Know Your Jam.
by Maura Nicholson
In one of our recent newsletters, I was pleased to see several different jams on the calendar, all of different genres, in addition to our weekly student jams. Playing with other people is what the Frank Hamilton School is all about! Once you know a few tunes or chords, you can sit in on a jam or session, play what you’ve learned, and write down tune names to learn for next time. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your repertoire builds this way!
So, I thought this would be a good time to let everyone know, especially those new to playing in casual groups, what they can expect from each type of gathering.
Each genre has a typical list of tunes and songs, as well as a typical list of instruments that are acceptable to play along on. And every jam group has its own idiosyncrasies, and guidelines, as to what’s “acceptable” in their jam.
Before attending a jam that’s new to you, ask someone you know who has been, or reach out to the person who sponsors the jam, to see which instruments are appropriate, if you play one that’s considered unusual. For instance, some old-time jams are ok with Irish whistles and some are not.
Know before you go.
Being respectful of the people who come to play an advertised genre is important. Bluegrass players come to play bluegrass; Irish players come to play Irish. Having unexpected instruments, or being asked to play tunes and songs outside the genre, changes the timbre of the gathering, and it’s no longer a bluegrass jam or an Irish session. And it’s not what the players came to do, and quite often they find another jam that stays true to the genre.
So, here’s a little bit about each of the groups we currently host. You’ll find a list of traditional instruments and some artists’ names to look up for examples of the genre.
Sing-Along Sessions
The gathering most people understand readily is our Sing-Along Sessions. This is a group of people, led by Dave Coons, who simply like to sing and maybe play a guitar to accompany the singers. Although other instruments are welcome (we’ve had a snare drum, harmonica, mandolin, recorder, lap dulcimer, and banjo), it’s important to let the singing take precedence, since that’s what the gathering is about! instruments are there purely to support the singing.
The songs, usually chosen by Dave, are readily accessible and commonly known, usually ones the group members know from well-known groups like Simon and Garfunkel, Eagles, Bob Dylan, and others. Using the Rise Up Singing series, the members have the lyrics and chords to sing and play along. Making suggestions is more than welcome! However, this isn’t the group for songwriters to perform their songs – we hope to have something like that soon!
Bluegrass Jam
Another jam is the Bluegrass Jam. This monthly jam is led by Dave Soleil and Louie Cayedito. In a bluegrass gathering, songs and tunes from that genre are played exclusively. Think Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, the Carter Family, the Bluegrass Album Band, Doc Watson, & the Stanley Brothers. Traditional bluegrass instruments include the fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, and dobro. Bluegrass jams try to give each participant a go at a solo “break,” a little bit of strutting your stuff. You get to hear several versions of the same tune, interpreted by that player.
Blues Jam
Facilitated by Brad Gilmer, the Blues Jam plays a variety of 8-bar and 12-bar blues. Artists like B. B. King, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, and pianist Memphis Slim are great examples of blues players. The most recognized blues instruments are the harmonica and guitar, but this jam is good for anyone who can play the blues on their chosen instrument, as well as percussionists willing to keep the beat. Oh, and for blues singers, as well.
Irish Session
The Irish Session is led by John Maschinot monthly on the “t’ird T’ursday.” This is usually a “slow” session, meaning the tempo is kept at a speed that students learning the tunes can be comfortable playing. Occasionally, a singer may ask to sing a song. A great resource for discovering an Irish repertoire (in addition to our Irish tunes classes!) is thesession.org. Typical instruments in an Irish session are the fiddle, Irish flute, tin whistle, guitar, banjo (especially tenor banjo), accordion or concertina, mandolin, and perhaps a bodhran. John often brings his uilleann pipes for fun!
Old-Time Jam
An Old-Time Jam is very similar to an Irish jam, but with a different selection of instruments and tunes (although many old-time tunes come from Irish ones, but that’s another article!)
Think Cold Mountain, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and even Ken Burns’s Civil War series. And there are hundreds of tunes written since then, too, of course. Usually the instruments are fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, and dulcimer. FHS has a few whistle players, too, although outside of FHS, it’s a good idea to ask first. Well-known artists include Tommy Jarrell, Edden Hammons, Fiddln’ John Carson, and, more currently, Rachel Eddy, Spencer and Rains, and Riley Baugus, just to name a few!
FHS Student Jams
Finally, we have the weekly Tuesday and Wednesday Student Jams. These jams are for all of our students to try out what they are doing in class. They are very eclectic, and almost anything goes. You’ll find there are a lot of old-time fiddle tunes, primarily because of the class preceding the jam. But we also have singers who lead songs while everyone else plays along. This jam has fiddles, mandolins, guitars, banjos, dulcimers, a bass, the piano is often played, harmonicas, ukuleles, even percussion, like the cajon and spoons.
And More...
You can watch the videos on our YouTube channel to see what tunes we’ve played as a group at farmer’s markets, at the park, and a variety of other venues.
Gatherings we hope to start soon:
Drum Circle
Swing-along
Songwriter’s Song Swap
Watch the newsletter for announcements for each of these jams. They will be advertised by the genre (“Bluegrass Jam,” “Slow Irish Session,” etc.) If a jam is labeled simply as “FHS jam,” then it’ll be pretty much open to whatever the participants want to play or sing (like what we do at Truckin’ Tuesday and the retirement community).
As the Frank Hamilton School grows, we hope for more types of these gatherings, whether they are called jams, sessions, sing-alongs, or simply get-togethers, and we hope you can find one that fits your style and instrument. There’s nothing like playing with others to learn more and become part of the community! So come play (and sing) with us!