Thursday Old-Time Jam Introduction and Guidelines

Welcome

I've been asked by several folks for guidelines to this jam.  What you'll find here is an attempt to pull together the sort of information that will give you an idea of what to expect and how to fit in  

We welcome musicians of any age or experience level interested in playing along and/or learning more about the type of music we play, though this is not a beginner jam or a music lesson

Style and Instruments

We play "Old-time" fiddle tunes from the Appalachian South (and a few other regions such as the Midwest) for the most part. We are an instrumental group, not a singing group.

There are numerous alternative jams to try out in the greater Seattle area devoted to different styles of acoustic music and singing, such as: Bluegrass, Irish, Quebecois (French-Canadian), Contradance/Northern/New England, Cajun, Scandinavian, Klezmer, Blues, WOTFA/Contest Style, Texas Style and so on. Many folks attend several of these jams in addition to this one. Our particular jam is for people who want to play "Old-time" instrumental fiddle tunes.

We play traditional acoustic instruments (appropriate to a smaller venue) like you would hear at a square dance, such as fiddle, banjo, guitar and mandolin.  We don’t use drums or amplified instruments

Playing By Ear

We play 'by ear' and learn new tunes by playing along and listening.  You won’t find sheet music, music books or music stands here, though some folks use transcriptions at home to help memorize a tune.

Audio Recording

It's sort of OK to make audio recordings at the jam of tunes you want to learn, but it is polite to ask first.  Please keep these recordings for your own personal use as a learning aid, and don't publish them all over the internet.  Our jam is not a rehearsed performance. If you want to know more about a tune you want to learn, ask the person who played it if they can provide you with a source reference or a clean recording. There is also a link (on the front page) to a running list of tunes we have played, often with links to 'source' audio recordings of the tunes. Video recordings of the jam are decidedly not enjoyable as they make some folks self-conscious when playing, and again this is a fun jam, and is not a performance or class

Keys We Play In

We typically play in the ‘fiddle keys’ of G, D, A and C.  At the beginning of the jam, we’ll pick one of these keys, and the banjos and fiddle will be tuned to that key.  We stay in that key for a while, sometimes for the entire jam.  

This offers several advantages.  The banjos and fiddles don’t need to be re-tuned frequently, which saves time and wear and tear on the instruments and strings. One becomes ‘acclimatized’ to a scale and so it is easier to hear the intervals between notes, learn by ear and play in tune.  Less guesswork is needed.  Guitar players have an easier time discovering which chords to play

Leading Tunes 

Since this is a fiddle tune jam, the fiddlers or other melody instrument players usually lead the tunes, and everyone else plays along.  Melodic banjo players sometimes start tunes. Typically, we take turns leading or requesting tunes, going around the circle Round Robin style. Please be ready in advance with tunes you want to lead or request.  That way the group won't be kept waiting while you go through your list. 

Anyone playing a non-melody instrument can request a tune, which hopefully a fiddler will be able to start and play, as after all this is a 'fiddle tune' jam.  However, if you request a tune and none of the fiddlers (or other melody instrument players) knows it and can lead it, please "pass" to the next person in the circle.  

There is a link to a running list of tunes played over time at this jam main page.  It will give you and idea of what we played in the past. However, the universe of Old-time tunes and versions of the tunes is endless so the list will never be conclusive.  

Starting tunes is optional. It is more than OK to just play along and learn - sometimes for years - until you feel comfortable leading tunes!  

Whoever starts the tune will lead it for several or many iterations and then call it quits by holding up a foot the last time through, or shouting out “Last time” or “One more”

Usually whoever is starting the tune will say its name, and maybe the version they will play as well, as has in the old-time universe there are often many different tunes or versions of a tune with the same name

When a tune starts, we usually listen to it at least once through before starting to play. This gives everyone a chance to hear how the tune goes and if there are variations from a version we might already know.

We try to conform to the version being played.  Players make an effort to keep their volume low enough so they – and their neighbors – can still hear the leader's instrument

All Together

At old time jams including this one, everyone plays together, in unison, with limited harmony playing. Sometimes fiddlers will “second” the melody by playing chords to accent the rhythm of the tune.  There are no ‘solos’ or instrumental breaks like there are in a bluegrass jam

Guitars

Guitars can provide the pulse and steady rhythm to help keep everyone playing together in time

Guitar players hopefully pay attention to each other, and look around while playing in a effort to play the same chords at the same time, in time.  Otherwise, the guitars cancel each other out and make it hard for others to hear the melody and pulse.  Newer players play quietly and defer to more experienced players while the tune is in progress to learn which chords to play and when. 

