Jams (& Jellies) Maureen Sellers

From the first moment I saw and heard a dulcimer I knew I wanted to do two things: play music with others and play as I sat alone with a beautiful sunset. I have achieved both goals and would like to share with you some tips that helped me learn to enjoy jam sessions.

Confidence -- If you believe you can, you will. Visualize yourself playing with several other people. We're not talking about a stage performance just a casual jam session. You are enjoying the friendship and "musical conversation." Even though you don't know every song that is played you have enough chord knowledge to help you hang in there. You are in tune. You have written down the title of two or three songs you have practiced a lot. Well, the dream or visualization was fun! Don't forget that confidence is a must! Your mantra: "I can! I will!"

Let's figure out how to get the job done!

Practice two or three songs everyday. Play them through at least three times each. Playing through more than once enables you to start the song over without getting lost. Practice the songs in the same order each day. For some reason that helped me to memorize them more quickly. Keep a list of the songs that you know in your dulcimer case. Then when someone says, 'Do you have a tune?' at a jam session, you will be ready. The really great advantages to naming a tune is that you get to start it at a speed you can play and you KNOW the tune! Don't be shy, start it off! Chances are that someone nearby will jump in and help you.

Memorizing the songs can be really difficult. "Chunking" helped me learn the songs without looking. You should be able to hear the entire song in your head. Then memorize a measure. When you know the first measure, add another measure. All the while you have the music in front of you, not looking at it, but a safety net nevertheless.

Learn chord progressions -- You do not have to play the melody to every song. Usually songs are played over and over again in a jam session. That allows you to experiment with a chord progression or maybe just the simple melody line. I usually listen the first time or two through a song. Are they playing it AABB? Or is it AB? While we share lots of neat tunes, we may play them differently. If it's a "D" tune know that you're pretty safe in playing a "D" chord at the start and end of the tune. Remember when a tune is finished to look up and smile. Most players in a jam session are so intent on playing the song they won't know you only played the first and last chord. Now think about adding an "A" or "G" chord now and then.

Cheat Off the Guitar Player -- I often hear people say, "That's easy for Maureen to say. She knows every tune they're playing!" That's not so! I will try a chord progression after I have listened a time or two. But mostly what I like to do is cheat off the guitar player. Try to position yourself across the jam from a relatively intelligent guitar player. Memorize what their fingers look like when they make a D, G, and A chord. If you can learn more chords, great! When the guitar players fingers are positioned for a "D" chord, know the position for a "D" chord on your dulcimer and play it. If you have learned the basic, Boil Them Cabbage, you know a D, G, and A chord.

Speed Bumps -- I think of the frets on my dulcimer as "speed bumps". This enables me to achieve my second goal, playing while watching a sunset (or whatever you want to watch). To become familiar with the "speed bump" method: Place a finger just behind the first fret. Without looking at the fretboard glide your finger with pressure up and down the fretboard. I played lots of do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do! And the reverse, too. The secret is "with pressure." You should be able to feel the frets passing under your fingertips much like you feel your car tires go over a speed bump.

Your body -- Playing all night is dependent upon your body. Are you sitting in such a way that you lessen fatigue? A comfortable chair is a must. Your bottom should be parallel with the floor. Some chairs are angled down in the back, a sure recipe for a backache. If you are not using a strap to hold the dulcimer on your lap, consider having one put on at your local music store. Or use a piece of non-skid material. You will be more relaxed and less tense once you have the dulcimer firmly on your lap. I like to place the dulcimer on my lap so that the first fret is located over my left knee (reverse if you are left-handed). I position the other end of the dulcimer close to my right hip. Now extend your left foot forward. That will cause the dulcimer to be "downhill" on your lap. This has many benefits. It will be the easiest position for your hand to make chords. It's easier to cross your body as you play up high on the fretboard. It gives me a sense of going "up" the scale and "down." Remember to relax. Tense muscles will send you home from the jam too early.

