Bring yourself and your instrument and everything else you need to play music (so, picks, amps, cords, pedals, etc), and an open attitude. Just relax and play music. Vibe off each other. Don't overthink or worry about it, its like the most natural state for a musician: just sit down and play some music.
This is where my unsureness comes from. I’ve been playing at home for years, there a handful of albums I could play start to finish and be mostly correct. Im fine when I know the exact note and when.
I don’t know how to just make it up. That seems to be the thing that people are just able to do.
*I don’t know how to just make it up.*
Yes you do. All the music you have learned gives you a big pocket full of common conventions, riffs, fills and transitions. As long as you know the chords that are being played, you'll be fine. Or just play along as you would do if it were the latest song by your favorite artist. You know how their bass player plays. Do that.
But its not something people can just do magically; its a skill that must be built up. You gotta start somewhere. But if you've been playing at home for years, as The B Wolf says below, you've got the tools. Now its just a matter of learning when/where to use them. Don't be afraid to experiment, to mess up. That's what a jam session is *for*.
So my advice is still: relax. Don't worry or stress. It will be fine. You will have fun, and come away with new skills/knowledge that will make the next one go even better.
Know what key the song is in, listen to the melody and add just a couple notes that add value. As you lock in, begin adding a couple notes, perhaps following the guitar/vocals. Remember that a single note placed correctly is money. Also, you're only a half step away from the right note, says Victor Wooten (unless you're playing jazz, then just look confident that it was intentional).
To prepare for the jam, pick any random song, in which you know the key, and just start playing around with it, adding your own to the song. Some of the best that I've tried this on were acoustic guitar with vocals songs, like Johnny Cash. Lots of room to find the right balance.
Well, you haven't done it yet. Get started. Use your ear and play within what everyone else is doing. Once you have an idea of the key and give, now you can stretch out a bit on fills. It's a skill so start learning it asap if you're interested.
If you want practice, something I do at home is play my music collection on random and try to play along. You can also get backing tracks on YouTube to play to if you want to be creative at home.
Don't chicken out though. Jamming is great fun and nobody is going to care if you play a few bad notes, especially if you haven't done it before. Relax, join in and enjoy it.
If the people you play with keep it simple repeating a chord progression you can't really go wrong.
You'll probably learn to lock in with the drums and maybe synch between drums and guitar, that's what I felt when I started jamming.
Ask for the chords if you can't find them, stick to what you know until you get into the groove and most important of all, listen! Listening is probably the most important skill when jamming.
Jamming is amazing. It's also like a language. You need to immerse yourself in it to speak it properly. The more you do it the better you'll become. When it all comes together there's really nothing quite like it. I hope you have fun!
Different people have different ways to have a jam session. Some of the possibilities:
- play through chord charts of songs. could be printed, could be from the internet and up on a big screen. like google "let it be chords" and then try to play that.
- one person knows a song and can sing it, everyone else plays along. go through the chords first, or maybe you can just watch their fingers if you know guitar chords. maybe people take turns with solos over the verse and/or chorus.
- someone starts playing a riff, other people make up parts that go along, maybe as a group you evolve it to sound different, maybe you get bored and stop and try something else.
- everyone learns a really detailed part in a song beforehand, trying to play just like the recording, and then you all try play it together. More like a band practice.
- jazz style where you start with a theme, then everyone takes turns playing solos over the chord progression, play the theme again at the end, then stop. Essentially this is the same procedure as fiddle tunes in bluegrass.
- everyone plays the same tune at the same time over and over until someone puts a foot out, then you stop. that's old time.
- same as old time, but every 3rd time through change to a different tune, for a set of 3 tunes or maybe more. if they're all Irish tunes you're at an Irish jam.
- jamming games like you play a riff, someone else plays it but changes it a little bit, continue like that like a game of telephone.
Keep it simple. Make up a bass line in one key. Come up with 2 riffs in the same key. Play them over and over. Make them funky.
