Read it: Blues Jam Etiquette 1. The clues in the name Its a BLUES JAM, folks - not an open-mic night. If youre a budding singer-songwriter looking for a platform to showcase your latest collection of power-ballads, youve come to the wrong place. We play the blues. 2. Arrive as early as you can We kick off at 8:30. Things can quickly get busy, so the later you arrive, the slimmer your chances of getting a turn onstage will be. 3. The List Say hello to Helen and hand over your £1. Tell her your name and what you do (singer...guitarist...drummer etc.) Itll help a lot if you tell her your full name, not just Graham or Steve . This isnt compulsory, but it avoids confusion when calling people up to the stage - you wouldnt believe how many Grahams, Daves and Steves weve got! From the list, Helen puts together random groupings of players. Half the fun of Stans Blues Jam is that you never know who youre going to end up on stage with, or just when your name will be called out. Each set normally consists of two songs. If by some happy accident you turn out to be the only other bass player in the house, be prepared to have a busy time of it - lucky you! 4. Come equipped Always bring your own instrument, and tuner. In an emergency, a fellow player might well consider lending you their gear, but you should never just turn up and expect to borrow stuff. Guitarists - you wont need your pedal board. Drummers can relax, though... 5. Make like a Boy Scout - BE PREPARED As soon as youve got yourself a drink and found a seat, make it your first duty to get tuned up, check all your gear and be ready to roll. Arriving onstage unprepared and then spending the next 10 minutes tuning up and fiddling is a real pain in the neck for everyone else. Its disrespectful to the audience and it robs your fellow jammers of precious playing time - a guaranteed way to make yourself VERY unpopular. 6. Youre a band-member, not a one-man show On nearly every jam set, youll find that the band is led by an experienced player/singer who will choose the songs and hand out the solos. Theyll always try to make sure that every other player who wants to play a solo gets at least one opportunity per number. When that opportunity comes your way, go for it! The rest of the time - no matter how impressive your chops might be - revert to being a member of the rhythm section. Sit in the pocket and give your fellow jammers room to breathe; squash that urge to fill every spare moment with a note or riff; dont splurge all over someone elses solo or let your rhythm-playing drown out their lead. Above all, keep eye contact with your fellow players and WATCH THE BAND-LEADER for signals, stops and tempo cues. 7. Advice for new singers / band-leaders When choosing songs, stick to material that falls into the kind of core blues repertoire your fellow jammers will be most comfortable with. In general, any 12-bar blues song that follows the standard I-IV-V chord pattern is a good call. Everyone will know how to pull this off. Any blues song that stays on the one is also a good choice. Any of the standards are also good (Sweet Home Chicago, Kansas City, Stormy Monday, etc). Play blues. This is a blues jam. They dont want to hear your rendition of Sweet Home Alabama. For the popular jamming song selections... see the back catalogue of Youtube videos... A jam set is not the place to break in new, obscure or quirky numbers. Likewise, dont expect anyone to be able to read sheet music. As band-leader, its your responsibility to call the songs clearly so that everyone else onstage knows what kind of number to expect. If its a well-known blues standard, by all means give the title, but dont assume that everyone will know how it goes. Describe it. Easy-going shuffle in A - quick changes - watch me for the stops - thats the kind of information your fellow musicians need. Whatever the song, dont let yourself be a slave to the particular version youre familiar with. It doesnt matter how many verses / solos the original recording had: you have to ensure that all of your fellow jammers get a chance to play a solo if they want one. When handing out solos, make it very clear who its being offered to, and make sure theyve got the message. Big, definite gestures are better than a subtle nod or a vague waft of your hand. IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SOLO LENGTHS: Time-wise, soloists are always given twice round the block - i.e. two complete 12-bar progressions. Any shorter than that and they wont have time to develop what theyre doing, and both the musician and the audience will feel cheated. . 8. Volume ...I said VOLUME!! Dont worry: well let you know if youre not loud enough - and well let you know if youre too loud. Keep it sensible. Remember, its a pub, not Wembley Stadium! The Blues is a subtle genre, full of dynamic highs and lows. If you start out at ear-bleeding level, youll have no dynamics to play with - and, very quickly, no audience to play to! If we turn you down and you turn it back up, we turn you down again, and you turn it back up...youll find you wont get a second go. AND FINALLY... 9.. Calm down, dear - its only a Blues Jam Its your first time with us. You dont know anybody (yet). Youve summoned up the courage to put your name down on that list - well done! - but now youre nursing a drink and feeling a bit nervous: worried that when it comes to it, youll lose your way in the middle of a number, make a fool of yourself and let everybody down... Relax. This isnt the X-Factor! Nobodys here to judge you, least of all your fellow jammers, cos weve all been where you are now and we know what it feels like. At Stans Blues Jam, players at every level of talent and experience - from complete newcomers to seasoned pros - get up onstage together with one simple aim: to have fun playing the music we love. And yknow what? It works! (Our thanks to The Coach & Horses Blues Jam in East London for the basis of this page
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 13:10:42 +0000
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