JAM SESSIONS - WHAT TO DO, AND WHAT NOT TO DO…
Jam sessions are an important part of learning how to play, interact, and musically converse with your fellow jazz musicians. There are often various levels of jams, from those specifically arranged for young players to hone their craft, all the way to professional-level cutting sessions that carry high expectations and unspoken rules. Playing at a jam session is a vital learning experience, and Dr. Dave Camwell, Professor Chris Kozak, Dr. Stephen Roberts, and Dr. Andy Nevala list valuable tools for you to be successful!
Professor Dr. Dave Camwell
Troy University, Director of Jazz Studies
I recently had the honor of hosting a jam session for the 2023 AMEA honor band jazz musicians, and here are some suggestions for high school age jazzers who are going to participate in this valuable jazz performance practice:
COME PREPARED! Memorize at least three tunes that you feel comfortable playing, including counting off, intro and outro, form, style, melody, and chord changes. More than three is even better, in case somebody else calls your tune before it’s your turn!
MELODY: Do not play the melody as exactly written on lead sheets/fake books. The melodies for many standards are commonly written in a very basic rhythmic way. Nothing says “newbie” quite like playing 9 straight quarter notes in a row…listen to professional recordings to know how a tune is really supposed to sound!
MELODY part 2: If there are multiple horn players (usually 3-5 are common) on a tune, DO NOT all play the melody in unison! A much better idea is to trade off the phrases (typically 8 bars), or possibly harmonize or create a secondary backing line underneath the melody.
AMOUNT OF CHORUSES: Do not play more that 2-3 choruses on any tune. Every note you play should be compelling; imagine you were being charged $.25 per note - make each one count! Don’t fill up needless space unless your harmonic and rhythmic material is so strong that you truly have enough content to artistically fill the space that is allotted. The golden rule is to leave people wanting more! …by the way, Charlie Parker rarely played more than three choruses, and as he said, “anything more than that, you’re just practicing…”
BODY LANGUAGE: Jazz is a fluid artform, and often things change quickly on the bandstand. One person (often a horn player) should take charge in making sure that the major elements of the tune (intro, division of melody, solo order, trading with drums, outro, tag, ending, etc.) are communicated to all members.
TRADING 4’s WITH THE DRUMMER: Remember the solo order! The order that musicians solo becomes the order that you alternate in trading 4s or 8s with the drummer. Make sure you are aware of where you are in this formula, and that you don’t get lost in the form!
ATTITUDE: In addition to your playing, how you treat your fellow musicians will largely define you as a musician and a person. Jam sessions are commonly held to support and promote jazz for up-and-coming musicians in the community. Be respectful of your elders, and be supportive and encouraging of your fellow players. Do not use this as an opportunity to play faster, louder and higher than everyone around you. Leave your ego at home, and present your very best musical and personal self on this stage.
HUMILITY: We are all just a small cog in the giant wheel of music. There is always someone better than you at your instrument; approach every musical performance such as jam sessions as an opportunity to share your love and hard-earned musical skills with others. Just make sure that you are cognizant and respectful of the history and traditions of this music, and that you engage with your fellow musicians with humility, preparation, a positive attitude, and a willingness to accept that things may not always go quite the way you envision. Jazz is much like life - you often have to improvise and think quickly in ways that are unexpected! That’s all part of the fun - now go make some beautiful music and carry this music forward with YOUR musical voice!
2023 AMEA Jam Session hosted by Dr. Dave Camwell
Professor Christopher Kozak
The University of Alabama, Director of Jazz Studies
In my experience, the rules for participating in Jam Sessions aren’t always universal. There may be specific guidelines regarding how and where to sign-up for a spot, tune selection or restrictions, number of choruses you are allowed to play, and how many soloists can be on stage at one time to cite a few. It only makes sense to check for that information with whomever is running the session or on the signup sheet. PRO TIP: Pay attention to which tunes people are signing up for and add them to your repertoire so you can play with those individuals next time!
After you’ve signed up and selected your tune, have your instrument out and ready to play when it is your time I.e., put together, tuned, etc. You should be able to play the head of the tune you selected, know the key you’re playing it in, the tempo you’d like, and the feel/style. You might suggest an introduction if the rhythm section doesn't already have one but if not, they’ll generally pick it for you. If there’s no intro, they'll usually just expect you to go directly into the melody or as we say, “right on it.”
Here’s where things can vary. Whoever plays the head gets the first solo unless more than one player joins in. If there is more than one soloist, you’ll need to make the call on the fly and be willing to either step up or let someone else take the first solo. Remember, be fair and limit your solo length. This can be a challenge but try to hold yourself to one or two choruses depending on the tempo. Remember, other folks want to play too! The rhythm section may want to solo so don’t be afraid to ask (but not on every tune.) Trading 4’s or a solo for the drummer is a great way to break up the monotony too. When you aren’t soloing, engage by listening to everyone else’s solo but step aside so they can be the focus. A lot can be learned here!
