I attened a "blues jam" every Saturday afternoon at an old barbershop in Washington, D.C. for many years and there are some rules...

(Rules???)

Well, not chizzeled in stone rules but guidelines...

The jams (singarounds) had a facilitator/moderator assigned to oversee them which meant that in the interest of *everyone* having a good time certain things did have to occur:

1. Sharing the time is the most important... That means, yes, going around the circle and at least offering each attendeee an opportunity to *lead* a song...

2. Asking people with louder instruments to try to blend... This can be done without confronting any one individual if the moderator hears one instrument way over the others mentioning that "the piano was a tad overbearing on that last song"... Of course the piano player knows who is being pointed out but it makes it less personal when the moderator points to an instrument rather than an individual...

3. People should also be in tune... It's not at all difficult to say, "Hey, Ralph, I think your B string is a tad sharp"... Most muswicans appreciate that kinda nudging...

4. Lastly, when I have moderated jams/singarounds I kinda like to get folks actaully talking about the songs between songs... There are alot of good stories that folks have about certain songs that are valuable to everyone at the singaround... Sometimes it's as easy as "I learned this version from ____________" or "I first heard this song at the ________________ concert back in ______".... This, to me, is what music is all about and where I have learned to appreciate songs that I might have never given a second thought about just from someone elses experience with a certain song...

Rules over...

Now, let's jam...

B~