Sitting In On A Jam Session
The jam sessions that I attend in Florida usually feature anywhere from 8 to 20 musicians , playing various instruments, seated in a semi circle. It’s interesting to note that sometimes up to 300 people will come just to watch and be entertained.
Each musician will take a turn playing the lead. He announces what song he would like to play and in what key he will be playing. Everyone else will play back up to his lead. Given this type of scenario it is important for us accordionists to understand chord construction, chord progression and timing.
Usually there is a large amount of traditional country music along with some gospel and a sprinkling of oldies type rock n roll being played. For the most part this type of music can be played using just 3 or 4 chords therefore if you want to effectively sit in on this type of jam it is important to learn what chords are used in what keys and how to construct and play these chords using your right hand. That’s it for now – we can pick up from here in a later tutorial. Practice playing chords with your right hand.