How to play with other musicians....

English is not my principal language, so if you see somes errors, don't be mad, just tell me and I will learn

I need some advices, because I tried many times to play with other musicians, but it just don't work...

First problem: What are you listening to? Nerver, in my life, I saw somebody with the sames music interests as me, even if we have bands in common, inspirations, it is not the same thing.

Second problem: What do you play? First, i'm not a freak for playing covers, sometime I like to repick some good riffs, but i'm not the guy who will play every dream theater songs, so it looks bad because I can't really proove myself in jam.

Third problem: What happens during jam? Many times, it was hard to bring new riffs or something new, because  nobody  know the song  and many people don't really like to improvise. If I record by myself every instruments, they say: oh well, there's good riffs, we can pick some parts and...Thats it? Yeah....No interests

Conclusion: I want to know, for people who had good experiences with band, how did you approached the people, what technic you used to create, did you share the same music interest, at the same level?

For information, I'm 18, I play guitar since 4 years, i'm interested by theory (like we are playing in C, so I will use an C major scale, or A minor....*EXAMPLE*), i'm open with new genre & stuff.

So, is it possible to play music in a band?

In any jam I've been to, people usually play blues, country or rock and roll classics. Usually they play something popular and relatively simple that everyone knows. I'd suggest listening to blues music and play along at home. Don't try to be too fancy, just play rhythm until you get the hang of it. Most blues, country and rock and roll are usually a I, IV, V pattern. Don't try to prove yourself until you can just play along with others, stick to rhythm, small fills and keep any solos very simple. Learn to play with others, eventually you can meet others who have the same interests and want to play the music you do.

Well most of the people uses pentatonic scala during jams. It can be both fun and boring after a while. If you learn that you can start improving your jam if you don't know already.

And making covers is not one of my interests as well. If I were you I wouldn't bothered by all these and record whatever I want at my bedroom. At least thats what I am doing. And its much more joy bringing when other people are interested in your stuff than you are interested in their band or their jams.

And lastly you can always jam with records :D Put something to tape and play along! For example The Necks is great , I have always enjoyed soloing with The Boys Album for example :D

Atay

Yann wrote: English is not my principal language, so if you see somes errors, don't be mad, just tell me and I will learn I need some advices, because I tried many times to play with other musicians, but it just don't work... First problem: What are you listening to? Nerver, in my life, I saw somebody with the sames music interests as me, even if we have bands in common, inspirations, it is not the same thing.

There is no exact answer to that, my friend...ideally, if all the, let's say 4 members of band (guitar, bass, drums, keys) are fans of the same  or similar music that should help a lot...because it's more likely that you will make something coherent that will be appealing to everyone in the band. If 3 band members are Ramones fans, and the bass player is fan of Gloria Gaynor, it's not going to work...you'll all be unhappy.

On the other hand, if someone in the band have (slightly) different musical preferences, that could be a good counterpoint and  balance in the band, and the band's songs (expressions, and overall sound) could becamme much more colorful.

So if you are intenting to play symphonic progressive metal and nothing but symphonic progressive metal, that's great. But all the band members must  be fans of SPM.

If you're going to mix different styles, that could be great too: flamenco solo on a classical guitar over the droned doom power chords, a blend between reggae and grunge, a blues mouth organ over the electronic sequences...that's great. But be careful and do not exaggerate.

Yann wrote: Second problem: What do you play? First, i'm not a freak for playing covers, sometime I like to repick some good riffs, but i'm not the guy who will play every dream theater songs, so it looks bad because I can't really proove myself in jam.

I'm not really into playing covers neither....I play guitar, bass, mandolin, keyboards for 15 years, have been playing in many different bands,  and I never bothered to learn the chord of any song that is not mine - or of the band that I am currently playing with.

The fact you can't really prove yourself in jam means nothing...some of us are jammers, some of us living juke-boxes, some of us are born composers, arrangers, songwriters...just do what suits you the most.

Yann wrote: Third problem: What happens during jam? Many times, it was hard to bring new riffs or something new, because  nobody  know the song  and many people don't really like to improvise. If I record by myself every instruments, they say: oh well, there's good riffs, we can pick some parts and...Thats it? Yeah....No interests Conclusion: I want to know, for people who had good experiences with band, how did you approached the people, what technic you used to create, did you share the same music interest, at the same level?