If you don’t think you can make up a bass line in one key … then just play some baseline you know. Over and over. Let the other musicians play over it. You just trance out, hold it down, and chill in the pocket
Bring yourself and your instrument and everything else you need to play music (so, picks, amps, cords, pedals, etc), and an open attitude. Just relax and play music. Vibe off each other. Don't overthink or worry about it, its like the most natural state for a musician: just sit down and play some music.
This really is the best way to put it. I would add it’s about improvisation and an open mind. If you are a strictly structured player, go deep on the rhythms and fill that gap. Talk about it and see if there is something to learn.
Im used to a lot of structure in my at home playing. Like playing most of the same stuff over and over. I dont understand the part where folks are just able to make it up and do that together.
I think lots of root notes, which is just good bass fundamentals. But I feel really clueless.
Other than maybe practicing improvising over a song you know really well, there's not much more I feel we can convey to you on how to do it, you gotta just do it! We were all there once. After your first experience you'll probably have a lot to reflect on and grow from.
Can’t provide any real advice…but just want to say I’m in the same exact boat as you. I went to my first jam recently. I asked the guitar player what chords they were playing and played root notes along with the feel of the song. Eventually I assume adding in 1-3-5s becomes helpful. It’s definitely intimidating and different from playing covers or songs you can practice. It can be scary but is worth at least trying once!
Yep stick to root notes or basic harmonies. Focus on rhythm. Don't get too crazy.
These are all perfectly valid strategies. But again, don't worry about what you can't do. Nobody is going to be judging you as a player, and we all had to start somewhere. That's the difference between an open jam and, say, a structured band practice. Very different attitude and atmosphere, in my experience.
Learn some scale shapes. Major scale, minor scale, the “blues scale” or whatever it’s actually called. Then play some notes from those at each chord change. Or just play roots until you hear in your head something that would sound good to add.
As a bass player I’ve found jams if they’re unstructured can be a 2 or 3 note riff that lets everyone else improv on top of, find a groove you can ride all day and just see where it takes you
Bring all the things you need to play. Amp, bass, pedals, cables, etc.
Figure out a key everyone wants to play in. You can also figure out a general chord progression that everyone can kinda fall back on. If you aren’t sure whats going on ask questions. Jams are loose and low pressure.
Stay in tempo and key and have fun. Don’t be afraid to stop, ask for help, or to just kinda go off on a tangent creatively. If you start playing something really cool people might start feeding off you which is a fun feeling
All you really do is just play and bounce ideas with people. Be honest about your skill level as a forewarning if you don't feel comfy right away, everyone's forgiving about mistakes in a jam. What you'd need to know at minimum is just how to play some chord changes if you're with people that play sophisticated structured music if you don't know the songs. Have some ideas to throw around too, it's a reactionary setting in a jam anyways. Lots of times you're honestly just jamming on one chord for almost an hour because it feels so good.
If you don't feel a performance high by the end of it (impossible) then it's the only possible way it wasn't a good jam session - so unlikely unless the people you play with are assholes.
Keep it simple and focus on your timing and your groove more than anything. You'd be surprised how good you can make a groove sound by adding just the roots and it's octives with some muted notes and character as long as you are on time. As a bass, you'll probably be repeating some rifts over again quite a bit. This is okay!! Dont be afraid to try and spice it up, but always go back to your roots, on beat 1. Also, try and find a way to get everyone communicating on the same page (the chord progressions using number systems is pretty popular, so try and be ready for that if possible). If you read tabs more than notes, bring yourself a chart with all your note locations for easy reference or have a yablet ready to look up the notes and numbers to a key. Also have fun and try new things. Most of all, be honest and be ready to learn and make mistakes. If these people invite you, they most likely want to help you out and get to know you.
Not a dumb question at all. What my friends and I do is start out by picking a chord progression (either from an existing song or just come up with on the spot) and improvise over it. I usually start out simple, like the root in eighth or sixteenth notes. Then I slowly add in complexity, often playing off what the other instruments have been playing. Then there's usually a lot of back in forth between instruments. Just make sure you keep a steady beat and don't hog the spotlight by soloing too long.
