groyster1
3153 posts
Apr 25, 2018
7:01 PM
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just got back from one......the house band rehearses and plays blues quite a bit in my area.......but they allow me to blow harp with them......I dont play over vocals.....ever......its all about call and response......they play mostly in G.......so no problem being off key.......which I never ever want to do......what do you gals and guys do on open mic jams with house bands?
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Martin
1466 posts
Apr 26, 2018
4:52 AM
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If I go to jams, I try to get a good sound and play well. Never too much.
That´s about it, and you appear to have got it covered.
I´m also, by nature, polite, which sometimes is an advantage, sometimes not.
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Littoral
1595 posts
Apr 26, 2018
5:47 AM
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If I do a jam these days it's usually because I know scene and who I'm likely to play with. That is likely to be supporting a solo singer. And I DO play over vocals -actually NEVER over but very often under. The sound bed that harp can provide (like a keyboard) really builds the sonic textures of a song. If I really know the song I will also do harmonies with the vocal lines. That borders on the never ever rules of playing but I know what works and the singers I play with love it. Tricky territory to get right though. Stay underneath and support the lines.
In a jam I don't know? I'm going to avoid the train wreck at all cost. That means I'm looking for the players that know what they are doing.
groyster1 - see ya in Miss HCH :)
Last Edited by Littoral on Apr 26, 2018 5:48 AM
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The Iceman
3551 posts
Apr 26, 2018
7:11 AM
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When I attended jams back in my formative years, I would practice "Playing Silence" as a note - which is different than just standing there waiting to play.
It was a great venue to learn to relax on stage "Playing Silence" - or, in other words, being comfortable standing there not playing notes. (Playing Silence = active participation. Standing and waiting to play = passive participation).
I wish more players would understand and embrace this concept.
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The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Apr 26, 2018 7:13 AM
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jbone
2544 posts
Apr 26, 2018
8:08 AM
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We've not been to a jam or open mic for years. Since we're in a new city we've pretty well decided to introduce ourselves by hitting a few.
If I'm doing side man stuff I lay back until cued. If I'm leading for a song or two, I lead and do accents etc. plus cue other players to step out.
Jo and I have a lot of stuff worked out very well since she plays rhythm guitar only. I also support her vocals like Littoral describes above.
Silence is definitely a vital component of any song but I think especially on a jam type stage. I've seen so many train wrecks at jams because the players of the moment- some of them- HAVE TO cram every note in.
I was a sort of "eternal guest" of a band in Little Rock for a few years. It was an important opportunity for me since I was very much in development as a broader harp player. My time on stage then was as a sideman and I took the opportunity to explore some things I'd just begun to learn. At that time I'd already been in paying bands but after I relocated to a new state I basically had to start over with a whole new music community. Jam politics there were very provincial. After some years, I just let the jam scene go in favor of working with Jolene and developing the duo. Now, since we're in a new place, we want to make ourselves known.
Politeness, always. Confident presentation of one's skills, always. Knowing when to step aside, or down, definitely. Show the love and accept the love.
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groyster1
3154 posts
Apr 26, 2018
11:08 AM
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@jbone
very well said and advice that Ive asked for.....the house band Im jamming with are very tight and very much into blues......they want me up for slow blues in almost always key of G
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groyster1
3155 posts
Apr 26, 2018
11:10 AM
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also great advice from the iceman......
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hvyj
3573 posts
Apr 26, 2018
2:28 PM
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How to play. What to play. When to play. What do limited players play? They play what they CAN play. But once you've learned HOW to play the whole instrument, you have a choice of WHAT to play. Musical and stylistic considerations provide guidance. WHEN to play is perhaps the most important consideration for a harmonica player and the least susceptible to objective criteria.
But whenever you are playing, you take up sonic real estate. In a duo, there's more open ground. In an ensemble, even if all your notes fit the melody and harmony and your volume is unobtrusive, what is your playing doing to the rhythm and groove? Silence is the 13th note and every bit as important as the 12 tones of the chromatic scale.
