My first jam session tonight. Wish me luck!

In about 10 minutes I'll be heading out the door to my first ever jam session. I've been looking forward all week to playing with other people... and THEN I got really nervous. (Embarrassingly, I even tried to bail this afternoon, but was convinced otherwise).

Good news is that my mood has swung back to excited now, so I'm sharing with all of you here. If I hadn't read all the good advice on this forum and about other people's good experiences I may never have been bold enough to take this step.

So please send me all your good vibes (especially some 'good timing' vibes).
 
I jam once a week. Leaving in 10 minutes, how can I give you any advice ?? LOL
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OK, advice. 90% of the time you will have a bunch of fun.

However, every once in a while I get matched up with some musicians who don't play too well. And or they don't know what song they want to play, start a song then it falls apart because they realize that they all don't know the song well enough.

Where I jam they have a list and who ever is on the list to go up next, gets matched with the next people on the list. So I never know who I'm going to play with.

Hang in there I think you will enjoy yourself.
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Best of luck!! I'm sure you're gonna love it
Just relax and remember....drumming is about having fun
 
Well...................................

Is it over ?


How did it go ?
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I missed your original post - I'm so sorry, I'd have liked to wish you the best of luck.

How did it go? Did you have fun? When are you doing it again?
 
Good news... tuns out I can keep a steady beat, hooray!
I only got to play a little, but it was enough for me to 'break the ice' and realize i can actually do this.
All the guys there have been playing for a long time so I was little out of my league, but what I played went well, especially for my first try and current skill level.
It was also great to see how they would start songs and just jam, playing around to see what worked. I'm feeling very inspired.
Am going to keep watch for other new musicians to play with, maybe more at my level, and this has given me confidence for that. Overall, a very good experience.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!
 
GREAT NEWS !!

CONGRATULATIONS.
 
Sounds great! =)
Did you know what they were going to play or did you just showed up? I'm still curious about these jam-nights.

Keep up the good work!
 
That's great, well done you! Your confidence and willingness to have a go will take you forward in leaps and bounds. I am very impressed and a teensy bit envious!
 
I saw this too late but I'm glad everything worked out well for you.

See? Nothing to worry about. You rock!

BTW, thanks for the random pics of Ringo on your blog. Such a cool looking puppy...


Are you still working through Syncopation too?
 
Wishing you luck retroactively. Was it a Blues jam?
 
Wishing you luck retroactively. Was it a Blues jam?

No, but that would have been cool to witness. Mostly 70s/80s rock and songs in that style.



Sounds great! =)
Did you know what they were going to play or did you just showed up? I'm still curious about these jam-nights.

As a beginner, jamming is probably very different for me than for someone with experience. I don't have the skills yet to improvise (as the other drummer there did, which was great to watch) so I prepared in advance. They gave me the names of six songs, and over the last two weeks I spent time listening to them, making notes, and practicing the basic grooves and changes for a few of the songs. For now I need to keep the general structure and not change much or I lose the beat. Going forward from this I'm going to spend more time at home improvising, especially to practice straying from the main groove and coming back to it.


BTW, thanks for the random pics of Ringo on your blog. Such a cool looking puppy...

Are you still working through Syncopation too?

Dog photos improve everything, in my humble puppy-loving opinion.

Yes! I've been working through the second section of 'Syncopation', still using the syncopated patterns on the bass with a rock beat on hihat and snare. There is a lot to go through. I'm doing a few different patterns a day and looking at the music first with the goal of "hearing" them before I play them on the kit.

That's great, well done you! Your confidence and willingness to have a go will take you forward in leaps and bounds. I am very impressed and a teensy bit envious!

The confidence is a work in progress - i almost bailed on the get together last night due to nerves, haha. I'm 'faking it til I make it' for the most part, trying to set realistic expectations and goals, and trying to let go and make mistakes without worry (the hardest part, in my opinion).

Thanks again everyone!
 
Congrats! And here's my 2cents....when looking for others to pkay with, don't shy away from those that are more experienced and better than you. Their skill level will push you to be better..,at least that's the way it works for me.

Happy Drumming!
 
Hey Mary O!
As we were planning this jam session, I searched the forum for advice on playing drums with a band. I had bookmarked your 'first gig blues' thread and read it through twice leading up to the session on Friday. It helped!
 
Good news... tuns out I can keep a steady beat, hooray!
I only got to play a little, but it was enough for me to 'break the ice' and realize i can actually do this.
All the guys there have been playing for a long time so I was little out of my league, but what I played went well, especially for my first try and current skill level.
It was also great to see how they would start songs and just jam, playing around to see what worked. I'm feeling very inspired.
Am going to keep watch for other new musicians to play with, maybe more at my level, and this has given me confidence for that. Overall, a very good experience.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

This is literally what it's all about. Music isn't just something to study and internalize. I feel that real "music" happens when real people play it together and are influenced by one another in their playing.

Keep it up, man. There's so much to learn by playing with others that can never in a million years be conveyed through a drum book. Keep going, and hopefully you can get to be a bit of the scene with those regulars, they will get to know what kind of things you're best at playing and hopefully with time, that can go the other way, too.
 
Wishing you luck retroactively. Was it a Blues jam?

It's weird, around here, the jams almost never stick to a style. On any given night in an open mic/jam around here, it can range from oldies to hair metal... And everyone is usually very supportive, even if it's not the type of music they usually listen to. Kinda cool that way. You guys really end up playing entirely blues or blues variants all night?
 
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