Jamming

[ginger_guts]

Problem/question one: Hi, I have a problem with jamming.

I am good at writing songs, riffs, melodies etc, but I seems to be terrible at jamming. Whenever I Jam with other people my mind seems to draw a blank and I can't find the notes I want on the fretboard. I also sort of panic and can't do things fast enough. How is this overcome? Do I just need to Jam more, learn more scales, get to know my instrument better?

Problem two: Is there a systematic way to learn a scale all over the fretboard? Do I have to learn all the notes, and then the names of the notes in each key so its instant?

Problem three: I have bad time, I speed up and slow down, especially when playing and singing. How can I work on my time?

Cheers
Gareth

[rmuscat]

my humble suggestions:

1) Get a metronome, either buy one or find a software one online. NEVER PRACTICE WITHOUT SWITCHING ON and start slowly don't put it on 180bps. Learn to listen to it. THere were other forums about metronomes etc. When you're hearing the radio and don't have access to a guitar or metronome, find the beat of the song, tap onto it ... find the offbeats play around, hit 8th,16th note beats just to practice the groove.

2) If you know the scales in their modes by themselves but can't seem to extend this knowledge to the whole fretboard then i suggest the following: start joining modes so play on 6th to 4th strings on one mode, then slide your fingers up and move on teh the next mode 3rd to 1st. Start with that .... then go on to join 3 modes, 4 modes etc. Obviously take it slowly but you should do.

3) Practice Jamming with some audio mp3 of the style you really enjoy playing. Remember to tap the beat with your feet or in your mind (or you can bang your head to the wall while playing but i think that hurts :P) Try something easy and not very fast. I also suggest trying to learn bits and pieces of the song, and even better learn all the song. You can either find it tabbed (very easy, not fruitful) or you can try to find it by ear (time consuming but rewarding, and you get to learn something). I DON'T SUGGEST YOU LEARN MORE SCALES, stick to the basics pentatonics, natural majors and minor, otherwise you get to have WAY TOO MANY tools without being able to use them correctly and you'll get confused. Learn PROPERLY what you know, push it as far as possible.

I suggest you look around the forums there's load of information, and read a couple of articles. Eric has a very good one which says it all: "Squeeze it Out". Basically you're never done with what you think you know ...

hope that was useful ... sorry long post.

[GuitarLausing]

uh.. i'm not the best at scales either, but i have no problem when i jam with my band. We'll just be like... Ok, fire up some drums, and then the lead guitarist goes: "yeah lotsa fills" and i play some simple chords, and the bass just picks up the roots in my chords, and then the lead guitarist solos for about 1 minute, and then we take turns in variating or soloing over the main structure..Some times the drummer speeds up the tempo, and thats just hilarious.. We have a great time

I have absolute no problem when jamming. If i have problem when jamming, its because i don't really know the people i jam with. But, some advices: Be yourself, Relax, give others room, and dont just play to show off.