How to play is a learned skill. What to play and when to play are decisions determined by artistic considerations and by how well the player understands how to work with other musicians which, of course, will vary depending on how good the other musicians are.
Last Edited by hvyj on Apr 26, 2018 2:30 PM
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jbone
2545 posts
Apr 26, 2018
3:28 PM
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Groyster, depending on what the band is playing you may be able to change up the harp part with other positions and maybe even a bit of chromatic in 3rd? Or keep it basic.
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Martin
1467 posts
Apr 26, 2018
3:30 PM
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Good advice all all around here. I forgot to say that I´m always just a little bit drunk. Just a little bit. Otherwise I´d probably wouldn´t be there at all ... but it relaxes me: I´m not terribly nervous about getting on stage (I normally play and get paid for it) but the slight tipsiness is a motivator.
Now, if you have trouble holding your alcohol -- forget that part entirely or you´ll get kicked off the stage.
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BronzeWailer
2052 posts
Apr 26, 2018
4:44 PM
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Left the jam scene for a while but got hooked into a good blues one a year ago and now go weekly. The co-founding harp player decided he wanted to step back so drummer appointed me to help run it, partly because I am comfortable singing.
Dress well; every appearance is a gig (including jamming/busking) in my mind.
I like Iceman's advice. When I first started jamming I wanted to play as much as possible, as I was desperate. Now I try to get away with playing as little as possible.
I give myself 12 bars for a solo usually and everyone else 24.
Just make a cool sound here and there when I'm not soloing.
I look at the soloist and try to groove with whatever they are doing. Show that I am enjoying their playing.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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groyster1
3156 posts
Apr 26, 2018
6:25 PM
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again.....I stick to call and response and dont play over vocals......this band likes me up there on slow blues......the keyboard man is great and does very good vocals......sometimes they call me back up but I always offer to leave......but they know.....I love the blues and love to blow harp
Last Edited by groyster1 on Apr 26, 2018 6:26 PM
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Prento
38 posts
Apr 26, 2018
8:38 PM
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Hey Bronze, I'm assuming the jam you are talking about is in Sydney. When and where? I'm in Dubbo and might be down sometime in June.
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BronzeWailer
2053 posts
Apr 26, 2018
9:05 PM
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Hi Prento, you assume correctly!
Every Tuesday At El Rocco Room. 154 Brougham St, Potts Point. 8-11pm. Would be great if you could come! The only other harp regular is Robert Susz. He usually does a few tunes toward the end as a special guest.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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Prento
39 posts
Apr 26, 2018
11:59 PM
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Bugger, I will be there over a weekend. Robert Susz? That's too big for me. It must be a quality jam. Out of interest, does Illya Szwec play any guitar at the jam? I know he plays a bit with Robert Susz.
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BronzeWailer
2054 posts
Apr 27, 2018
2:48 AM
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Prento, Robert started it. It is a pretty good jam. He is a nice guy and very approachable. You'd be more than welcome. Check out BMW (Best Music Warehouse) in Glebe on a Sunday arvo. No, Ilya doesn't play at the jam. Lots of good musos though. Peter Northcote has been a few times.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
Last Edited by BronzeWailer on Apr 27, 2018 2:49 AM
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6SN7
799 posts
Apr 27, 2018
6:53 AM
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i prepare 3 songs to sing and play at a jam. Nothing crazy difficult, basic 12 bar form, a shuffle, a bugaloo (like a Tramp) and a swing or slow one, dependig on the caiber of jammers I'm playing with.
My song choice is determined by the the drummer and whether he can deliver the different rhythmns. Having the attention of the drummer and his focus is the key to me whether things will go well. I can deal with a crummy instrumentalist, but the correct tempo is critical.
This above represents what I hope will happen. Half the time, it doesn't for a variety of reasons becuase jams are like a box of chocolates, you never know what will happen. Sometimes I get up there and there a competent guitarist/singer and they call the shoots and they ask me to accompany them. I am always cool with that, its different from what I normally do.
