When I was in high school I had a friend who was a drummer. He used to say “let’s jam” whenever he was ready to go somewhere. I thought it was pretty cool and began saying it myself. You probably know however, that the expression “let’s jam” is often used by musicians when they get together to make music.
But did you know that having a jam session with other musicians is one of the best ways to learn new songs and licks on guitar? In fact, much of my own early education was gained this way. I used to take my guitar with me almost everywhere I went. As you can imagine, this gave me lots of opportunities to jam with other musicians I’d meet.
A simple jam session can also lead to more serious collaboration. One of my very first original songs was co-written with a friend. She came up with a line for the chorus and I wrote all the verses. The chorus line she wrote was the inspiration I needed to spark my own creativity. After that I continued to write more songs. Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened if we had never gotten together in the first place.
Learn to Create Your Own Songs
Today you can jam with me if you’d like! :0) For a limited time, I’m offering a free download of an original song I wrote several years ago. It’s called “Shiloh” and it was #1 on Soundclick for both Acoustic & Acoustic General. I think you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to play and will provide you with some additional chord and rhythm practice, if nothing else. You will need to put a capo on the 3rd fret if you want to sound like the recording.
Use the following URL if you’d like to share Shiloh with your friends: http://soundclick.com/share?songid=2023254
Can jamming with other musicians take the place of professional guitar lessons? Well, I’m not looking to work myself out of a job, but the truth is, many famous guitar players never had formal lessons. What they often do have is opportunity. Eric Clapton and Jimi Henddrix for example, had the chance to jam with some of their personal blues heros while they were developing their guitar skills. You might say they were a bit obsessive/compulsive when it came to practicing also!
Whatever path you take (whether formal lessons, or teaching yourself) you’ll find that the road to becoming a great guitarist doesn’t “just happen” overnight. It takes a lot of time, hard work and dedication. In my opinion though, guitar lessons can often make the trip a little shorter and easier- but be sure to jam with your musical friends too. Afterall, that’s where the fun really kicks in!
Until next time…
Keep practicing!
guitarcoach
March 19, 2008 at 8:25 am
Nice Blog topic! There is no question at all playing with other musicians made me a much better guitar player. And I do not mean just other guitar players. I had the great fortune to play with some heavy hitters in the Pgh area that were far beyond my caliber at the time. I had a successful thing going on using fill in’s and these guys were good! I became friends with most of them and learned a lot, applying what I learned year after year and before I knew it i was playing much better than I ever thought I would! On the other side of the coin, more than once I’ve played with other guitar players who were not nearly as competent as I, however, they would do something or pull out one little run that I had never heard before. Play with anyone and everyone you can..to a degree. Thats my2 cents worth! Ray