by Pete Wernick

Argyle Bluegrass Jam Camp letter by Pete Wernick

Daily Schedule

Plan to arrive by 9 a.m. the first morning to check in and get warmed up. Signs or staff people should direct you to the Jam Camp location.

On the first morning, following orientation, we'll start jamming as a large group. We'll begin with 2-chord songs in G and do some 3-chord ones too, at easy tempos. If you’ve never jammed before, this first session will get you going. Everyone will be invited to sing verses, try solos, and show their stuff... or just work on following along. Keeping it together and fun are the main goals.

The first part of each morning, afternoon and evening session will be classroom-style with instruction on such topics as what happens in a jam, picking keys and using capos, jam etiquette, learning chord changes and melody lines as quickly as possible, the chord number system, harmony singing, etc.

The second half of each morning, and afternoon, we'll break into small jam groups. There’ll be in some groups where the experience levels are about equal, and some where they're not. Since both situations are typical, you'll get a variety of useful experience. I will be helped by my wife Joan, an experienced jam coach, and possibly an additional coach if camp size warrants. We will circulate from group to group, offering guidance and pointers.

Lunch break is 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. each day, on your own. Food will be available nearby.

What to bring:

Songs to sing, whether memorized or in songbooks or any printed version. I will have copies of my Bluegrass Songbook for loan or sale at the camp, or you can order one from my web site, DrBanjo.com. A variety of good songs is the heart and soul of a good jam. Jamming works best if everyone comes ready to share some material. That means knowing the chords in the key you like, and being able to sing the words (even if you don’t have a great voice and have to go from a printed page). List some songs you could sing, and bring word sheets if you need them. Even “non-singers”: Pick some songs you like and bring copies of the words for someone else to sing. I’ve enclosed a list of jam favorites, to spur you along. Please understand...this means everyone!

An electronic tuner. This is a “must”, available at reasonable cost at any music store. Practice using it, a simple but important skill. Please be sure to have it in your instrument case at all times.

A recording device (tape or disk). A recording device is an extremely useful learning tool, so be sure to bring one, with lightweight headphones, blank tapes or disks, and fresh batteries (though a few outlets are available). As with your tuner, having a small recorder in your case at all times is highly recommended.

A strap for your instrument (fiddles and basses excepted!) to let you play while standing, and for banjo, guitar, and dobro players, a capo.

Music stands for song sheets and microphone stands (for better recordings) will also come in handy if you’re able to bring them. Metronomes and instrumental technique books are not necessary. Video cams are OK if they don't get in the way.

Teaching content and how to prepare yourself:

As you may know, my teaching principles are different from many teachers of bluegrass instruments. Unlike most other forms of music, bluegrass music is not normally played from written music. Music reading skills are not really relevant in jam sessions. Instead, players learn by watching others, listening, remembering, and thinking on their feet. However, a great deal of teaching nowadays is paper-based. To learn more about my approach, please read the article "A New Direction in Teaching and Learning Bluegrass" on my web site. It can be found by clicking the link on the Instructional page, at the lower left in the green box.

Here is an overview of the main things I cover for different levels. For a “running start” before the camp, start brushing up now in areas that need work:

Beginners need to master chord changing quickly and accurately without looking, in keys such as G (G, C, D), D (D, G, A) and C (C, F, G). Fiddlers and bass players need to play the main notes within those chords. Knowing a few minor chords such as Em and Am is also helpful, and so are E and B (or B7). Any sort of basic strum or rhythm pattern will be fine, as long as you can keep it smooth while changing chords cleanly. I’ll also teach key principles and technique for good rhythm playing on all the instruments.

The ground rules and etiquette of bluegrass jam sessions are pretty similar wherever you go, though there are variations according to skill levels and other factors. We'll discuss all this, but for a head start I’ve included a sheet of Bluegrass Jamming Pointers to read and keep for reference.

Some familiarity with basic music theory really helps in learning songs quickly, using different keys, and learning new moves on your instrument. It won't be complicated, but knowing that the main chords in most songs (G, C, and D for the key of G, or C, F, and G for the key of C, etc.) are called the 1, 4, and 5 chords, based on notes in the scale -- will improve your understanding of music and your playing too. The enclosed folded sheet Start with Some Easy Songs will help get you acquainted with the chord number system as you learn some standards. This preparation is highly recommended!

An excellent jam skill is the ability to learn chord changes quickly. To develop your ability to “hear” and learn chord changes, try educated guesswork on songs that you can hum. Pick a familiar one from the enclosed lists featuring easy and familiar songs, and experiment. Almost every song starts and ends on the 1 chord (the chord with the same name as the key). Next-to-last chord is almost always the 5 chord. See if you can tell when the chord changes happen. If you guess that place correctly in a two-chord song, there is only one chord the next chord could be. In a three-chord song you’d have to choose between two chords. Do some trial-and-error and see if your ear starts guiding your guesses. Eventually it will.

Please note that for players still learning jam skills, unlike most music teachers, I downplay learning instrumentals, as they are usually much harder for a group to jam on than easy three-chord songs. If you’ve mainly been practicing instrumentals, I suggest switching now to working out simple solo breaks for favorite songs.

To play instrumental solos in a jam, it helps to have some ability to pick out basic melodies by ear. Playing by ear has always been “the bluegrass way”, and we will practice hunting down and remembering simple melody phrases. I will also teach how to solo when you don't know the melody, going just from the chord progression-- though it is good to use melody notes when possible. It’s OK to learn solos from the printed page, but making up your own will help you much more, by developing ear skills necessary for good bluegrass playing. This gentle but consistent emphasis on ear training (even for those who have poor pitch) is one of the best things this camp has to offer!

For those ready to work on soloing, choose a song from the enclosed list of Jam Favorites, or think of any familiar song, and try to find the melody on your instrument in the key of G (one of the most popular keys). It helps if you first chord and hum your way through the song a time or two, and then start looking on your instrument for each note as you hum, very slowly. It's a trial-and-error process, and the more you do it, the easier it gets. Give it a try, and at the camp we’ll continue this training. If you are able to find melodies, try picking out a new song each week, to instill that skill. Once you know the melody of a song, see if you can add some familiar licks or phrases to make an instrumental solo sound more interesting and typical of your instrument.

I have two recent DVDs aimed directly at helping people learn to jam: Bluegrass Slow Jam for Total Beginners and Bluegrass Jamming. Each presents 17 different bluegrass standards to play along with, at manageable tempos. Both include songbooks with all chords and lyrics. If you’re new to jamming, working with these DVDs will give you a taste of the real thing. Both include a full band and cover many how-to’s about jam sessions. The “Slow Jam for Total Beginners” is slower and more elementary than the other video. For more information or to order, check the store at DrBanjo.com.

If you know any budding bluegrass musicians on guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin or dobro, who are wanting to jam, please encourage them to sign up! More information and a downloadable registration form can be found on DrBanjo.com. We’re usually longest on banjos and guitars, shortest on basses and fiddles. Basses especially welcome!

If you have any questions about the camp, first look at the Jam Camp FAQ section under Camps. If you still need more information, please email me at Pete@DrBanjo.com.

What do you think?