So what is a jam session really?

[BassTractor]

Seriously. I've always wondered.
Never played one, never even heard one.
I did once ask somebody, but got a half answer.

What I do understand is what AMM Music did in the sixties, and what guys like Evan Parker would do, as in quite experimental new music where you start with nothing and then someone emits some sounds and others respond in hopefully musical ways.

But a jam session at the local Dog and Duck is an unknown to me, and I expect some rules must be established beforehand? Like a chord scheme and a style? How about duration? And how many people would really impovise and how many (if any) would provide a solid backdrop to play against?

Would one strive to make a rounded off song, or would it be more like endless noodling over repeating patterns?

I hope you get the drift of my questions.

Thanks beforehand for any enlightenment of my brain cell.

[goblin]

Sadly I reckon the jam session is dying. They're all very much becoming open mic, so anyone can perform but it's only really rehearsed stuff nowadays. There's still some jamming happening where you're busking it out with each other and hoping for the best, but that's as far as it goes.

[razze06]

The few jam sessions i've been to were mainly an excuse for a few guitarists to show off their chops and improvise over a repeated patten. As one of he very few bassists who would go, i would try and do my own improvisation by producing different grooves on the pattern, which can be quite rewarding with a good and perceptive drummer.

Some other times the organiser of the session would distribute a set of covers to loosely learn, to have a base to work on. I've done a couple of impromptu reggae and dub sessions, which were the best ones i've ever been involved in.

[Lozz196]

The only ones I`ve attended have really been more mini-gigs, with all acts fully rehearsed at what they were going to perform. I know there are some around here (Hemel) where different people sit in and jam, but I`m yet to go to one. I should do really, think the thought of (the same) endless blues solos is what puts me off.

[gafbass02]

Thetrs a few open mic nights around here (Cheltenham) that had a nasty habit of turning into extended periods of a few guitarists endlessly noodling over whatever was being played, literally for hours at a time, bearing no relation to the style of music that was being attempted.
Luckily lately things are turning more into a structured open mic where folks turn up, play what they want, ask others to sit in if they want, and then after a set number of tracks move aside for the next act.
If there's time left at the end, a jam may happen, or not.

[krysh]

My understanding of the term Jamsession is a spontanious creative moment within a bunch of musicians either on stage or in the rehearsal room or studio.
For the whole 30+ years of of being a musician playing a great jamsession always has been the goal to reach for me. there is nothing more demanding and satisfying for for me as an artist than spontaniously creating "art" and receiving a direct feedback from an audience. As a musician an improvised Jamsession that works and connects with the audience for me is the highest level you can reach. But obviously these great Jamsessions are hard to find. Usually Jazz Jams offer the possibility to work on this, but even these usually only take patterns (realbook, etc.) that most musos can agree about and interpret their "coverversion" of a song. Free Jamsessions tend to become boring very easily and usually stay on one or two chords if they are not guided in some way. As a Host of a weekly non-Jazz-Jamsession I always try to create more of these creative moments and not so much adaptions of songs. Usually you need a good drummer, a good bassplayer and one good player on a harmony instrument. if all three of them have the ability to listen to each other and communicate actively then all the others can add their chops and it is possible to create songs on the fly and if you are lucky these even reach the audience.
as an example, here is the video playlist with some jams I filmed at my weekly event (bands are mentioned as bands):
[url="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJTWinGTXtHHg5UurUJQVFvnWiLIUZNRZ"]https://www.youtube....JQVFvnWiLIUZNRZ[/url]

[Roland Rock]

I went along to a jam session one time when I was between bands, hoping to sit in for a few blues numbers or covers. It turned out that it was just a series of pre-arranged full bands playing a few songs each. Disappointing :-(

I used to go to a jazz jam night in York, that was much better. There was a house band, but they would let anyone up who wanted a turn, and it was great fun. I remember being particularly inspired by Scott Devine playing some seriously funky stuff one night. Then I'd get up and stumble through Autumn Leaves :-D

[bassace]

What a coincidence, Gafbass, because I was in Cheltenham only two days ago (Sun) at a jazz jam session. Now, I usually get plenty of work in the jazz field but it was worth a 35 mile drive to get a sharpener of tunes I don't often play these days - bebop stuff by Hank Mobley, Clifford Brown and others. I was a member of the house rhythm section (p/b/d) and we were joined by two very good saxes and a couple of singers. All very well organised; the running order was put on a flip chart and charts handed round.

In the middle four young guys from Bristol came in (Italians) and played a great set. It was good to hear my bass played by someone else.......and it sounded marvellous!

