Play Well With Others

Play Well With Others is Going To Winfield!

Admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:29:48 +0000

Play Well With Others authors Martha Haehl and Mike Walker will be all over the place at the Walnut Valley Festival. The festival starts Sept 17th but the action starts much earlier than than, so we’ll be there by Sept 12th. Come and jam till you drop. For more info on the jam, go to:

www.wvfest.com

Gold Watch and Chain and a Stand of Oaks

Martha Haehl — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:00:30 +0000

Well, it has been a while since I posted, but not because there was nothing to write. Jamming and finishing up a semester grading math papers have left me little time to write about jamming. So, I am going to pick a moment from several weeks ago. The Kansas City July day was comfortably warm and we jammed under 150-ft tall maples and oaks. The group was large and spread out with some difficulty staying together until Sunny’s turn. Sunny is a proficient musician who could have delivered a really complex song. Instead, like the best of musicians, she picked a three-chord pearl, “Gold Watch and Chain” and wakled around the inside of the circle as she sang, signaling breaks as she stood near a lead player. That simple act got the jam on track and after that we hung together much better.

My Favorite Jam Songs

Admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:40:21 +0000

Here’s a list of some of my favorite jam songs. Martha blows me away everytime she does “Lonesome Road”, so that’s one of them. Here are some more:
Jambalaya (Just two chords!)
Sugar Moon (Bob Wills…aha!)
Chantilly Lace (Oh baby you know what I like!)
Princess Poo-Poo-Ly (She loves to give it away!)

“Play Well With Others” Is Here!

Admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:19:19 +0000

Play Well With Others: How to Jam Like A Pro is finally available, either hard copy or online!
Click here to get your free section! Click here to order!
Our new book, Play Well With Others, is the most complete book about jamming on the market. Here’s why:
You’ll Learn-
Jamming Do’s and Don’ts, Jam Types and Jam Styles
How to Avoid Being a Jam Buster
How to Play:songs with two-chords, three chords, then more complex chord progressions
Easy Transposing, How to Lead a Song in a Jam
Tips for Playing Instrumentals,and much, much more!

Musical Moment

Martha Haehl — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:56:44 +0000

Last weekend I was at the most amazing acoustic event. A friend, Dave Lizor, was celebrating 30 years of hosting monthly jams at his house and invited people to camp, jam and listen to numerous musical groups that emerged from the jams over the years. Late Friday night (more accurately, early Saturday morning) one advanced jam was playing everything from blues to bluegrass to rock n’ roll to jazz and Karen suggested we do “One Note Samba” then said, but that is not a good jam tune. (Normally it is not a good jam tune unless the musicians know jazz, can follow a chart or know the song.) Barry, sitting in the circle, said we should do the song because everyone in the jam was a pro who knows when to sit out and listen.

We played the song and some musicians added parts and some did not. Barry’s statement caused me to reflect that being a pro doesn’t mean you can play everything or on every tune. It more accurately implies that you can be in the game as well as have the judgement to contribute your ears rather than your notes. The jam was amazing, with everyone in the circle understanding that nuance.

Musical Moment-June 9

Martha Haehl — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:55:28 +0000

Tuesday I played again at the Merriam Organic Farmer’s Market (in the Kansas City area). This time it was Martha and friends, and after the gig was booked I was relieved to learn I have friends who are darned good musicians. Mike Walker (my co-writer on Play Well With Others) and his wife, Vicki, and friends, Karen and Lee joined me. We have jammed together many times and this time actually practiced to put some of our jam tunes into performance mode. The rains did not come this time but the winds were strong. Lee cut an effective creation from a McDonalds plastic cup to shield the wind from the omni mike.
I think my favorite song of the evening was Princess Papouli (who has lots of Papayas that she loves to give away). Vicki and Mike sang a duet and played their ukes while Karen added a jazzy beat on the guitar and Lee ran fingers all over that funky old stand up-bass. And I got to improvise on flute, yeah! I bought organic produce which I have been busily cooking and eating.

Jam Workshop

Admin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:04:43 +0000

Tired of playing solo? Want to play music with real human beings? Learn how to jam like a pro. If you learn to listen, remember a few rules, keep a steady beat and when to lead and when to follow, you are on your way. Bring music to share. Martha has performed in many venues including Prairie Home Companion and Mike is a ukelelist extraordinaire who plays in a local ukulele group

Meets: 7/31/2008; 6:30:00 PM - 8:30:00 PM
Mountain Music Shoppe
12710 Shawnee Mission Pkwy., Shawnee Mission, KS

To sign up call 816-235-1448 or go to www.umkc.edu/commu/

Moment - Posted June 8

Martha Haehl — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:43:18 +0000

For the musical moment last week I would pick one that happened in a put together performance for the Merriam organic farmers’ market. Bill Langsdorf and I of the Checkered Past band were filling in time before two other band mates (Lynn Snyder and Kerry Stanley) could join us after work. We jammed on Bill’s bluesy finger picking version of Amazing Grace and jazzed it up with flute and harmonies for a moment that sound like we had actually played the song long enough to be loose on it.

Lynn and Kerry joined us for a couple songs before thunder, lightening and a downpour got us scrambling to pack up the sound system and store instruments safely in cases. Then as we left, we drove straight towards that pot of gold and the end of the full rainbow and part of a double rainbow that led us to our respective homes. Although the pot of gold once again eluded us, it was quite an afternoon.<

Jam Do’s and Don’ts

Admin — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:52:04 +0000

Here are a couple of jam do’s and don’ts from our new book, Play Well With Others: How To Jam Like A Pro If you’d like to add your own, here’s the place!

Tune
Tune your instrument to a standard pitch. Unless you’re one of the rare chosen people with perfect pitch, use an electronic tuner when available. An instrument that is in tune with itself may not be in tune with everybody else. If possible, tune somewhere else before joining a jam already in session. Don’t tune in the middle of someone else’s song! Instrumentalists who move capo positions or use different tunings for different keys may need time between songs to tune. Give them the time (and silence from music) to tune before the next song.

Listen
This is the simplest, most challenging, and important part. The person leading a particular song or tune controls the tempo and tone. Follow the leader. If you have to strain to hear the singer or lead player, you’re playing too loud, so pipe down! Blending individual voices and instruments into an ensemble creates a beautiful song. Sometimes the eye is quicker than the ear, so keep good eye contact with the song leader and watch when he or she changes chords. You may know a wild, offbeat version of a song, but save your version for when you’re the song leader.