Old-time backup guitar styles vary greatly, though a steady “Boom-Chuck, Boom-Chuck” rhythm (“One-and, Two-and”) is the foundation for good backup playing.  It complements the dance steps which most of what we play is based on, and best keeps everyone together.  Most backup guitar players use a flat pick as finger style playing can't be heard as well.

Chords and Tempo

Most old-time tunes use simple "1,4,5" three-note chords.  For example, in the key of G, a large percentage of the tunes would only need G Maj and D Maj chords (the "1" and the "5" chords in "Nashville" numbering system).  Another large chunk might also throw in a C chord ("4" chord).  The few “modal” G tunes played might (also) have an F chord ("flat 7"), an Am chord ("2" chord) or Em ("6" chord). Some G tunes (rarely) can use an A Maj ("5 of 5") chord, though use that one at your own risk ;-).  Even though the chords are mostly simple, knowing how to play them, and hearing when to play them is lots of fun! 

In the key of D, the 1,4,5 chords are D,G and A.  In A, they are A,D and E, and in the key of C, the old time chords are C,F and G.

If a tune has unusual chords, whoever is leading the tune will hopefully tell the group what to expect to avoid an initial train wreck

Whoever is starting the tune will set the tempo, which hopefully stays constant. It is usually moderate but can be almost at dance speed

Banjos

Banjos are an integral part of Old-time music, predating the guitar. Fiddle-Banjo duets are as old as the hills. The banjo is typically played drop-thumb style, without finger pics or a flat pic. Its role is to complement the melody and help keep time. Old-time banjos don’t have resonators and are muffled with a cloth or other dampener inside the drum head to keep down the volume as they can be very loud in a small jam. Banjos are played in many different tunings. As mentioned above, we play many tunes in the same key for quite a while to minimize re-tuning.

Fiddles

Sometimes fiddles are played in non-standard tunings.  G tunes and C tunes are usually played in standard GDAE.  D tunes are often played in ADAE (high bass).   A tunes are often played in AEAE (cross tuning) or GDAE.  There are many other tunings but these are the most common ones in our jam.  

Most tunes can be played in standard GDAE tuning, however.  You can ask during a pause between tunes how we are tuned (and what key we are in) if you join late.  Otherwise it will be mentioned at the beginning of the jam before we start or  when we decide to change keys.  It is your choice what tuning to put your fiddle in. 

Jam Circle

We sit in a circle when we play.  In a large jam, we’ll also form an outer circle, which keeps players closer together.  

Players arriving late to a jam try to not disturb a tune in progress and will often stand outside the jam circle until the tune is over, at which time seated players will move if necessary to make room

Socializing

Before and after the jam is the time to socialize, catch up with old friends and meet new friends

Conversation between tunes during the jam is mostly about the music

A Few Resources

There are endless resources now available for learning old-time tunes such as we play. Here are a few examples:

Slippery-Hill.com is great for finding "source" versions of old time tunes to listen to, download and learn from:  

https://www.slippery-hill.com/  

Claire Milliner and Walt Koken published (2011) a massive collection of mostly Appalachian fiddle tune transcriptions (and the source mp3s for the transcriptions) called "The Milliner - Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes".  It is a great resource if you like reading notation and listening at the same time when learning tunes. http://www.mudthumper.com/books.html

All the source mp3s from this book are on Slippery-Hill.com

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/milliner-koken-collection-american-fiddle-tunes

YouTube, of course, has more old and new Old-time music videos (and lessons) then you could every hope to see and listen to. A few examples:

Here's Claire and Walt playing "Meg Gray"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ImReLlVWlA

Melvin Wine playing Hey Aunt Katie There's A Bug on Me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA6XQGOVg9Q

Tommy Jarrell playing Jimmy Sutton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWEnQX7_6KM

Hope this Helps

I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect at our jam, and as a result makes it more enjoyable!  Thanks, Steve

Updated 04-19-2023