How You The Guitar Player Can Jam With Local Players And Become A Better Musician

Picture of  SRV and Muddy Waters

If you're a guitar player just starting out and have never played on stage,you need to get back to basics. Okay,let's say you already know how to play a number of songs but have never jammed           publicly at a club.

Start by watching other players--especially the better ones. Watch how they interact with other players and the audience as well .If you can, record your favorite players to boot. Keep watching them and how they play songs.

There will be little clues that tell you how to play without playing over everyone else, or not in tempo.

Here's a Tip if You're Still Scared To Go Onstage:

Ask one of the better players if you could jam with them privately. Offer to pay for their time if you have to. Chances are a good player who's not a guitar teacher, can help you leap from a shitty player,to a great player faster.

Ask them if it's okay to record the songs you jam with them as well. Jam for 30 minutes.Then at home practice those tunes more playing to those tunes. Ask them if you could get together for half   an hour once a week for a month.

If things go well with that guitar player ask him the next time you go to a jam, to play with you onstage. This way your stage fright won't be so pervasive. If the player in question is a working bluesman or rock player, offer to interview him and start a blog that focuses on local blues or rock players.

After you jam onstage with that player,jam with other players and interview the players who play regularly and have a drive to be real serious musicians.This will help you in your quest to jam with others, and you'll help out your local music scene.

You'll become a better player, create massive value for other musicians, and have better access to players you will want to start a band with as well.

So keep practicing and going to jams and learning all you can in your quest to be a great player.

Mark G