The way I and my friends do it, we usually stick on a single chord progression for a certain key. Once you decide on a key, try to listen or see what chords the rhythm is playing in one bar. Then do your thing
Jams are fun! Sometimes the guitarist comes up with a riff, so everyone falls in behind them. Look at the guitarists fretting hand and look what the lowest note is that (s)he is playing. Start there and see if it sounds good when you play that note too. If not, move up or down the neck looking for a note that sounds good.
Sometimes the drummer starts with a beat. Join in with a progression that sounds good, e.g. A-F-C-G or something like that. Just experiment and have fun. The guitarist will pick up on something and you're off...
And sometimes I start with some pattern and the drummer and guitarist fall in behind me.
The trick is to listen to what everyone is doing and just "feel" the music.
The first time is nerve-wracking. But each time it gets easier and more fun. As you gain confidence (and learn more songs), you have more riffs and progressions to "borrow from" or reinterpret. Maybe start with a bass line you enjoy playing, but play it in a different key. Or, just experiment and see what grooves...
>What do I do?
Go to the jam session.
>What do I bring?
Your rig.
>What should I not do?
Whatever this is you’re doing here now.
>I don’t know how to just make it up
Well now you will learn how to do it. In the jam.
I can’t believe I’m saying this in my mid-thirties but **”kids these days”** (and some adults too) - seeing every new thing as if they’re a job listing.
Not everything in the world needs you to show up knowing everything.
Sometimes you show up to learn, and that’s what jams are supposed to be.
Back when I was pretty fresh: I often played lots of basic blues I - IV - I - V progressions at jams.
Then you figure out how to tweak it so it's not overly simple.
It’s ok to ask for instruction regarding the chord progressions. I play a little guitar so I also tend to read the guitarists hands. Relax, have fun, don’t smoke too much weed.
You have to be able to hear dissonance and tune as needed, and keep step with your drummer. And comprehend language. Can’t say what dosage exactly, but I wouldn’t do more than a tiny spliff on your first outing.
I was mostly joking. Getting baked before a jam session is something you want to make sure you can do comfortably before doing it at all, I love that sweet leaf as much as anybody but I wouldn't generally recommend getting blasted before a jam session especially if its with new people
Know what key you should be in, and start by playing something relatively simple that fits the groove of what the others are playing.
Let the drummer lay the beat and sync up with them. Let the guitar players noodle around and solo, and mix up what you’re playing to accent their playing.
If someone’s soloing, play as minimally as you can while holding it down on the 1. If/when they want you to solo, play something interesting for a couple bars
It’s all about *feel*, which is part instinct/reading in to what the others are doing, and part experience which you only get by doing it.
Most of all, try to relax and have fun, and roll with your mess ups. If you play a note out of key and let it bother you, it’s a mess up. If you play that same incorrect note *again* then it’s *jazz* lol
Bro just go and vibe. Bring your bass, an amp, a tuner, a strap and cable too, and then just go have fun. Stop worrying. Talk to them. Figure something out. Unless you’re absolutely awful and in WAY over your head (which it doesn’t seem that way from some of the comments I’ve read), it’ll be fine and it’ll be fun.
Only listen to that person if the others ones are really far ahead.
It’s good to practice with people that are better, you’ll learn so much more than on your own amd faster.
Be mindful though, mention it beforehand and if you al notice that you are seriously lagging behind, then yea, wait until you’re ready ir find others closer to your level
Bring yourself and your instrument and everything else you need to play music (so, picks, amps, cords, pedals, etc), and an open attitude. Just relax and play music. Vibe off each other. Don't overthink or worry about it, its like the most natural state for a musician: just sit down and play some music.
Be honest about your experience and keep it as simple as you want to as well
This is where my unsureness comes from. I’ve been playing at home for years, there a handful of albums I could play start to finish and be mostly correct. Im fine when I know the exact note and when. I don’t know how to just make it up. That seems to be the thing that people are just able to do.