When the tune is wrapping up, if you haven’t already discussed an ending, communicate musically or otherwise how you’d like to end. PRO TIP: Learn as many introductions and endings as you can and be able to draw from them at will. Unfortunately, how to end the tunes is often forgotten about and seldom discussed in the heat of the moment. Be ready to pull some of those out in a split second. Transcribing several intros/endings from recordings of Jazz Standards and memorizing them in all keys is extremely beneficial for all Jazz players. Don’t always leave it up to the Rhythm section or you may get the “Ellington ending” on every tune!
When it comes to selecting repertoire, medium swing and Latin tunes are great. Up tempo burners are usually fine but be prepared to take a few extra choruses. A ballad is acceptable but only take one chorus or even half depending on who else is playing. It’s great when someone calls something out of the ordinary, but it makes sense to pick tunes that are in the standard rotation of that particular group at the session. The idea is to get as many folks up playing as possible and picking something lesser known might hinder that. A few common tunes called are: “There Will Never Be Another You,” “Solar,” “Alone Together,” “All the Things You Are,” and “Take the A Train.” It’s not limited to just those so, again the sign-up sheet will be helpful in picking a tune you’d like to play on!
Those are just a few points I wanted to draw attention to about Jam Sessions. They can be great places to hear your peers, learn new tunes, play some of the material you are practicing, and develop a network with like-minded musicians. It’s also great to play with live musicians and interact through music instead of just a play along or iRealb. Find the closest one to you and go often!
Professor Dr. Steve Roberts
The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Director of Jazz Studies
Jam sessions are a great way to improve your jazz playing, meet some like-minded musicians, and have a lot of fun. The beauty of jazz jam sessions is that anywhere you go in the world there are a set of tunes that pretty much everyone will know. I have attended jam sessions in Colombia, Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and all around the US, and the tune choices did not vary much. There are some great sites online like learnjazzstandards.com that keep lists of these core standards, but you can also just go to the sessions and take notes. I tell my younger students that while it’s ok if they just want to watch the first couple jam sessions and get an understanding of the process and what tunes people are likely to call.
As a horn player it is important to have some tune melodies memorized. If you don’t know a tune, just sit out and wait for the next one and make a note to learn the tune you weren’t familiar with. Real books and sheet music are generally discouraged at jam sessions, although since iReal Pro came out many rhythm sections keep their eyes glued to their phones for entire tunes. Horn players often frantically study the chords on their phones before it is their turn to solo, but rarely look at it when they play. While this has become standard fare, I encourage my students to do their study and chord memorization in the practice room before the session.
As my colleagues outlined, don’t take too long of a solo. Be polite to the other horn players by not taking up too much time, and understand that the rhythm section often does not want to play 50+ choruses of a tune. If you don’t know how long is too long, then ask one of the more experienced musicians and they will give you a ballpark estimate. Most of the time you will sound better if you limit yourself to a few choruses anyway.
Most importantly, these sessions are about interaction! There are plenty of opportunities to practice with play-alongs and your metronome. Use these sessions to explore the conversation between the soloist and rhythm section. If you are a soloist, leave room for a response from the rhythm section. Often you’ll hear a solo that is a non-stop string of notes with hardly even room to breathe. This doesn’t allow for the conversation. It’s like asking someone “how was your day” and their answer is a two-hour lecture. That’s not a conversation. Often if solos are too busy and long, the rhythm section will just check out and stop trying to interact and nobody benefits from that. The beginning of your solos is a great spot to allow for space and to not be in a hurry. By starting this way you allow the rhythm section to be a part of your solo and everyone as a team develops the music organically. Rhythm section players, understand that you are not an accompaniment machine, but part of the music. Even if solos and tunes get long, try your best to listen to and interact with each soloist. This counterplay is the true heart of jazz and it’s one of the wonderful, unique things about this art form.
Professor Dr. Andy Nevala
Jacksonville State University, Director of Jazz Studies
My colleagues have listed many great tips for having a successful jam session experience. We all started out playing in jam sessions before we started playing jazz gigs; the process of hearing songs played by the older players, going home and learning them, and then coming back the next week to sit-in was invaluable to our development as jazz musicians.
When I first became interested in jazz, I would attend jam sessions just to hear the experienced musicians play. I would sit in the corner, write down the song names, and just watch and listen. It took me a few months to get up there and play “Blue Bossa” for the first time, and then I was hooked. Remember, a jam session is an audition for you to show what you know to the other musicians in the room, and the musicians I met and played with at those sessions led to my first real paying “gigs”.Take it seriously and learn the correct melodies and chord changes, because the Real Books are full of mistakes. You will only learn the correct chord changes and melodies by listening to the ORIGINAL recordings of the songs.
For rhythm section players, the original recordings are also where you will find the correct piano/guitar voicings, comping rhythms, grooves, introductions, and endings, most of which are not in the Real Books. The IRealPro App is good for practicing by yourself and great to have when you experience a jazz emergency when an obscure tune is called, but there is no melodic information, and you can’t really comp appropriately without any melodic sense.
Memorize as many standards as you can! I’ve found that the human brain can only handle a limited amount of information and stimulus coming your way at any given time. If you are reading out of the Real Book and don’t know the song you are playing, it takes up brain capacity (much like a computer) that should be used for interacting with the soloist, rhythm section, or soloing. You should be able to close your eyes, open your ears, and try to really live in the moment - that’s when it’s the most fun!