Whatever your instrument, we’ll show you how to start jamming!
“Here are the jam resources you need to start making music with other people. Does it need to be hard to start? No!
I learned to jam almost as soon as I could chord along on easy songs with friends. Keeping it slow and simple, ANYONE can be jamming as soon as they get their first stringed instrument! Basic rhythm playing + following chords on good songs… easy, fun, and fundamental! Most methods ‘send you to the closet’ for solo practicing. But bluegrass is always played in a group — and that’s where the fun and learning really happens, even just starting out!”
JAM Songbook
2- and 3-chord songs playable in any key. With YouTube Playlist!
- “Getting into jamming, the best first resource to purchase. Highly recommended.”
— Bluegrass Unlimited - 39 favorites, words and chords in large print
- Number system shown and used; with guidance for choosing best key
- Instruction on learning songs, leading songs, faking solos, finding melodies
- Chord diagrams for guitar, banjo, mandolin; positions for fiddle, bass
- Just $10! Fits in case.
The JAM Songbook is perfect for all jammers, including complete beginners! Created for the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program, it’s also provided to students in all Wernick Method jam classes.
Please Note: All registered students are provided both a hard copy and PDF of the JAM Songbook, so there is no need to purchase, unless you want a backup copy or as a gift to others. The exception is free classes (typically festival classes) — students are not provided with this book.
Bluegrass Slow Jam for the Total Beginner
Anyone, with any instrument, can get into this bluegrass jam session, even if you’ve never tried it before. All you need are four basic chords (G, C, D and A) to be able to play along with the band!
This 2-hour video will give you the practice and the confidence you’ll need to join a real jam session. Pete Wernick makes it easy, keeping the tempos as slow as possible, providing encouragement, instruction and important advice on how to hold your own when you jam with others. By playing along with these top musicians, you’ll get a feel for where the chords change, keeping rhythm, when to come in and when to end. You’ll learn 17 popular standards (printable lyric/chord book included)…. and the chords are clearly shown onscreen as you play along!
“If you’re a novice musician, this is the video for you.“
— Bluegrass Now
Playlists of Bluegrass Jam Favorites
Watch & Listen to 116 Jam Favorites on YouTube and Spotify Since bluegrass songs are learned primarily by ear (not written), to hear what songs sound like and learn melodies by ear, this Playlist Guide gives links to two online playlists of 116 classic bluegrass songs and instrumentals. One playlist is for Spotify, the other for YouTube.
The playlists’ renditions were chosen as good representations of “standard” versions of these jam favorites. The Spotify selections are mostly the original and/or most influential versions, sometimes by the musicians who “wrote” (created) them. The videos on the YouTube playlist are generally more recent but also intended to be seen as versions that jammers would typically emulate. The Playlist Guide lists the keys of all performances on YouTube.
Compared to exacting written compositions (as in classical music), bluegrass songs and tunes are commonly played with variations, meaning a precise standard version may not exist. But the playlists present influential oft-emulated versions of these standbys of “essential bluegrass repertoire”. Listening to them will help you at jams anywhere. And in the process you’ll hear and see many all-time greats of bluegrass!
JAM Songbook
2- and 3-chord songs playable in any key. With YouTube Playlist!
- “Getting into jamming, the best first resource to purchase. Highly recommended.”
— Bluegrass Unlimited - 39 favorites, words and chords in large print
- Number system shown and used; with guidance for choosing best key
- Instruction on learning songs, leading songs, faking solos, finding melodies
- Chord diagrams for guitar, banjo, mandolin; positions for fiddle, bass
- Just $10! Fits in case.
The JAM Songbook is perfect for all jammers, including complete beginners! Created for the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program, it’s also provided to students in all Wernick Method jam classes.
Please Note: All registered students are provided both a hard copy and PDF of the JAM Songbook, so there is no need to purchase, unless you want a backup copy or as a gift to others. The exception is free classes (typically festival classes) — students are not provided with this book.
Bluegrass Songbook
Words and melodies for 140 classic bluegrass songs! In print since 1976, the best-selling bluegrass songbook, with a broad range of standards from traditional to “newgrass”, and including lesser-known gems
- Melodies in simplified tablature — for just strings 2, 3, 4 on guitar, banjo, dobro
- Still the only book with instruction for bluegrass singing!
- Sections on harmony, phrasing, style, expression, singing in pitch, songwriting, finding your vocal range, basic guitar playing
- How all-time great bluegrass singers do it, in their own words: Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Jimmy Martin, Ralph Stanley, Peter Rowan, Hazel Dickens, Red Allen, Charlie Waller, Bobby Osborne, Keith Whitley, Alice Gerrard, Jesse McReynolds, John Starling
- Review of classic bluegrass recordings by leading groups
“Recommended to anyone attempting to sing bluegrass… so many thoughts from so many bluegrass icons that it takes one’s breath away.”
Play-Along Jam Videos
These groundbreaking best-selling videos have helped thousands learn to jam, play bluegrass music, and improve their jamming skills, in their own homes or anywhere a video can be played! And they are a great way to prepare for a Wernick Method class.
