Jam Etiquette

Songs Others Don’t Know

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Banjo picker writes: Question for you about jams. If I am leading a song, an instrumental, and no one else knows or wants to take a break on it, what do you think is a reasonable number of times to run through it without hogging too much of the floor. Is three times about right or is there any pat answer?

My quickest answer is that if you want to play an instrumental that no one else knows or can take a break on, you may want to skip it altogether. At jams, it’s best if everyone gets a chance to shine, and if there are people present who can improvise breaks to easy songs, that gives them that chance. Instrumentals are much harder to improvise breaks on (the breaks are longer length, and the instrumentals are typically played faster than typical songs).… More Info!

Jam Etiquette for Getting More Breaks

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Patrick writes:  I picked up a copy of your jam etiquette flyer. Enjoy your tips a lot – Something is really bugging me though. I’ve been playing about 4 years, and I am fairly serious about it – I’m probably somewhere around advanced – not sure.

Anyway, the monthly jam I really enjoy is the jam I started with. My wife and I go, and we feel we’re pretty well accepted – except I don’t feel I get enough breaks. I’m too shy really to complain. I flip a lot between “man I must still suck pretty bad”, to “they can’t hear me and so they forget about me”, or “he just wants to hot dog”. Anyway the dynamics are a big question mark to me, I really don’t have a clue – I only get three or four breaks on a 3 hour session (except my songs of course).… More Info!

The Bluegrass Jam Breakdown — Pete Featured in Trailgrass Article

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Trailgrass is an online publication that features the bluegrass scene in Colorado. A recent article, The Bluegrass Jam Breakdown, offers a wide-ranging overview of the history, customs, and etiquette of bluegrass jams. It features an interview with Pete Wernick. 

The article captures the dynamics of a public jam, and describes the many factors that combine to make a jam successful. The Black Rose Acoustic Society hosts their jam on the 4th Thursday of the month, and the jam follows the well-established norms of bluegrass jamming that helps create the magic and spontaneity of a successful jam session. Providing the guidance and leadership to help create this jam magic are Jambassadors and Jam Leaders who make sure that participants follow the Ten Jammandments and other norms of bluegrass jamming. 

For those of us who lead or participate in public jams, take a few minutes to read this engaging article.… More Info!

Which Version of Stoney Creek?

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Pam writes: Hi Pete. When I request to play Stoney Creek with a group over at this guy’s house — lets call him Jim — he always starts it, which, number one, is incorrect because it is my song request and I want to start it but anyway he proceeds to play it correct except for the end part which he puts an extra beat in it. The others go ahead when it is their turn and play it the way Jim started it. I learned it from an Eric Thompson CD which he does not put an extra beat in it.

When it comes my turn I always play it the way I learned it and then the others do also but then when it comes Jim’s turn again he plays it the other way.… More Info!