Your Guide to Nailing Your First Guitar Jam

For the new guitarist, some tips and information that will help you out at your first jam session!

One of my great joys in playing guitar is playing with other musicians. Whether it’s in someone’s back yard or on stage at a pub, it is great fun. It’s also a great way to meet new musicians and learn from them!

So, let’s imagine that you’ve been playing for a little while now, you have a handful of chords under your belt, and you’ve been invited to jam with some friends. Below are some tips and information to help you make that first jam (and all future jams) successful!

the gear

You’ll want to be prepared by ensuring you have everything you need with you. Most guitar cases or gig bags will have space to store these items. Here’s what I bring to every jam session:

• Guitar. Sort of a given.
• Spare strings. You will absolutely break a string one day at a jam or at a gig. Keep a spare set or two handy. You’re welcome.
• Tools. To help if you need to change a string. For me this is usually a pair of needle-nose pliers with a built-in wire cutter, but I also like this combo winder/string cutter.
• Guitar strap
• Guitar picks
• Capo
• A water bottle. This one’s optional, of course, but I never regret keeping a water bottle with me.
• Sheet music/tabs. Optional, but nice to have if you’re planning to lead everyone in songs you don’t have memorized.
• Music Stand. Optional, but can come in handy.

the jamming

First: you don’t have to know this stuff to attend your first jam, just go and be willing to learn! Okay, all that said, below are some things that will be helpful to know at all jams.

• Learn your “1, 4, 5” chords. You don’t absolutely have to know this, but it will definitely make your jam experiences easier. Imagine you’re at a jam and the leader calls out, “Okay, this one’s just a One, Four Five in E!” and he starts playing. You can follow along, but with a little practice and a tiny bit of theory, you’ll soon automatically know that the chords he’ll be playing are E, A, and B (or B7). Here’s a post on what 1, 4, 5 is all about and how it can help your guitar playing.
• It’s good to know the 12-bar blues format. Another thing you don’t absolutely have to know, but it sure is helpful. The 12-bar blues is a standard progression that is used a lot. A LOT, a lot. It is also (generally) a 1, 4, 5 but applied in a pretty specific order. Here’s a post on the 12-bar blues.
• Jam etiquette. There are some conduct guidelines with the jams I organize, and I’m sharing those here with you. Whoever runs the jams you attend might have a different set of rules.
  1. Be respectful of whoever is leading the song. Sometimes the leader will have a powerful voice, sometimes not. Play quietly enough to hear the singer, especially if you’re all playing unamplified (which is most common).
  2. The song leader will usually nod at jammers during the song and invite them to try to do a guitar solo or other sort of instrumental. If you’re rarin’ to try some chops, wait for the signal from the song leader before jumping in so you don’t interfere with someone else’s turn.
  3. Once the song is done, a word of appreciation for the singer or the other players is always a nice gesture.
• Have fun. For goodness sake, have fun. Remember, it’s called “playing” guitar for a reason.