At my weekly song circle/jam, we have a pretty good mix, I think. At some point someone will say, How about a fiddle tune? or, It's time for a couple of songs! So it keeps alternating all night. The ratio is definitely in favor of song, but of course the instrumentalists get to play then too, because a lot of breaks are inserted in most of the songs.

Of course, since I do both singing and playing, maybe I'm just not aware of other people's frustrations with the format but I think we're all pretty happy with it.

I do have a couple of friends who love to sing but don't play any instruments- they tend not to attend the Friday night sessions although they have a standing invitation. About once a month on a Saturday night we have a singing night where we have a smaller group with slightly different attendees, which too is great fun.

We use the song circle format mostly, but often we ask an individual in the circle to do a second song or even a third on occasion, when we are particularly moved, or when s/he has written a couple of new songs. It's a fluid mix- sometimes when someone has brought along someone who is in town on tour or when a new player/singer drifts in, we abandon the song circle format almost entirely for the night, and just bask.

We all seem fairly addicted to our Friday nights.