First Jam

Sounds like a fun time. And you learned not to underestimate yourself, or overestimate others. It really doesn't matter how long you've been playing, you still have to learn a song to play it well.

What everyone should do is collaborate before you get together again and come up with a list of songs you would like to learn. Then write out all the lyrics and the chord progressions to each song for each player. Then you will be able to learn many songs very quickly. That's how bands start. :D

Way to go GSS(OWA). I rarely jam, but do relish the opportunity. I ALWAYS learns something new, either a new song or technique. Normally a new song. I jammed over Thanksgiving and learned an old Stones song called "Live With Me" and also "Miss You".

The one thing I discovered during my last jam is that playing with someone else is a bit liberating. As a single guitarist, you're soley responsible for the song. When there's two of you, you get help. At one point during "Knocking On Heaven's Door", he went into lead...which was cool. I did a the G-D-Am-G-D-C thing the first time around normally, but afterwards I just started embellishing my pattern just a bit to give it even some more life. The song went on and it sounded really great. It's very fulfilling to me to add energy to a song.

So, my last jam I learned two songs and learned a little more technique.

Glad to hear you had a good time. Playing with others is a lot of fun. 8)

OWA. way to go 8) I think your experience is quite typical. what is the best part of it is your new self awareness.
I think you are well on track, as you feel the sense of listening and sharing during the jam. coming away from a first jam feeling the way you do is excellent. and you learned an oldie.

Go girl!!! Great to hear about it...and...to see yer back!

Cat

Good stuff. I would suggest writing down Sweet Home Ala. I can't tell you how many times I learned something at a jam only to find that I had completely forgotten how to play it 1 day later. (Factor in old age, abuse and several lobotomies. :shock: )
Its very frustrating to be playing a song one night and to have completely forgotten it the next.

And I thought I was the only one that forgot songs!

My brother in law taught me Tequilla. Simple enough until I got home and it was gone forever in whatever dark corner of my brain it is that steals things like that.

Isn't that strange? People ask me..."What songs do you know?" And I sit there with a blank look on my face. Yet, I go to a jam session and we can play all night long. Go figure.

My brother in law taught me Tequilla. Simple enough until I got home and it was gone forever in whatever dark corner of my brain it is that steals things like that.

Or it could have been the tequila...

GrungeSunset: Were you playing with other guitarists or was there someone playing bass and/or drums too or??

Hey, Ms Sunset...yer in a GREAT place right now. Enjoy it!
My brother in law taught me Tequilla. Simple enough until I got home and it was gone forever in whatever dark corner of my brain it is that steals things like that.

Boy...does THAT take me back! I got a record with "Tequila", "Walk Don't Run" and "Raunchy" (was it by The Ventures???) Sooooooooooo looooooooong agoooooooooo! It was complete with the teaching prompts, too. Can't remember the year it was.

Cat

I had my first jam session and it wasn't what I was expecting. The others had played a lot longer than I have so I thought I'd be the beginner of the group. I was told to play something which I did but they were not able to follow as I was up and down the neck. Although the others have been playing longer they have been playing on and off throughout the years. So they were limited to open chords. No power chords, barre chords or single note riffs. They knew some country songs and a few slow rock songs. Between the gap in skill and musical tastes it ended being everyone taking turns showing what they knew. It was still fun though and I learned Sweet Home Alabama out of the deal.

We will be doing it again sometime and I'm looking forward to it. I've suggested going unplugged at some point as well. Now that I know what to expect, I'm gonna have to learn some songs up their alley.

You've experienced a prime example of something it took me a few years to figure out. Most (and by most I mean 90%) people who say they "play guitar" are never motivated to progress past the point of strumming a few "cowboy chords" and singing Kum-ba-ya around a campfire. You're a pretty good ways beyond that point. So the odds are that when you get together for an informal jam, you're going to blow away most of the players in the room. They'll either worship you as a guitar goddess. or slink off with their egos severely bruised.

Accept the worship as your due reward. You've endured the pain and joy of learning to be a better than average plank spanker 8) :note2: :note2: :note1:

OWA,

yes definitely pretty standard stuff. In pretty much every situation I've been like that it was pretty much the same way. I'm usually the beginner of any group I play with and even though I know a bunch of songs it usualoly ends up that noone else knows the same ones or that they play them totally different (which for all intents makes it a different song) so it can be a bit frustrating at times.

Now I have been lucky enough to play several times with one of our resident guitar guru's Mr. Wes Inman. Thankfully he has put up with my hacking the times we have played together but the one thing Wes is always great at is getting everyone to learn new songs on the spot so the sessions aren't just everyone looking at each other wondering what to do next..OK well we still do that but not tht much.

I didn't really enjoy doing that to much, so I finally got three other guys that wanted to jam on a little more serious basis so we have been togethr about 5 months now and we all work on the same songs so when we get together it's more like a practice than just a free for all jam, but for me I prefer it that way. It gives me something to work towards.

Now that we got through that all we have to do is start agreeing on the type of music we want to play and that seems to be the hardest thing to do. I'll play pretty much anything but I do have an odd taste in music so most of the guys don't like the songs I'd liek to play. I learned to stop stressing about so we can just move on but the other three aren't quite as compromising and they all have different tastes. the drummer likes 80's metal, the other guitar player wants to play strictly classic rock and the bass player wants to do funk and blues.

So far we have a pretty good mix of a few of everyone's songs but only one of mine :roll: but as long we keep learning new songs I'm good with that.