Getting people to Jam with?

...Fits me to a T, too bad it would be a 850 mile commute to jam.
Isn't that what long weekends are for? :lol:
"Forget the grass, I have to go jam. I'll be back on Monday."

found someone, he's been playing a year, into the same sort of songs i am, i'm going to see him on wednesday evening for acoffe and little Jam then see what happens.

How'd you find him??

I'm in the same boat as you. Cept, it would have to be something like...."looking for middle aged person who is into everything that I like, can turn me on to bands I've never heard, is available when I am, is not a knucklehead, is sometimes better at the guitar than I but sometimes not, can't sing but tries too (just like me), states that he/she does not want to play in a band but has secret desires to rule the grey haired rock n roll community by playing local bars on a "not so often basis".

Sounds like there's a lot of us in that boat - hope there aren't any large icebergs about...........

I used to go to an acoustic jam night regularly, but I got a little tired of playing the same songs - all three or four chorders - week after week. I did get together with one of the lads who has similar musical taste to me, but he's a bit busy with work at the moment.

So what I'm doing at the moment is trying to get about 10-12 songs together that I could do at an open mic - feverishly practising them every day. Most of them are almost performance standard now - just a few twiddles and tweaks required. I just don't fancy turning up at an open mic and doing the same songs everyone else does, although it'd be nice to have SOME common ground - it's possible to meet like minded folks that way.

I'm about ready to dip a toe in the murky waters of the open mic night again - I do miss playing with other people. Playing along with CD's is a reasonable substitute, but it's not the same as jamming and finding there's some chemistry between you and other musicians.

:D :D :D

Vic

Originals I hope!! You've got a good catalogue of songs on your hands. Would seem a shame to me if you went to an open mic night to go play someone else's music. I"ve got to start writing full songs so I can build up my library of originals. I've got alot of half written stuff and "ideas". Songs with no lyrics, etc...You know the sort. I'm sure you have a dozen yourself.

Let me know how it goes Vic!!

Originals I hope!! You've got a good catalogue of songs on your hands. Would seem a shame to me if you went to an open mic night to go play someone else's music.

Well, he might be playing some dHodge and KathyR and Scrybe songs, as well as some from a quartet that was fairly popular a while back... 8)

Well, he might be playing some dHodge and KathyR and Scrybe songs, as well as some from a quartet that was fairly popular a while back... 8)

LOL....Heyyyyy, I want one of my songs to be on his play list!!!

(Vic speaking after playing his opening tune...) "Thank you, and now, I'd like to play one of my favorite songs written by one of my Guitar Noise mates "Blueline".

(After he plays song....)...silence.....sound of crickets.... :lol:

Well just to add to this thread and how difficult it is sometimes to find people to jam with. I mentioned earlier how long it's taken us to get a regular group together and up until a few weeks ago it seemed to be working out OK but the last few weeks have been very stale and not much fun.

Our "lead" guitar player does not want to play out and after we took a few weeks off to mull that we got back together again. Well we have been working on 10 songs or so which we do fairly well, sometimes extremely well but several things have come up recently that are makin me wonder where this is going.

When the lead guitar player took some time off I taught the other guys a couple new songs (easy ones) hashpipe and Californication. Which was a break from what we were playing all the time.

When the guitar player came back and the other guys said hey let's play those other songs you showed us, since he didn't know them well, he kind of sat in the back hitting a few chords etc. He said he would learn the songs for next week but after three weeks he hasn't even attempted to. Now this guy is a very good guitar player and these songs can be learned in about 5 minutes so it's not that they were difficult. I'm beginning to think it's because he didn't pick them.

Most of the songs he picked, a bunch of Cream, some Santana, ZZ Top, etc he's been playing forever and has them down cold and man does he play them well, but we've been playing the same songs for like 2-3 months now he never seems to want to try anything new.

I have no problem working on songs to get them tight etc., but at some point you need to bring something new to the mix.

Anyway this Friday he couldn't show up and neither could the drummer so my buddy found another drummer to sit in. Now both the bass player and I are beginner's, OK I might be slightly more than a beginner but I'm nothing special and a bit shy about playing in front of strangers I don't know. Our bass player doesn't have that problem actually I think he has the opposite I think he thinks he's better than he is but I digress.

