[Harp-L] Jam Format



I don't do the open stage thing all that often, but lately I've been stopping into an open blues jam weekly because i like playing with the drummer and the guitar player of the house band. The band leader (who plays harp and sings) runs a very good scene that's become very popular with both audience and musicians.

ONE key to his success seems to be that he makes sure everyone gets a chance to play by calling out who's up for each set. There is a sign up sheet, but that does not dictate the order in which the musicians are called up. The lineup often changes in the middle of the set, with the leader thanking certain musicians at the end of two or three of tunes and calling others up. AND, this is other key to his success: He does not leave weak or bad players up for more than a couple of tunes at a time. Stronger/better players get more stage time. Also, he does not call multiple weak players up at the same time, so there's minimal chance for a train wreck. For example, there may be a bad drummer or a weak bass player, but never both at the same time.

Now, a weak player who is up with a couple of strong players who get a good thing going that the weak player falls into synch with is likely to stay up for a while so long as things are meshing, so good ears do get rewarded. A weak player who's constantly fumbling around will still get to play a few tunes. So, the weak players get a chance, the strong players don't get antagonized, and things sound decent for the crowd more often than not.

So, controlling who gets up when, in what combination, and, most important, HOW LONG who stays up, seems to work pretty well.

FWIW,

JP



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