Last Edited by 6SN7 on Apr 27, 2018 6:58 AM
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Prento
40 posts
Apr 27, 2018
3:31 PM
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Thanks Bronze. I will try to get there next time I'm in the big smoke.
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garry
720 posts
Apr 27, 2018
8:14 PM
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@Iceman: It took me a long time to learn to feel comfortable on stage not playing, possibly due to some scars from coming up through the jams when I was learning. In my version of your "playing silence" notion, I think of that state when you're up there not playing as "best seat in the house". It reminds me to sit back and listen to what everyone else is doing, and be grateful that I get to be part of this.
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CarlA
924 posts
Apr 27, 2018
10:06 PM
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Stephen Kings novel "It" and the "Shining" were deeply disturbing and horrifying at their core. If we are all honest, films like "The Exorcist" and "Poltergeist" strike a fearsome tone in the human psyche due to its paranormal and otherworldly subject nature. Films like "Saw" and "Hostel" are downright gory and gruesome. "Green Inferno" and "Cannibal Holocaust" are WTF did I just see films!
.........when it comes to blues jams (or any jams for that matter), no literary horror genius, no amount of gore, or supernatural, diabolical demons can even hold a candle to the outright horror that is contained at these jams.
I have learned to stay away from the true horror and terror that plagues me at every turn that I experience at these so-called jams and rather spend quality, relaxing time watching "houses of a 1000 corpses" or "Devils rejects". Definitely more calming and soothing to the human psyche :)
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indigo
500 posts
Apr 28, 2018
12:16 AM
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Yep Jams can be a 'nightmare' indeed.But and it is a big but.......a good one can be a catharsis to someone who has no other outlet for the Devils music within them.
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barbequebob
3502 posts
Apr 28, 2018
8:28 AM
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Many jams are horror shows but the better ones, which are very few and far in-between starts off with the host band itself. If the host band is made up of LEGITIMATE area pros, 95% of the time they will attract better jammers to begin with, and often times those will be pro quality or near pro quality musicians and the experience is going to be better overall and real mentoring gets done but too often, this is not the case and a number of a number of host bands, that may be their only gig and often times those bands aren't all that good to begin with and they will often attract sometimes really horrible jammers and the jams are going to be frequently run very poorly.
All jams are going to have some real clinkers as far as jammers go but some do actually have really good musicians but, truthfully, those are in the minority and the good ones tend to be the so-called special invite/pro/snob jams but they DO attract better musicians than the vast majority of the rest of them and I know saying this for some of you will tick you off but I'm being 100% brutally honest here. I've run a jam for about a year with my band (and I had PROS for my host band) and we seldom got really bad jammers but some of the bad ones, if they listened while any of us were trying to mentor them, became much better musicians and a few wound up going pro. Unfortunately, many jams don't have this happening and all too common what you see are musicians who time sucks, guitar players who can't play rhythm, bass players and drums with lousy time and ZERO groove to work with, and the whole nine yards and if you're trying to become a better musician, going to those jams can actually hurt you more than help you.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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groyster1
3158 posts
Apr 28, 2018
11:27 AM
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the house band that plays at local tavern are very tight......they have a great keyboard/vocalist and great guitarist who plays slide with long neck bud.....I only play on slow blues songs they do and they do them all in G......but love to play with them but I always offer to leave
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JTThirty
331 posts
Apr 28, 2018
1:45 PM
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I've been to jams that have been train wrecks and jams that have grooved. One jam, which always grooved with great musicians and was hosted weekly by a fabulous harp man and good friend in Houston, I got paired with a guitarist/singer from France. He lit into John Lennon's 'Imagine' for his first song played in a minor key. He tossed me no solo and I was thankful for that. I forget what else he chose to play because I stepped down, but I do know it had nothing to do with the blues.
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Ricky B
http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com
RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N, iTunes, iBook
THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto
THE OAXACAN KID--available now
HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--Ditto too, now available
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