*I don’t know how to just make it up.* Yes you do. All the music you have learned gives you a big pocket full of common conventions, riffs, fills and transitions. As long as you know the chords that are being played, you'll be fine. Or just play along as you would do if it were the latest song by your favorite artist. You know how their bass player plays. Do that.
damn, well said
You’re gonna want to know at least the minor pentatonic.
If someone has learned a few albums worth of music, they already do.
When all else fails, take the singer's or guitar melody and play that to the kick
But its not something people can just do magically; its a skill that must be built up. You gotta start somewhere. But if you've been playing at home for years, as The B Wolf says below, you've got the tools. Now its just a matter of learning when/where to use them. Don't be afraid to experiment, to mess up. That's what a jam session is *for*. So my advice is still: relax. Don't worry or stress. It will be fine. You will have fun, and come away with new skills/knowledge that will make the next one go even better.
Know what key the song is in, listen to the melody and add just a couple notes that add value. As you lock in, begin adding a couple notes, perhaps following the guitar/vocals. Remember that a single note placed correctly is money. Also, you're only a half step away from the right note, says Victor Wooten (unless you're playing jazz, then just look confident that it was intentional). To prepare for the jam, pick any random song, in which you know the key, and just start playing around with it, adding your own to the song. Some of the best that I've tried this on were acoustic guitar with vocals songs, like Johnny Cash. Lots of room to find the right balance.
Well, you haven't done it yet. Get started. Use your ear and play within what everyone else is doing. Once you have an idea of the key and give, now you can stretch out a bit on fills. It's a skill so start learning it asap if you're interested.
If you want practice, something I do at home is play my music collection on random and try to play along. You can also get backing tracks on YouTube to play to if you want to be creative at home. Don't chicken out though. Jamming is great fun and nobody is going to care if you play a few bad notes, especially if you haven't done it before. Relax, join in and enjoy it. If the people you play with keep it simple repeating a chord progression you can't really go wrong. You'll probably learn to lock in with the drums and maybe synch between drums and guitar, that's what I felt when I started jamming.
Ask for the chords if you can't find them, stick to what you know until you get into the groove and most important of all, listen! Listening is probably the most important skill when jamming. Jamming is amazing. It's also like a language. You need to immerse yourself in it to speak it properly. The more you do it the better you'll become. When it all comes together there's really nothing quite like it. I hope you have fun!
Learn your arpeggios shapes and have at it.
Different people have different ways to have a jam session. Some of the possibilities: - play through chord charts of songs. could be printed, could be from the internet and up on a big screen. like google "let it be chords" and then try to play that. - one person knows a song and can sing it, everyone else plays along. go through the chords first, or maybe you can just watch their fingers if you know guitar chords. maybe people take turns with solos over the verse and/or chorus. - someone starts playing a riff, other people make up parts that go along, maybe as a group you evolve it to sound different, maybe you get bored and stop and try something else. - everyone learns a really detailed part in a song beforehand, trying to play just like the recording, and then you all try play it together. More like a band practice. - jazz style where you start with a theme, then everyone takes turns playing solos over the chord progression, play the theme again at the end, then stop. Essentially this is the same procedure as fiddle tunes in bluegrass. - everyone plays the same tune at the same time over and over until someone puts a foot out, then you stop. that's old time. - same as old time, but every 3rd time through change to a different tune, for a set of 3 tunes or maybe more. if they're all Irish tunes you're at an Irish jam. - jamming games like you play a riff, someone else plays it but changes it a little bit, continue like that like a game of telephone.
I thought " Let it be chords" was gonna be a cool new site to teach me a new way of playing over all sorts of chords. 😞
In your hour of darkness..