[JTUK]

A jam session to me is a random set of guys doing what ever they feel like doing
with the barest of parameters...you might get a key and someone might set
a basic groove or tempo...and off you go.
Whether it works or not depends what the players have to say... and it is down to the musicianship
or ideas that one person may offer up.

This is much different from turning up at a gig, getting introduced to the band and getting a load of standards
thrown at you which can be quite fun..plus you get paid for it. You need to have your head on though
as you pretty well have to make sense of the groove on Bar 1... or it can sound like you don't know
what you are doing...which is NOT the point at all.

Jam sessions are either valid or not IMO, largely depending on who is playing them
and the strenght of ideas and/or direction offered up.

If you haven't got anything to say..keep it short and simple...
You need io be a blinding player to do 20 minute solos over every idea...so 3 piece bands
are not really the unit to use, IME... and if you have a few more chord/solo instruments, then you'll
need either a very strong lead from someone or a basic structure to adhere to....

But as for meeting up with someone you have no idea about how they play or know much about etc etc .... er....
make sure you an exit strategy...

Edited April 29, 2014 by JTUK

[PaulWarning]

open mics I attend are called jams when say a harp player gets up (good because they don't have to know the chords, just the key) and joins in with somebody else's song (jams along), but it's usually a bluesy standard (a lot of open micers seem to be fond of the blues), which is ok as long as they know how to finish it in a reasonably time.
loose jam sessions are where a guitarist just noodles along over a basic 12 bar turnaround where nobody has a clue how to finish it and is usually very good at emptying the pub, and I sit there and think "ah, that's why punk was invented"

[gafbass02]

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1398766438' post='2437306']
What a coincidence, Gafbass, because I was in Cheltenham only two days ago (Sun) at a jazz jam session. Now, I usually get plenty of work in the jazz field but it was worth a 35 mile drive to get a sharpener of tunes I don't often play these days - bebop stuff by Hank Mobley, Clifford Brown and others. I was a member of the house rhythm section (p/b/d) and we were joined by two very good saxes and a couple of singers. All very well organised; the running order was put on a flip chart and charts handed round.

In the middle four young guys from Bristol came in (Italians) and played a great set. It was good to hear my bass played by someone else.......and it sounded marvellous!
[/quote]

Sounds ace, I'm not involved In The local jazz scene at all, I'd love to be, but I'm a new discoverer of the genre, and as such gave no skills, knowledge, references or experience in playing it. I'd bloody love to though!

[Bloodaxe]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1398722619' post='2437054']Seriously. I've always wondered.[/quote]

I reckon that there's three types:

1: The 'true' jam session. Someone kicks off & everyone else joins in with something that fits. Changes usually based on random shouts/nods/hand signals etc. Best kept in the rehearsal room, but if recorded it's a useful tool for songwriting. Black Night, Gimme Some Lovin' and Paranoid all came out of jam sessions in the studio.

2: The Open Mic Night. This can be any genre & usually consists of angst-ridden singer/songwriters, full originals bands & sometimes just a bunch of mates getting up to blow through a few covers.

3: The Blues Jam. Get up with the house band & busk your way through a bunch of 'usual suspects' Blues tunes. At first glance this sounds like it'll bore the pants of any & all in attendance. If the organisers get it wrong, it will, but when it clicks it's anything but dull.

3a: The Jazz Jam. See 3 but substitute 'Jazz' for 'Blues'. Lead sheets/Real Book may be permissible.

For my money 2 & 3 are useful as they keep you on your toes. You don't have time to tune up (should have done that while you were waiting), mess around with FX boards the size of Euston, or prong about with someone else's amp in search of your 'core tone'. Get up, plug in, check level & off you go with only a sketchy guide as to what you'll be playing. A typical instruction at a Blues Jam will be "Cm, swing shuffle, quick change, II-V-I turnaround, watch for the stops, in from the V. 1-2-3-4".

'Not faffing about' is a good skill for any player to have, & jams instil that pretty quickly.

Pete.

[Si600]

What does II-V-I turnaround mean?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1398801534' post='2437796']
What does II-V-I turnaround mean?
[/quote]

If the key is C, the first chord is D minor (II...), the second G7 (V...), then C (I...); rinse and repeat.

If the key is G, the first chord is A minor (II...), the second D7 (V...), then G (I...); rinse and repeat.

The Roman numerals tell us which chord, relative to the key chord (the I...) is wanted. Chord substitutes are very often used, but that's a whole subject in itself.

Hope this helps; subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others.

[JTUK]

turnaround... as in how does the sequence resolve itself.

[BassTractor]

Thanks, folks! I now have a much clearer picture.
So it's "all of the above" then.