Approach? Rehearsal. Hey guys...I was noodling something at home, I want you to hear it...The bass player will say "crap".
Than you'll play some other idea of yours, drummer will say "rubbish".
Than you will do something else, people will nod their hands, "hm, that's not that bad...let's say what'll happen if I add a little bit of a pumpin' bass over that...", and then drummers starts to beat "no, no, that's okay, but change that first pattern that's awfull, it spoils all the story" etc etc.

That's the way I prefer the most. And it could work, if you have right people around you.

The another aproach can be...jam. JAming here, there, some ideas start to sparkle in the middle of the playing, and there you go! after cutting of unnecessary 45 mins of jamming, you have a new song on your hands. But again, you need a right people for that.

One more possible approach is dictatorship: "Yann, this is yours", he hands you the paper with sheet music on it, "This one is for you...and this one is for you. I want you all to play this fluently during the next rehearsal on Thursday. Dismiss."

All the possible combinations of approaches and anything in-between is possible. Find what suits you the most.

Yann wrote: For information, I'm 18, I play guitar since 4 years, i'm interested by theory (like we are playing in C, so I will use an C major scale, or A minor....*EXAMPLE*), i'm open with new genre & stuff. So, is it possible to play music in a band?

Any musician with little bit of self-respect should be interested in theory, but  might be very wrong here..because for some types of music you don't need much knowledge and it still can be good.

However, if you guys are playing in C, of course you will use C major scale, and A minor, and C minor, and C harmonic and melodic minor, and C pentatonic and blues scales...and any possible transposition ...phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, and then chromatic, whole-tone, diminished...but it's not all in scales...

There is no ultimate answer here...I'm still asking the same question.

Start learning  jazz theory (theories). Even if you love Dream Theater and hate jazz, DO IT.

So, yes, it is possible to play music in a band.

Belive me your problems with jamming are superfitial, I used to feel the same way. It is important to understand that when jamming you are NOT trying to impress. Just the opposite is true, you are trying to understand each other, speak through music, it goes without saying that you will get into arguments, it is the job of the more skilled player to tone it down, as it is immposible for a beginner to play at a higher level.

thellama73 wrote: I always just listen to what the band is doing and ideas come to me. Usually a small, maybe three note phrase, and then expand on it slowly. It sounds to me that youre trying to do too much too fast.

well, some musicians just don't go together, like in relationships I guess. For one, nobody likes a bossy musician, so don't go trying to dictate everyone's part. Hopefully, you find some musicians skilled enough to formulate their own parts. Also, jam before you try to write anything as to get to know eachother's styles. It's a real difficult thing for a musician to find people he can really play with...I've never found my ideal group...just do the best you can and play with everyone you get the chance to. You kind of have ot get lucky! Sometimes I wonder how great bands like elp got lucky and found eachother!

purplepiper wrote: well, some musicians just don't go together, like in relationships I guess. For one, nobody likes a bossy musician, so don't go trying to dictate everyone's part. Hopefully, you find some musicians skilled enough to formulate their own parts. Also, jam before you try to write anything as to get to know eachother's styles. It's a real difficult thing for a musician to find people he can really play with...I've never found my ideal group...just do the best you can and play with everyone you get the chance to. You kind of have ot get lucky! Sometimes I wonder how great bands like elp got lucky and found eachother!

This probably why almost all "supergroups" don't work nearly as well as they should on paper.

I used to love to jam out when I was a kid. I would try to sit in on whatever session I could find. Now I'm older jamming doesn't have the same feel, mostly because I like to write my own music now. I suggest learning the basic parts of songs and then improvising the rest. The easiest way is to pop in a cd and just play along to it. After a while you should feel more comfortable in a jam session. I don't recommend trying to go to a session and pull out your Dream Theater stuff. Thier a great band but it's the kind of music you would play if your going to make a serious band leap. Stick with eaiser songs to jam with because most people should know the songs and should be able to fake their way through them. The last suggestion is leave your attitude at home. Jamming should be fun and not turned into a pissing contest. I know thats easier said then done but trust me it helps in the end. Also learn more about music theory.
and hey have fun, music is good for the soul.