Let’s say you got invited to a Jam Session with a few other musicians and so you want to attend and not make a fool of yourself. What do you do? Well, I’ve got a separate lesson on the ‘Minimum Requirements to play Jazz Piano’ where I list the minimum number of techniques that you should know when playing a song, so you’re welcome to read that lesson. In this video I’m hoping to say a few more generic things about how to prepare for a jam session and how to play in a jam session.
Learn the Repertoire
So obviously, first you need to get a list of the repertoire you will be playing at the jam session, so you know what songs you have to learn. As the piano player, you’re in charge of playing the chords, though you’ll also get a chance to solo. You’ll also have to play the bass-line if there is no bass player.
Fill in the Gaps
Very broadly, there are three registers in music: lower (bass), middle (tenor, alto), upper (soprano). To get a full, dense and interesting sound, the band needs to cover all three of these registers.
Piano has the great advantage of having quite a large range and so is able to cover all three registers rather well. This makes it very versatile in a group setting. And as the pianist, you essentially just need to fill in the gaps.
- If you’re playing with a double bass, stick to the middle and upper register.
- If you’re playing with a soprano vocalist, stick to the lower and middle register.
- If you’re playing with a guitar and a Tenor Sax, play a walking bassline in the lower register and some fills in the upper register.
Right, fill in the gaps!
So very generally, you should be able to play in any combination of these registers, so for example:
- Bass + Harmony (+ fills)
- Bass + Melody (+ fills)
- Harmony + Melody (+ fills)
- Harmony + Upper Structure (+ fills)
Listen
The whole point of playing in a band is to interact and listen and respond to the other band members. It’s supposed to be a two way conversation. You listen to everyone and responds accordingly, and everyone listens to you and responds accordingly. If there is no interaction between the instruments then you may as well be playing with a backing track at home. So listen to the other band members and respond:
- If the soloist goes high, you go low
- If the soloist plays softly, you play softly
- If the soloist plays a phrase, repeat or mimic it – as a kind of call and response
Have Fun and Try Some Weird Stuff
The whole point of jamming with others is to have fun. So…have some fun – do some weird or usual stuff and just see what happens. Try inserting the following during your playing:
- Silence
- Unusual Reharmonisations (Polychords)
- Descending Chromatic Chords (Leaving the chord progression)
- Repeating Ostinati/Pedal Point
- Quote a different song during your solo
- Play the melody in the bass (and scare the crap out of the bassist)
- Displace the melody
- etc.
Your goal is almost to try throw the other people off their game and make them stuff up. So just do some stuff and see how they respond. That’s the difference between and half the fun of playing in a Jazz Band as opposed to an Orchestra – you can just make stuff up and no one is going to chastise you if you play the wrong note.