Conservation strum -- To stay in a jam for long periods of time I will not play every song. I might play rhythm on a song with a set of spoons, bones, or limberjack. Sometimes I sing a song. Or I place my fretting hand across the strings lightly and play percussion, a "chunk-a-chunk" sound. It's okay to just enjoy listening to a new song or to someone who has a beautiful arrangement of a song. When I do play along, I don't always strum furiously. Conservation strum for me is the key to hanging in there until dawn.

Don't forget while you are practicing for jams to visualize yourself as an active participant. If you don't tell anyone that you only know three songs and three chords, I won't tell either! I hope to pick with you somewhere soon!

Maureen Sellers is a musician and teacher in Indiana. This article was first printed in Dulcimer Players News, Winter 1998 ( Vol. 24, No.1). Used with permission. Do you have comments or questions about her article? Contact Ms. Sellers directly by e-mail. To learn more about her, see the Contributors section of Sweet Music Index.

Notes from the Digest
The Index found the following from Sweet Music Digest to be very helpful concerning jams:

From: CAS
Subject: Dulcimers and Old Time jams

Here's a question just to stir things up a bit...
I've noticed some prejudice against mountain dulcimers in old-time string band jams (fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin). When I asked someone about it, they told me many OT musicians think a mountain dulcimer in a jam sounds like scratching a stick on a screen door.

I can understand the characterization because the fiddles and dreadnoughts can overpower the string volume of even the most enthusiatic dulcimer player, leaving little but pick noise.

Has anyone else experienced OT jam prejudices against dulcimers because of their sound ?

Does anyone have any suggestions? Nylon pick of course. Heavier strings? Playing up the neck? Trying to do harmony or counterpoint? Give up and play with our own kind?

DM responds:
Well, I'll bite on this one. First, let me begin by saying that I play with more fiddlers and OT musicians than I do with dulcimer players. Just got back, in fact, from the Appalachian Music Festival at Camp Washington-Carver in West Virginia (AKA Clifftop). I play a fair amount locally with the OT musicians, too.

What are the issues of mountain dulcimers in OT music?

1. We often do not know the repetoire in the correct keys. We have a general reputation of only playing in D. Okay, we occasionally play in G, too. But we rarely go to A, and C tunes are beyond us. D is often not the correct key for many of the tunes we play. Now, the capo is a wonderful way to move quickly from key to key.

2. Knowing, really knowing, the tunes that are being played in the jams is important. Also knowing the rhythms and chords is essential. Finally, being able to play in rhythm (not as common as it sounds) is important.

3. Having instruments that have some depth to the sound. Frankly, those thin little sound box instruments often lack depth of sound and are clangy sounding. For some types of dulcimer music, this is fine. In a large setting it is not so. Note that I am not putting those instruments down; I simply don't think they sound good in old-timey jams. High strung instruments with large sound boxes (such as the GALAX style instruments) work well and the bigger box Folkcraft/Folkroots, Bear Meadow, Rockwell, and Blue Lion work well, too. Of course it goes without saying that good strings, etc. are important.

4. Not being pushy, being competent, not playing every tune, listening carefully, and following all the local jam etiquette also are very important.

5. Sometimes the dulcimer is not welcome. Oh well. Sometimes there's too much fiddler testosterone on the jam floor. Oh well. There usually is beer and the music is good so I drink a few, talk with friends, and tape the tunes I don't know.

Hope this helps.

From: LH
Subject: Mountain Dulcimer in Old Time Jams

One of the advantages of living in the Southeast is that I get to play music with old-time fiddlers, banjo players, and guitarists, and old-time mountain dulcimer players like Wayne Seymour (Conan the Librarian), Jacob Ray Melton, Phyllis Gaskins, and Jeff Furman. I've attended a lot of fiddle conventions and love old-time string band music.

THE OLD-TIME MUSIC SCENE
There tends to be a lot of strong opinions among some of our old-time brethren on what the music is/should be. Some only want to hear the basic three old-time string band instruments: fiddle, guitar, and clawhammer banjo. That's their choice and it's fine. Others are open to including different instruments. The "older" old-time musicians seem more experimental. Many old-time fiddlers, guitarists, and banjo players certainly do love the dulcimer and recognize its old-time authenticity, and we've enticed some to buy a mountain dulcimers and play the tunes on them also.

