How To Enjoy Playing Music In A Makeshift Jam Band
Have you ever play or sing with a jam band? A jam band is a makeshift band and the musicians probably played together for the first time unrehearsed either in an impromptu performance or in a Jam music bar. Jam bands usually play jazz or blues both these genre of music have fixed music chord progressions and free form personal interpretation can be weaved into the chord sequence.
Since most jam bands play to a small audience, there is usually no sound technician to balance the sound produced by the bands and thus the musicians have to be ‘sound sensitive’ and able to detect unbalanced sounds and adjust their volumes and timbre themselves.
So how to play good and balanced music when you play with a jam band? Here are some pointers.
a) Listen to the lead singer
If you cannot hear the singer’s voice and the lyrics, then the musicians should turn down the volume of their instruments immediately so that the singer can be heard clearly by the audience. If a fellow musician is unaware, do not be afraid to remind him to play softer. Even if the singer is too soft and shy, it is always...