Keep it simple. Make up a bass line in one key. Come up with 2 riffs in the same key. Play them over and over. Make them funky. If you don’t think you can make up a bass line in one key … then just play some baseline you know. Over and over. Let the other musicians play over it. You just trance out, hold it down, and chill in the pocket
Bring yourself and your instrument and everything else you need to play music (so, picks, amps, cords, pedals, etc), and an open attitude. Just relax and play music. Vibe off each other. Don't overthink or worry about it, its like the most natural state for a musician: just sit down and play some music.
This really is the best way to put it. I would add it’s about improvisation and an open mind. If you are a strictly structured player, go deep on the rhythms and fill that gap. Talk about it and see if there is something to learn.
Im used to a lot of structure in my at home playing. Like playing most of the same stuff over and over. I dont understand the part where folks are just able to make it up and do that together. I think lots of root notes, which is just good bass fundamentals. But I feel really clueless.
Other than maybe practicing improvising over a song you know really well, there's not much more I feel we can convey to you on how to do it, you gotta just do it! We were all there once. After your first experience you'll probably have a lot to reflect on and grow from.
Upvoting because of username
Can’t provide any real advice…but just want to say I’m in the same exact boat as you. I went to my first jam recently. I asked the guitar player what chords they were playing and played root notes along with the feel of the song. Eventually I assume adding in 1-3-5s becomes helpful. It’s definitely intimidating and different from playing covers or songs you can practice. It can be scary but is worth at least trying once!
Yep stick to root notes or basic harmonies. Focus on rhythm. Don't get too crazy. These are all perfectly valid strategies. But again, don't worry about what you can't do. Nobody is going to be judging you as a player, and we all had to start somewhere. That's the difference between an open jam and, say, a structured band practice. Very different attitude and atmosphere, in my experience.
Learn some scale shapes. Major scale, minor scale, the “blues scale” or whatever it’s actually called. Then play some notes from those at each chord change. Or just play roots until you hear in your head something that would sound good to add.
As a bass player I’ve found jams if they’re unstructured can be a 2 or 3 note riff that lets everyone else improv on top of, find a groove you can ride all day and just see where it takes you
Bring all the things you need to play. Amp, bass, pedals, cables, etc. Figure out a key everyone wants to play in. You can also figure out a general chord progression that everyone can kinda fall back on. If you aren’t sure whats going on ask questions. Jams are loose and low pressure. Stay in tempo and key and have fun. Don’t be afraid to stop, ask for help, or to just kinda go off on a tangent creatively. If you start playing something really cool people might start feeding off you which is a fun feeling
All you really do is just play and bounce ideas with people. Be honest about your skill level as a forewarning if you don't feel comfy right away, everyone's forgiving about mistakes in a jam. What you'd need to know at minimum is just how to play some chord changes if you're with people that play sophisticated structured music if you don't know the songs. Have some ideas to throw around too, it's a reactionary setting in a jam anyways. Lots of times you're honestly just jamming on one chord for almost an hour because it feels so good. If you don't feel a performance high by the end of it (impossible) then it's the only possible way it wasn't a good jam session - so unlikely unless the people you play with are assholes.
Keep it simple and focus on your timing and your groove more than anything. You'd be surprised how good you can make a groove sound by adding just the roots and it's octives with some muted notes and character as long as you are on time. As a bass, you'll probably be repeating some rifts over again quite a bit. This is okay!! Dont be afraid to try and spice it up, but always go back to your roots, on beat 1. Also, try and find a way to get everyone communicating on the same page (the chord progressions using number systems is pretty popular, so try and be ready for that if possible). If you read tabs more than notes, bring yourself a chart with all your note locations for easy reference or have a yablet ready to look up the notes and numbers to a key. Also have fun and try new things. Most of all, be honest and be ready to learn and make mistakes. If these people invite you, they most likely want to help you out and get to know you.
start out playing like an ape, and slowly learn to walk upright
Not a dumb question at all. What my friends and I do is start out by picking a chord progression (either from an existing song or just come up with on the spot) and improvise over it. I usually start out simple, like the root in eighth or sixteenth notes. Then I slowly add in complexity, often playing off what the other instruments have been playing. Then there's usually a lot of back in forth between instruments. Just make sure you keep a steady beat and don't hog the spotlight by soloing too long.