Here are some things that might help if you want to play in old-time jams:

KNOW THE TUNES AND DO YOUR "HOMEWORK" FIRST.
I'm not referring here to the teaching jams or slow jams at educational events like Boone, Swannanoa, or Augusta, but to informal festival jams. It's worth saying that jamming is another situation in which a dulcimer player's ability to play on the same level with the other musicians can either make you welcome or not - this means playing in the right keys, up to speed, in rhythm, and knowing the tune. If you find yourself in a jam that's above your head, you can really learn from listening. Ask the name of the tune, its key, and try to learn it by ear, maybe humming along. Then go home and practice it (via the many book and recording sources) so the next time you hear the tune in an old-time jam you can join in. The fiddlers, banjo players, and guitarists you meet in a jam do indeed practice the tunes a lot so they will know them for jams. After you have experience with keys, tune structure, and chord progressions, there are steps to take in learning a new tune by ear. You can start by playing just the "skeleton" notes of the piece, and then filling in the other notes. Most old-time jams repeat tunes lots of times so you will have this opportunity.

IS IT REALLY A JAM?
If you find yourself at a jam in which the players don't seem ready to include more people, it may actually be an impromptu band getting ready for a competition or another rehearsal situation, or maybe a couple of old friends who have a few fleeting moments each year to get together and teach each other new tunes.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE IN THE "BIG 3" TO JAM.
It could be that other instruments besides the "basic 3" (fiddle, guitar, clawhammer banjo) are not welcome in a particular jam. Like Marty said, there's always another jam around the corner. Or start your own jam and invite others. Besides playing with people I already know, at fiddle conventions I like to go "jam shopping" and get to play with new musicians. When you find a jam that you love the sound of, and that seemes like an "open" jam, at a break in the playing say hello, that you enjoy the music, and can you join them. Then you can go back to camp, pick up a dulcimer and a chair, and join the jam. I've made lots of friends this way and learned a lot of music.

JAMMING ETIQUETTE
With regard to "jam etiquette", I think Vickie's right-on with:
"When in a jam I alway remember to give the same respect to the other members of the jam that you'd wish be shown toward you. I'm big on demonstrating how you wish to be treated by treating all people around you in the like manner."

Some of the published articles on "jam etiquette" have focused only on the aspiring jammer and just further intimidated new jammers. The "etiquette" applies also to those who have started a jam as well as to the person who would like to join in. We have quoted and discussed jam etiquette previously on Sweet Music.

OBJECTIONS TO DULCIMERS & HOW TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE OR FREEDOM.
I've heard objections to mountain dulcimers from some old-time musicians, and they are good to consider.

1. They have said they can't hear the melody or harmony from many dulcimers, just drones and pick flap. The volume of a flatpicked dulcimer is rarely strong enough for it to be heard in this acoustic playing situation. We've already talked about having a louder dulcimer for these situations. My remedy for projecting the melody has to do with pick choices, fretting
techniques, and strum angles. I give details in a lot of my workshops on this.

2. Another objection to the dulcimer that I have heard is that the "busy" strumming most mountain dulcimer players do is distracting from the overall sound. Solution: Be sparse with "diddy" strums. Listen for the phrasing and dynamics of the fiddle.

3. The dulcimer player (or banjo player or flatpicked guitar player) is sometimes "stepping on" the fiddle's lead voice. Fiddle (because of its more cutting voice) is the lead instrument in string bands. This is a different situation for you from a solo performance, where you are responsible for all the notes and maybe for a show of virtuosity. Try to enhance the group sound rather than feeling responsible for replicating what the fiddler plays.

4. Unfortunately, as in any endeavor, there will always be some who are not open to music or instruments that they don't consider safe or approved by the majority. They may not have musically valid reasons for rejecting your instrument or your music. They are free to limit themselves, and you are free to venture out and be open to music.