You think YOU got troubles? We have a guy who persists in bringing an entire CONGA drum to our community jams. This wouldn't be terribly awful, on certain songs and in certain ways, if he could actually, like, find the beat.

HowEVer, this is a community jam and the purpose is to encourage people to participate in music, so ... nobody tells him not to bring the damned drum. I have, however, motioned for him to be quiet a few times, or slapped loudly on my thigh (resisted urge to slap loudly on his very head) to get him to hear the beat.

I agree with Chip though that subtle egg-playing or various other rhythm instruments can be nice -- depending on the sort of music the jam is doing. And this truly is a matter of education. Hell, I took a tambourine to MY first jam a few years back -- my only previous experience with group music was rock jams and bands many years back and that was perfectly appropriate. I took a clue, however, from the group and didn't make that mistake again. Unfortunately, some people don't seem to be able to take cues from their surroundings and eliminate behaviors that don't work, don't fit or are just completely frickin' annoying.

The Lord puts these people in our jams to teach us patience, generosity and humility.

Thank you,
Sister Wyo