I don't know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody -- somewhere -- was practicing more than me. Larry Bird
I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true -- hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it. Ray Bradbury
If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can. Ivan Lendl
If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it. Ignacy (Jan) Paderewski
If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat. Herschel Walker
In previous years I was so fired up at times I made little mistakes. So I kept telling myself to be patient, relax, play like you do in practice. What I've been doing in practice will carry over into the game. Randall Cunningham
It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put into the practice. Eric Lindros
Losers have tons of variety. Champions just take pride in learning to hit the same old boring winning shots. Vic Braden
Most of us who aspire to be tops in our fields don't really consider the amount of work required to stay tops. Althea Gibson
My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more. Pete Rose
Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Vince Lombardi
Practice only makes for improvement. Les Brown
Practice, which some regard as a chore, should be approached as just about the most pleasant recreation ever devised. Babe Didrikson Zaharias
The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion. Jean Claude Killy
The worlds a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. Sean O'Casey
To give yourself the best possible chance of playing to your potential, you must prepare for every eventuality. That means practice. Seve Ballesteros
When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro. Larry Bird
You can't hire someone to practice for you. H. Jackson Brown Jr.
I am going to do it. I dont know if this week or the next, or the next of the next, but I am going to doit soon. I decided that I dont need to be good, I need to "become" good. Another video from my next jam buddys:
I will let you know how bad it was :P Thxs for all!!
there were not really backing tracks when i started.. just playing along to vinyl.. and at that age jamming was just something we did while partying... now i am just starting to use backing tracks for practice more, particularly on songs with a head and to practice melody to speed with prompts on the changes etc.
One thing I would suggest before you go out to a jam is to record yourself playing and listen to it with a critical ear, get yourself to the point that most of the time you sound pretty good (does not need to be perfect). Listening to yourself play is a really important check to do if you can. that said, people at jams are not there to diss others, they are there to have a good time!