- Stream or download!
- 3 videos, 56 standards
- Slow/intermediate speeds
- Chords shown on screen
- Solo with full band backup
- Lyrics included
- $5 off any/all videos with special code when you register for a Wernick Method class
Bluegrass Slow Jam for the Total Beginner
A play-along jam session for players of any level — novice bluegrassers just starting all the way to experienced pickers looking to build confidence, learn standards and practice solos. Gentle tempos from very slow to intermediate.
Includes Pete’s instruction on jamming basics including the chord number system, jam ground rules and etiquette, chord progressions, kickoffs, transposing, and harmony.
- 17 standards, from 2-chord songs to “The Old Home Place” played by a Colorado all-star band
- A soloing opportunity for you in each song, with the band playing backup
- Follow chords as in real jams, with enlarged view of guitar left hand
- Closeups of soloing instruments for learning basic melodies
- Starts with very slow and easy 2-chord songs in G, and moves up to 3-chord songs in G and other keys, with a few favorite instrumentals included.
“This is basically like playing with a group of really cool people, who aren’t playing at a high speed.“
— customer review
A Guide For Newcomers and Closet Pickers
A play-along jam session for players of any level — novice bluegrassers just starting all the way to experienced pickers looking to build confidence, learn standards and practice solos. Gentle tempos from very slow to intermediate.
Includes Pete’s instruction on jamming basics including the chord number system, jam ground rules and etiquette, chord progressions, kickoffs, transposing, and harmony.
- 17 standards, from 2-chord songs to “The Old Home Place” played by a Colorado all-star band
- A soloing opportunity for you in each song, with the band playing backup
- Follow chords as in real jams, with enlarged view of guitar left hand
- Closeups of soloing instruments for learning basic melodies
- Starts with very slow and easy 2-chord songs in G, and moves up to 3-chord songs in G and other keys, with a few favorite instrumentals included.
“This is basically like playing with a group of really cool people, who aren’t playing at a high speed.“
— customer review
Intermediate Bluegrass Jamming
A 22-song moderate-speed workout with plenty of soloing opportunities The most challenging of the three jam videos assumes the viewer is already a jammer, and offers 22 full-length songs at medium tempos, with two chances to solo in every song.
Tempos and keys used in this video are typical of intermediate jam sessions with male and female singers. Compared to our two slower jam videos, this video includes more songs and less instruction, addressing jamming at intermediate skill levels: backup basics, playing the melody, using a capo, essential jam etiquette and how to avoid musical “train wrecks.”
- Learn solos via slow-down or stop-frame of closeups of the soloing instrument
- Guitar left hand shown enlarged onscreen for easy following
- Faster speeds add challenge
“A great simulation of what it is like to play in a bluegrass band.“
— customer review
Bluegrass Minus One: Play-Along Tracks with Tab for Banjo or Guitar
Full-band bluegrass tracks: one complete, the other with one instrument removed:
- Banjo by Pete Wernick (with tab book of his solos)
- Guitar by Russ Barenberg (with tab book of his solos)
A code in the booklet gives you access to the online recordings — 14 tracks of jam standards performed by Country Cooking, with Pete Wernick (banjo) and Russ Barenberg (guitar).
You can stream or download to hear the full band, either with your instrument (banjo or guitar) or without your instrument, to allow you to play along.
All tracks are recorded in typical keys… with easy controls to lower the speed (with no pitch change), or change the pitch (to allow playing in your key of choice).
Booklet includes words and chords to all songs, and tablature for one melody-based break for each song, as heard on the recording.
Playlists of Bluegrass Jam Favorites
Watch & Listen to 116 Jam Favorites on YouTube and Spotify! Since bluegrass songs are learned primarily by ear (not written), to hear what songs sound like and learn melodies by ear, this Playlist Guide gives links to two online playlists of 116 classic bluegrass songs and instrumentals. One playlist is for Spotify, the other for YouTube.
The playlists’ renditions were chosen as good representations of “standard” versions of these jam favorites. The Spotify selections are mostly the original and/or most influential versions, sometimes by the musicians who “wrote” (created) them. The videos on the YouTube playlist are generally more recent but also intended to be seen as versions that jammers would typically emulate. The Playlist Guide lists the keys of all performances on YouTube.
Compared to exacting written compositions (as in classical music), bluegrass songs and tunes are commonly played with variations, meaning a precise standard version may not exist. But the playlists present influential oft-emulated versions of these standbys of “essential bluegrass repertoire”. Listening to them will help you at jams anywhere. And in the process you’ll hear and see many all-time greats of bluegrass!
Bluegrass Jam Favorites
116 classics played at bluegrass jams in the U.S. and worldwide — the original list that inspired our YouTube and Spotify playlists!
Learning to Sing in Tune
Pete’s method has never failed to help anyone carry a tune with their voice. And doing that will help your overall musicianship.
This method provides instructions for the person who will help the person with the difficulty. The person with the difficulty needs to engage someone who will follow these instructions to help them.
