[Harp-L] Why Blues Jams are Important



I agree in the importance of blues jams due to the opportunity for new
players to experience live performance, for hearing musicians improvise and
play off each other, and just to hear a lot of musicians away from the
comfort and security of their well rehearsed band.  I think that
seeing/hearing how others approach the same song at a jam is useful.  In
fact, people do become better musicians by going to jams and playing at
jams.  I have seen bands form around players that met at a jam.  It is
always fun when a talented pro shows up at a jam and plays.

I also agree that "head cutting" can help ground musical grandiosity, and
help egos deflate, which we all need from time to time.

I heard some awesome playing at SPAH, with technique that definitely
surpasses mine.  And I don't even want to consider what I heard Howard Levy
do!

BUT...

I don't think that music itself is a competition.  Sometimes in the "top
this!" mentality of head cutting, the playing can become a catalog of
technical skills or speed as opposed to serving the song's intent.  To me,
technical skills, speed, or the use of tone in one note played right at the
right time should all be part of how we interpret and serve the music, not
just showing off skills.  I have enjoyed jams at which skilled musicians
show their stuff and clearly enjoy watching each others approach to the
music and finally play off of each other, trading fours, etc.

I have heard players use much simpler lines played well that to me are
superior in the context of a specific song than was a display of many
overblows strung together at a high rate of speed in that song.  The phrases
with overblows may require a higher level of technical skill to execute, but
the song itself may not be well served.  Note and phrasing choices are part
of musicality.  I don't value technique for the sake of technique.
Restraint, and choices of when to play, when not to play, and what to play
that will work for the song can be lost in the "head cutting" process.

That said, I personally enjoy fast phrasing if it fits, and have add some
use of overblows to my approach.  So it isn't that the techniques are the
issue for me, it is when and how they are used in the music.  I intend to
keep adding techniques as long as I can play!

I am not sure how at a jam the idea of note choice can be supported.  At a
jam it tends to be a question of who can play the flashiest, fastest, or the
most "out there."

Doug S.



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