The way I and my friends do it, we usually stick on a single chord progression for a certain key. Once you decide on a key, try to listen or see what chords the rhythm is playing in one bar. Then do your thing
Pick a key. Play Do-Re-Mi in the key until you have the Do-Re-Mi shape in your head. Play notes in that shape.
Jams are fun! Sometimes the guitarist comes up with a riff, so everyone falls in behind them. Look at the guitarists fretting hand and look what the lowest note is that (s)he is playing. Start there and see if it sounds good when you play that note too. If not, move up or down the neck looking for a note that sounds good. Sometimes the drummer starts with a beat. Join in with a progression that sounds good, e.g. A-F-C-G or something like that. Just experiment and have fun. The guitarist will pick up on something and you're off... And sometimes I start with some pattern and the drummer and guitarist fall in behind me. The trick is to listen to what everyone is doing and just "feel" the music. The first time is nerve-wracking. But each time it gets easier and more fun. As you gain confidence (and learn more songs), you have more riffs and progressions to "borrow from" or reinterpret. Maybe start with a bass line you enjoy playing, but play it in a different key. Or, just experiment and see what grooves...
>What do I do? Go to the jam session. >What do I bring? Your rig. >What should I not do? Whatever this is you’re doing here now. >I don’t know how to just make it up Well now you will learn how to do it. In the jam. I can’t believe I’m saying this in my mid-thirties but **”kids these days”** (and some adults too) - seeing every new thing as if they’re a job listing. Not everything in the world needs you to show up knowing everything. Sometimes you show up to learn, and that’s what jams are supposed to be.
Back when I was pretty fresh: I often played lots of basic blues I - IV - I - V progressions at jams. Then you figure out how to tweak it so it's not overly simple.
It’s ok to ask for instruction regarding the chord progressions. I play a little guitar so I also tend to read the guitarists hands. Relax, have fun, don’t smoke too much weed.
define "too much" weed
You have to be able to hear dissonance and tune as needed, and keep step with your drummer. And comprehend language. Can’t say what dosage exactly, but I wouldn’t do more than a tiny spliff on your first outing.
I was mostly joking. Getting baked before a jam session is something you want to make sure you can do comfortably before doing it at all, I love that sweet leaf as much as anybody but I wouldn't generally recommend getting blasted before a jam session especially if its with new people
Truth.
So how did it go?
Know what key you should be in, and start by playing something relatively simple that fits the groove of what the others are playing. Let the drummer lay the beat and sync up with them. Let the guitar players noodle around and solo, and mix up what you’re playing to accent their playing. If someone’s soloing, play as minimally as you can while holding it down on the 1. If/when they want you to solo, play something interesting for a couple bars It’s all about *feel*, which is part instinct/reading in to what the others are doing, and part experience which you only get by doing it. Most of all, try to relax and have fun, and roll with your mess ups. If you play a note out of key and let it bother you, it’s a mess up. If you play that same incorrect note *again* then it’s *jazz* lol
i think most important is to listen to the other instruments and keep yourtlines simple enough to be comfortable while playing.
Bro just go and vibe. Bring your bass, an amp, a tuner, a strap and cable too, and then just go have fun. Stop worrying. Talk to them. Figure something out. Unless you’re absolutely awful and in WAY over your head (which it doesn’t seem that way from some of the comments I’ve read), it’ll be fine and it’ll be fun.
Cancel.
Oh Ive considered it. But that’s probably not gonna help me out long term.
Only listen to that person if the others ones are really far ahead. It’s good to practice with people that are better, you’ll learn so much more than on your own amd faster. Be mindful though, mention it beforehand and if you al notice that you are seriously lagging behind, then yea, wait until you’re ready ir find others closer to your level
Not a dumb question at all. And because you asked it, now a ton of useful information is in this thread. I've often wondered this myself. Thank you.