So this new guy shows up and within about 5 minutes we are jamming with more energy than we've had for months. We started with Sunshine of your Love (which I really am tired of playing) but it was a bit different as there was only me on guitar. Then we played Beer Drinkers/He@@ Raisers and we rocked that. unfortunately since I wasn't playing the lead I only know the rhythm. I kinda hacked out a couple solo's for some of the songs I didn't know.

Then we played Purple Haze. Now I kind of learned that about a year ago and never played it with anyone and just last week relearned it with the solo...man did that one rock.

I felt more locked in with this drummer than with anyone other drummer we've had and we've had a few come by.

So I guess my point is that it's difficult to find the right mix and even when you think you do you may not.

Now we have a dilema, the new drummer called my buddy the next morning and loved it and wants in (problem is he can't come every Friday) and then I get an email from the other guitar player who's asking about this Friday.

Ouch. Unfortunately the two worlds are going to collide. If e go with the new drummer we will lose the guitar player and other drummer, but won't have a drummer every week so we will be playing sporatically. If we stay the way we are I'm going to die of boredom.

And talking about it isn't going to help much we've talked and talked about this in the past and never come to any conclusions. Half the time I just want to end it all and just be content with playing along with my CD's it's less of a hassle.

well i went to see my new Jamming buddy, it went wicked, he's been playing for about 1 yr, i went round had a cuppa then just started to play anything i could, he played the intro to sweet child of mine so i joined in with the chords and it sounded cool, his misses commented saying it sounded good, we both had massive smiles on our faces, were gonna see how this go over the coming weeks then look for others to join, bass/Drummer, it was really good he taught me bad to the bone using a slider and we had a right laugh with the lyrics, were gonna look at about 5 songs to learn together then see whats happens, thanks for all the posts, watch this space.... 8)

I've also reached out to someone I found on Craigslist. Looks like we will try to get together next week on Monday. Should I not make any posts on Tuesday, please, please, please call the cops. I may be stuck in a well somewhere putting lotion on my skin to keep it flexible. :shock:

(Edit: BTW....glad to hear that things went well for you Mark. It's great when things click. Especially with someone who is at or slightly above your own ability.)

mark,

finding some common songs is the best thing and if you have someone that happens to like the same music you're good to go. Once you start adding more instruments it gets better but a bit more difficult to coordinate at least in terms of who knows what song and such. The best thing is to pick easy songs where everyone can learn them quickly, once you've got several of those down you can start branching out to more difficult stuff.

But it sounds like it went well so good for you and when you get those moments when it all comes together its fantastic!

The hardestt hing we have found is someone to sing. A bunch of us including myself sing a few songs although none of us are any good, but without a singer it's very hard to really keep track of the changes from verse to chorus etc unless you start counting which is a pain.

It sounds to me like it is like going on holiday with a group of freinds. If it is just a couple of you, there is a tendency for some not to get to do the things they want to. If it is a larger group, the group splits into interest groups and then comes back together now and then.

I was watching something about those small 4 string guitars (euca.. I can't spell it). Anyway, it was about a group who got together regularly to do their thing. There were probably 15 or so of them. I would think this sort of critical mass would be ideal for splinter groups to form and that if someone didn't show it would not have a catestrophic affect.

There does not appear to be anything like that around my way, so I will continue to play to myself in the study.

I just found this link for over 35's who would like to jam.
http://www.allansmusic.com.au/Promos/Events/9.aspx
Sounds OK for those of us who live in Sydney or Melbourne. Do many stores run this type of thing in other countries?
I am going overseas shortly but will definately look into this when I get back from holidays.

Chris, it's like you said, "don't be afraid to try something new". If u get stuck in a rut and get bored, what fun is it? Go out on a Limb, keep that search for what feels right!

Just got back from our 3rd Jam, it's wicked, were having a right good time, we can play "sweet child of mine" and Zombie by the Cranberries, Jason does the lead and i do the rhythm, His wife sung on Zombie it was really good fun, we were all impressed, we've put a add out for a bassist and drummer and are going to have to look for somewhere to practice, were going to try about 5 or so songs, need to have a think what we can do, it really brings you on when you start playing with others.... :D