steve davis - Posted - 06/16/2009:  10:25:28

I like testing myself in quickly figuring out songs I've never heard before and being invited to get up on stage for 3 or 4 songs with people I've never played with before.
This is kind of exciting for me.

Pool

Edited by - steve davis on 06/17/2009 06:38:32

1four5 - Posted - 06/16/2009:  10:43:48

I've never been to a "public" jam, but jam with my friends a lot. My favorite part is getting out of the band "box" and letting loose on songs we would never consider using in setlists. Lots of blues and rock and really rawnchy country and having so much fun it should be illegal.

Dean

minstrelmike - Posted - 06/16/2009:  10:53:23

I like meeting new people and learning new songs. And I like being reminded of old songs, too.

I like seeing people's eyes light up when they first hear the song they practice in their bedroom become music with a bass and harmony singing and fancy solos.

I like seeing people take their first improvised break and then start laughing, either because it fell completely apart and the song still kept going or they made it all the way through when they didn't think it was possible.

Mike Moxcey Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html

formertd - Posted - 06/16/2009:  11:13:01

1.)I probably have 20 good friends I never ever would have met without jamming in bluegrass circles.
2.)I love playing fiddle tunes with fiddlers, watching their eyes light up as if to say "I didn't think you could play that song on a banjo!"
3.) I like drinking beer.

youdye - Posted - 06/16/2009:  11:55:49

The friendships that have grown over the short time I have been going to jams. The total awe of how banjo players stick together and help one another, especially if they see someone that hasn't been playing that long. The total support you recieve from EVERYONE that is participating. The encouragement to get "outside your comfort zone and see what this thing can do".


Mike Montgomery

4+1=Hootnanny!
O==''={::}

pickNgrin - Posted - 06/16/2009:  12:09:49

I like going and hanging out with friends, meeting new people, trying out new things, etc. I also love to go to jams with older folks who just want to play and sing the old songs, and maybe tell a few stories.

-matt

Edited by - pickNgrin on 06/16/2009 12:10:35

Pick1949 - Posted - 06/16/2009:  12:15:00

1. I absolutely LOVE to play behind a fiddle.... especially on the tunes like Grey Eagle, Katie Hill, Fire on The Mtn.... I could do that all day long. I love playing banjo-fiddle duets.... and with split breaks between fiddle and banjo too.

2. Im with Steve on this one, I like having to play stuff Ive never done before... it really keeps you stay on your toes.

3. I might be opposite of alot of banjo players here.. but I love the key of E and F on a banjo... old Hank Williams songs... and such in this key... make for some really neat "boogie woogie banjo" sometimes.

4. I love to back up a singer on well suited "heavy banjo" back up songs like Little Girl of Mine In Tennesee, and Down The Road, Shady Grove (the grass version). But only on tunes that alot of neat banjo backup really helps out on... But I always try to remember that you can eat to much chocolate pie!

5. When a good female singer sings some songs.... its hard to come by a female who sings bluegrass type stuff sometimes. It helps change the sound/feel around sometimes.

6. When everything is going like clockwork.... on a instrumental... timing is right... speed is fast but not sloppy.... people are up dancing.... and then.... the fiddle goes to his "chop".. and you can then come in with the banjo break..... and when you do the fiddler hollers....!!!!"WHOOO"!!!! real loud... ha ha.

7. When a good bass player gets to feeling real good and goes to slapping some really nice hot runs to add to the mix.

8. When somebody asks to hear "Foggy Mtn. Breakdown", "Dear Old Dixie", or "Going Down The Road Feelin' Bad"... It makes me grin from ear to ear. Its hard to beat them old standard Scruggs tunes!

9. When somebody forgets a line... and gives a weird look and then starts laughing. Ha ha...

10. When somebody listening likes it real good and says "Thats exactly how that songs goes"!

lazlo191 - Posted - 06/16/2009:  12:16:56

Meeting new folks is good, and trying out stuff that I might not do with the band, learning things from other pickers, and just hearing some music.

philip4229 - Posted - 06/16/2009:  12:27:01

I like beer

__________________________

Charley wild - Posted - 06/16/2009:  12:52:52

I've never been much of a jammer even when I was a young hotrodder. I'll get together with friends (I'm going to this evening) but it's as much a social thing. I rarely jam with people I don't know. I have enough opportunity to play and I can learn as much as I want from other sources.

"Marriage is somtimes a temporary thing but a good divorce can last forever"
Oscar Wilde

granada40 - Posted - 06/16/2009:  12:53:15

I love to meet other pickers.

Gold Star GF-100 Conversion

GerryH - Posted - 06/16/2009:  13:19:05

Playing music, meeting new folks, learning new tunes and being with people who enjoy old time music and keeping the music alive for another generation are the benefits I appreciate.
GerryH

OutlawSteph - Posted - 06/16/2009:  13:22:49

I wish there were folks around here who played Flatt and Scruggs tunes.. I don't say that just because I want to play the banjo parts that I practiced at home, which I DO, but I think they are great for everyone.
You'd think the fiddle players studied Paul Warren and the mandolin players studied Curley Seckler, like we study Earl, but I guess not.

steve davis - Posted - 06/16/2009:  13:51:28

I think it would be a blast to go to a jam in Japan or other countries where I didn't speak their
language and play music with them,transcending the language barrier and trading tunes.

Pool