Today, a friend brought up the idea of having a jam session later. He plays guitar and I play ukulele. Does anyone in the community have any idea as to what would make a cool guitar/ukulele duet? Also, I've never really jammed with anyone. Any tips?
Ukulele and Guitar Jam Session
- Thread starter Calebcat
- Start date
DAPuke
Well-known member
Hey Calebcat, I do this about once a week. If your guitar player plays as well as you then it doesn't matter what you do, It'll rock. I don't have song suggestions, sorry. I am a begginer happy learning mainstream easy stuff at the moment. I'm sure the other's will help.
The only advice from experience I'll offer is be prepared to be drowned out if your each acoustic.
What's your goal for the jam? just jamm'n or prep for performance? Live/vid? ...I'm just nosey.
Let us know how it goes, perhaps you'll have pointers for me/us.
DAP
The only advice from experience I'll offer is be prepared to be drowned out if your each acoustic.
What's your goal for the jam? just jamm'n or prep for performance? Live/vid? ...I'm just nosey.
Let us know how it goes, perhaps you'll have pointers for me/us.
DAP
Last edited:
R
RyanMFT
Guest
I was pretty nervous the first time I jammed with someone so I can relate. First tip is remember it is all about having fun, try not to pressure yourself. The other thing that comes to mind is bring some music you enjoy and you know well so you will be more comfortable playing through it. When I play sheet music songs that I don't know the tune in my head, it is much harder for me to really jump in.
Also, guitars are usually louder than uke's so be ready to really strum or pick and produce some volume or your uke may get drowned out by the guitar. I play a lot of soprano uke and even when I play with a bunch of people with concerts my sopranos can be hard to hear, just because of the volume difference. Have fun, let us know how it goes!
Also, guitars are usually louder than uke's so be ready to really strum or pick and produce some volume or your uke may get drowned out by the guitar. I play a lot of soprano uke and even when I play with a bunch of people with concerts my sopranos can be hard to hear, just because of the volume difference. Have fun, let us know how it goes!
Well, there are a few people that bring that guitars to school, I decided to shake things up a bit and bring a ukulele to school. Anyway, my friend is one of those that brings his guitar to school. We talked about guitars and ukuleles and whatever other instruments we like. We later agreed to have a jam session to compare each other's instruments and experiment with different sounds. Somehow it turned into inviting a few people to go hang out at Denny's and play music.
DAPuke
Well-known member
That is so cool. sounds like fun. bring a recorder of some kind, video or audio if you can. Way to represent the uker's!!!
DAP
Pippin
Well-known member
I grew up playing music with some of the biggest names in country music. My mother was a songwriter with a Nashville contract. So, I learned really fast how to play music with other people.
Everything rests on the "beat" of the music, the tempo. What you want to learn is how to carry a smooth rhythm. That comes down to feeling the music. If you listen to the song and you are familiar with it, then you want to concentrate on what comes next and pay close attention to the chord changes and the beat.
In any sort of musical act, the entire song is built on a foundation of typically the drums and bass. They set the tempo. The rhythm guitarist or ukulele player can lay down a solid tempo if they have great meter. Most often, though, the drummer sets the meter and the bass builds on that foundation. Chord changes follow the meter set by the drums and bass. You can add more "pieces" and vocals on that foundation to create an entire song.
Multi-track recorders help you learn to play with other instruments or with yourself. If you don't have a way to record multiple tracks, getting a 4-track would be a great investment. You will tighten up a lot putting tracks together. That is called "over-dubbing".
There is a great little "jam book" I reviewed in Ukulele Player Magazine quite some time ago. It is a handy book to have and teaches you the principles of jamming with others.
Everything rests on the "beat" of the music, the tempo. What you want to learn is how to carry a smooth rhythm. That comes down to feeling the music. If you listen to the song and you are familiar with it, then you want to concentrate on what comes next and pay close attention to the chord changes and the beat.
In any sort of musical act, the entire song is built on a foundation of typically the drums and bass. They set the tempo. The rhythm guitarist or ukulele player can lay down a solid tempo if they have great meter. Most often, though, the drummer sets the meter and the bass builds on that foundation. Chord changes follow the meter set by the drums and bass. You can add more "pieces" and vocals on that foundation to create an entire song.
Multi-track recorders help you learn to play with other instruments or with yourself. If you don't have a way to record multiple tracks, getting a 4-track would be a great investment. You will tighten up a lot putting tracks together. That is called "over-dubbing".
There is a great little "jam book" I reviewed in Ukulele Player Magazine quite some time ago. It is a handy book to have and teaches you the principles of jamming with others.
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Just play something you both know first and go from there .....Have fun and enjoy!! Happy strummings...MM Stan
ukecantdothat
Well-known member
Yep yep. After your first jam, you won't be able to say you've never jammed before. Big ol' "dud" factor there, but it's a big point that keeps a lot of people from playing with others. Once you've gotten your toes in the water, indeed dive in as Seeso said. The joy of jamming, or improvising, with others is that things come to you out of the blue that never would have happened on your own. Start easy. Pick a cool groove that repeats over and over and take turns soloing and playing rhythm. When you're holding down the beat and chord structure, just be mindful of "stepping on" the soloist. Keep it simple at first and leave spaces. This allows the soloist to get in there and have at it. If you can, record it, study it, then forget it and move on. Months or even years later, play it back again and you'll be amazed at the progress you're making.
kalmario
Well-known member
stay away from the key of e unless you can bust it out easily ,
the guitar will drown out the uke, but it will be alot of fun anyway,
and you nearly always learn something.
hey pippin, which issue was that review in? (i.e. what s the name of the book)
cheers in advance.
Cliff
, the guitar will drown out the uke, but it will be alot of fun anyway,
and you nearly always learn something.
hey pippin, which issue was that review in? (i.e. what s the name of the book)
cheers in advance.
Cliff
As a new uke player this happened to me just last night. Some of my buddies have an acoustic band and their third guitarist quit. Well, they called me, even though they thought I would show up with a guitar I just brought the uke. I could tell they were skeptical at first but I told them it would work. I haven't been playing that long but I have mastered bunches of the basic chords. After the first couple of songs they were sold. A couple of things I didn't notice when jammin with two other acoustic guitars
1. It may be hard to hear yourself above the guitars (I was playing a concert uke) so, put a little space between each other and try to face each other or play in a circle.
2. Start with songs that are standards without too many extra changes
3. When playing rythm on the uke try a different strum pattern than u would expect, it adds to the music and helps the uke be heard.
4. Have fun and don't get too discouraged. if you hit a roadblock in a song, stop and work it out or make a note for homework for next time.
I hope this makes sense to some long time ukesters. THis is what just worked for me.
1. It may be hard to hear yourself above the guitars (I was playing a concert uke) so, put a little space between each other and try to face each other or play in a circle.
2. Start with songs that are standards without too many extra changes
3. When playing rythm on the uke try a different strum pattern than u would expect, it adds to the music and helps the uke be heard.
4. Have fun and don't get too discouraged. if you hit a roadblock in a song, stop and work it out or make a note for homework for next time.
I hope this makes sense to some long time ukesters. THis is what just worked for me.
