How To Survive Your First Jam Session
You’re a jazz newbie. You can play along at home with a CD or YouTube, no problem.
But you know you need to play with other people. (That’s the point of playing jazz, right?)
So you find a local jazz jam session that welcomes beginners, and take your instrument along.
And then spend the whole session too nervous to join in.
Because you don’t want to make a fool of yourself. Because you don’t know what to do.
Sound familiar?
It Doesn’t Have To Be Like This. Let me share the secret…
There is one magical piece of paper you can bring, that will transform your experience.
Bring this; and the house band can support you well through your great first performance.
But without it, they have to guess. And then it goes wrong. And then you sit down and vow never to do that again..
The Magic Of A Lead Sheet
Come to a jam session with :
1. A **Lead Sheet** ...
2. ... of **a song you know** how to play or sing ...
3. ... **in the key** you want to perform it ...
4. ... and **an idea of how** you want to perform it.
That’s it! That’s all you need. You hand the band-leader this magic piece of paper; you’ve just communicated almost everything that they need to put you on the stand.
Again, More Slowly
That’s too easy, right? Let me break it down, and explain why all those points are important.
1. Bring a Lead Sheet
What’s a Lead Sheet? I hear you cry.
It is a single sheet of paper (or at max 2) of a common jazz standard, which has:
1. the chords
2. the tune
3. the words (if there are any)
Here is an example of a leadsheet for the standard “Honeysuckle Rose”.
A clear concise lead sheet gives your fellow musicians the best possible chance to play well for you. It shows all the information they need at a single glance.
A book with an arrangement written out over several pages is not a good alternative for a lead sheet. You might think it is helpful, having it all written out like a classical piece of music.
But, it makes the band work too hard, because they have to turn all those pages while playing. And while turning all those notes back into a lead sheet in their heads so they can actually play it.
They don’t want to work too hard; they want to have fun.
So bring a Lead Sheet, not an arrangement.
2. … of a song you know …
You want to have a good experience playing at a jam, especially if it’s your first time. So know the song.
* Understand what the chords are doing even when you are not playing the tune.
* Understand the "form" of the song: how many bars is it? does it have repeats? does it change key halfway through?
* Don’t bring something complicated that you saw for the first time yesterday.
* Don't bring something complicated even if you know it; the band may not!
* Do bring a song. Don't expect the organiser to guess what you want to play.
* Do bring a song. We want to hear you!
3 … in your key …
You may play a transposing instrument (e.g. sax, clarinet, etc). In this case, you need to understand that your rhythm section need a chart in a different key to yours. So please bring copies in the “Concert” key, as well as your own. (I will write a separate blog post on this subject of the 3 keys)
Or, your instrument might be already in the “Concert” key (e.g. guitar, voice, etc). In which case, you need to understand that horn players need charts in a different key to you. So please bring copies in their keys too, so they can play a beautiful solo or the tune on your song.
Also, for singers: it is expected that you might perform a song in a key which is different to the one it was originally written in. Please bring your charts in your key; do not expect the band to be able to transpose on sight. And bring lead sheets in the horn keys as well.
4 … with an idea of how you want to perform it
There are many options for how a newbie can join in on a song.
* just play the tune
* or play a solo
* "comping" on keyboard or guitar
You do not have to be responsible for the whole song, just one small part of it.
So come with a plan of what you’d like to do with the song. Like this…
"It's my first time playing live, could I just play the tune?" "I've been practising a solo over the first half" "I'd like to comp for the singer; don't want to take a solo"
These are all great, because it means the band-leader knows what you want to do.
So, you see, it’s simple to join in a jazz jam
1. Bring a Lead Sheet ...
2. ... of a song you know ...
3. ... in your key ...
4. ... with an idea for what you want to do in it
And bring several copies. You might need to give one each to the pianist, the bassist, the guitarist, the drummer.
You may find that they take one look at it, say “thanks”, hand it straight back and then play from memory or from an app. They will still appreciate that you gave them all the information they needed to play for you in the form of a Lead Sheet.
What Musicians Want At A Jam Session
I run a jazz jam session; we welcome beginners. Each time I see someone sit down with a huge smile after playing live for the first time, I feel happy. When I cannot persuade a newbie to play even a single chorus, I feel sad.
I’ve also been the newbie jazz singer turning up at a jam session where I knew no-one. And knew I’d cracked it when they welcomed me up to sing because I had the charts in my key, including one for a visiting sax player to do a solo.
What everyone wants at a jam session is to play music, listen to music, meet musicians, and have fun. Same as you, right?
So remember this when you plan to go to a jam session:
The band want you to do well and have fun (they will help you)
The band want to have fun too (so don’t make them work too hard!)
The Lead Sheet is the magic that makes it fun without working too hard
Rachel
