Wow

Having met Vic and heard him play, it does hearten me to read his posts about the earlier jam sessions, as he is such an excellent player.

Thanks for that, but that's not how I'd class myself - I'd put myself in the "slightly above average" bracket, if that. Good on rhythm, pretty good timing, weaker on lead. One thing I'm not short of, though, is self-confidence - it's better to try and laugh it off if you fail, than never to try at all. There are worse things in life than messing up a guitar riff...and there are better people than me who've done that! Apache, you've heard me play, and you've heard Ray (Darth Ordinary) play - and I think you'd agree, he's a far better guitar player than me. Faster, smoother, slicker, a great ear for music and he can play stuff I'll probably struggle to get close to if I play for another 53 years! Yet....he's not keen on the idea of getting up in front of people at a jam night and playing, even though I reckon he could hold his own in any company. Go figure.

The first step's the hardest - actually playing with other people. The way it started for me, I was visiting Marilyn in hospital after she broke her hip - decided to call for a drink on my way home. There was a jam session in full swing in the pub, and the songs they were playing were songs I knew. Got talking to one of the guys (Stu, as previously mentioned) who I vaguely knew, and he offered me his guitar to sit in on a couple of songs. Then said, "why don't you bring your own guitar next week? The more the merrier!" So I did......

Since then, I've got together with various people - including Laz , Babydoclaz and Scrybe from these forums - and always enjoyed jamming with them. And - I've always learned something, too!

As a certain Mr Hodge once said - "the only way to be certain of not making mistakes is not to play - and that's NOT an option!"
I may have slightly paraphrased that, but you get my drift.....

:D :D :D

Vic

the only way to be certain of not making mistakes is not to play

I look at it very differently. If you're improvising a lead line, you're the one creating the melody - so there can't possibly be a mistake!

There might be sounds you didn't expect, but they're part of your improvised line. As your ears and technique get better, your expectations better match what happens. And when you get to that point, you can really start pushing the envelope, including sounds you wouldn't have considered before :)