TOPIC: WHY IS IT?

I practiced/played Ashokan Farewell with Hogpaws at home yesterday...we did pretty good .....of course he knows how I play and I know how he plays.....then in Bluegrass Class FM sent us to small rooms to practice ...again after a little while "our little group" could play it somewhat.....and THEN we get to the performance group and (evil) FM switched us around.....and had us play musical chairs.....well, when it was my turn I had no clue what to do .....I knew the song, I knew the chords but I wasn't familiar enough with it or my "new group" to jump in....(not to mention I started off with my finger on the D string instead of the A string ...that was going to be a train wreck... Mercifully we were stopped....but WHY IS THAT????

I think I am glad I am in Colorado, I would have been in the same boat.

This is what distinguishes an open jam with an instructional class. I have said over and over again, that if you get too comfortable playing with the same people, it does not teach you how to join in with those you do not know or those you do not have as much experience playing a tune.

Putting you in awkward situations:blush: in the bluegrass class instruction is not intended as evil:angry: but is a way to teach you by putting you into as many uncomfortable situations as possible. In return, it hopefully prepares you to play with many others. In the long run, you will build greater confidence and be prepared to play in any situation. This will make you a happier musician.

Remember, you can play all the open jams you want, but they do not necessarily train you to play the right way. This is especially true if those in an open jam have neither the experience nor a qualified instructor who provides guidance on how to play together, according to the same timing (rhythm).

Don't worry be happy and trust that you are being led in the right direction.

I play w/ a garage band (2 others!) that has a bluegrass /gospel/50s rockability base! Now that I am learning to listen (a la fretmentor) I understand how and why the GB sounds so awful when we have guests - a 10 yr old enthusiast who strums as loud as she can, a pretty good guitarist who gets so excited that he speeds up faster than any of us ever have on a Wednesday night, etc! But, I have discovered that other "listeners" listen to each other. Technique doesn't matter and doesn't work if a player doesn't listen. It's about being a decent musician, that's what it is. I really appreciate the tenacity of the students at fretmentor & the demands he places upon us. It's worth putting up with him! Ha! Ha! Ha!

I agree with MMandy. I play bass in a duo with an acoustic guitar player, sometimes it ends up with extra musicians, piano, another guitar, etc. I am the time keeper as the bass player (no drums). When you play with other people that are used to playing solo, they have to adapt to listening to the other musician/musicians not only to keep appropriate volume and content (support during breaks, not solos, etc) but keep time too. My partner played solo for a lot of years and has made tremendous gains since we started playing together over a year ago at duo play, and keeping in time with me, and all the subleties that go along with this. We are still a long ways from being where we want to be but when it comes together and we nail a song, it is a real high, a great feeling.

The trouble will come while we are working up a couple of songs for two acoustic guitars, I'm much more self conscious of my guitar playing than my bass playing, despite a lot of great FM lessons!!