Question to all of those out there in bands

[nostalgic loser]

After two years of playing bass on my own, I finally have started jamming with two other people.
The first session went horrible, because our guitarist did does not know any theory and just plays and makes stuff by ear, and our drummer does not keep consistent rythem, but that is a problem that can be fixed with time I guess. So, has anyone ever jamed with anyone who did not know theory, and how did you do it ? Seems like the first few times jamming will be rough xD .

[Jiggly Type]

Holy s**t. I'm that guitarist xD
it's funny because when i first formed a band in 2010, I didn't know any theory.I was in that situation.The bassist made me learn how to use Guitar pro. We jammed and wrote our songs on it to practice more on our own. He would teach me theory before rehearsal. he yelled at me so many times until i got "good".

He's my best friend now.

[EmilKnight]

My entire bands' knowledge of theory is all based on musical tastes, critique, and plain sonic aesthetics. 2 of us play solely by ear (multi-instrumentalist drummer and I), and we go for a psychedelic dreampop vibe. I say you shouldn't worry too much about theory so much as just dedicating sessions to a good balance of jamming and structuring. Beware: too much jamming and too many suggestions for covers is harmful for the creativity and self-interest for the entire band wink
Also, don't fret too much about playing by ear, because we sound pretty great for our lead synth (me) not following the structural basis for the use of notes. Oh yeah, and try to record everything so you can look back on it and have ideas, or keep something going without forgetting.

[GrampsOG]

just learn your different chord types and play with a metronome

[nostalgic loser]

too cute for the puss

just learn your different chord types and play with a metronome

Well, I'd say I know a lot of different chord types. It's just that our guitarist wont do theory. =/ I have gotten him to learn basic chords though.

[nostalgic loser]

EmilKnight

My entire bands' knowledge of theory is all based on musical tastes, critique, and plain sonic aesthetics. 2 of us play solely by ear (multi-instrumentalist drummer and I), and we go for a psychedelic dreampop vibe. I say you shouldn't worry too much about theory so much as just dedicating sessions to a good balance of jamming and structuring. Beware: too much jamming and too many suggestions for covers is harmful for the creativity and self-interest for the entire band wink
Also, don't fret too much about playing by ear, because we sound pretty great for our lead synth (me) not following the structural basis for the use of notes. Oh yeah, and try to record everything so you can look back on it and have ideas, or keep something going without forgetting.

How do you guys stay in key with each other though without staying in the same scale though ?

[nostalgic loser]

Jiggly Type

Holy s**t. I'm that guitarist xD
it's funny because when i first formed a band in 2010, I didn't know any theory.I was in that situation.The bassist made me learn how to use Guitar pro. We jammed and wrote our songs on it to practice more on our own. He would teach me theory before rehearsal. he yelled at me so many times until i got "good".

He's my best friend now.

aha, I might have to do this.

[iio milu]

I started playing in the high school jazz band last year. I had to memorize different modes and apply them to different key signatures. Though, I didn't actually get "good" at jamming until I started listening to other peoples' styles, and trying to match it or back down when needed. Learning the scales did help with pitch, though razz

[Visions_of_La]

Does he not know "proper" terminology and s**t, or does he just not know what he's doing?

Because I'm that guitarist that knows what I'm doing, but I shouldn't be a good guitarist on paper. Even if I am pretty good. Theory was an afterthought for me, but people pick up more than they think they do if they put effort into figuring out what putting your fingers wherever will sound like.

If someone is actually putting effort into learning they should be able to jam whether they know proper terms or learned the way I did. Unless whatever method of learning just isn't working for them, and if that's the case they should just try another.

One other thing that you need to remember is that it's rare for a first jam session to actually be good. It takes awhile for people to learn how to play together. It takes awhile to learn how to anticipate where a band member is going to take their instrument after so long. Then everyone has their own style of playing and those take awhile to blend well as opposed to just clashing.

It really could have more to do with that than his method of learning/playing.

[EmilKnight]

nostalgic loser

EmilKnight

My entire bands' knowledge of theory is all based on musical tastes, critique, and plain sonic aesthetics. 2 of us play solely by ear (multi-instrumentalist drummer and I), and we go for a psychedelic dreampop vibe. I say you shouldn't worry too much about theory so much as just dedicating sessions to a good balance of jamming and structuring. Beware: too much jamming and too many suggestions for covers is harmful for the creativity and self-interest for the entire band wink
Also, don't fret too much about playing by ear, because we sound pretty great for our lead synth (me) not following the structural basis for the use of notes. Oh yeah, and try to record everything so you can look back on it and have ideas, or keep something going without forgetting.

How do you guys stay in key with each other though without staying in the same scale though ?

Never said anything about not staying in the same scale

[GrampsOG]

nostalgic loser

too cute for the puss

just learn your different chord types and play with a metronome

Well, I'd say I know a lot of different chord types. It's just that our guitarist wont do theory. =/ I have gotten him to learn basic chords though.

chords ARE theory. he needs to know all chords as well. major, minor, dominant, augmented, diminished, and altered chords. with that being said, you must know the inversions to each of these, including the 7th chords.
as far as "jamming" goes improvisation-wise.... that depends on how determined one is to learn all of their scales/modes, chords, and chord progressions with chord progression licks. However, that's only 50% of jamming. The rest is listening to other professionals, copying them/transcribing their solos, analyzing what makes "this" sound, what makes "that" sound. Once you have learned how everything works from a theoretical standpoint and know it extremely in depth, that is when you will be able to forget all of the theory and just play what comes to your mind. o and btw, if you can't sing it, you can't play it.

one other factor to having a good jam session is how familiar you are with your instrument, and how many ensembles you have played in prior to the sessions, whether it be classical, orchestral, etc.

[nostalgic loser]

too cute for the puss

nostalgic loser

too cute for the puss

just learn your different chord types and play with a metronome

Well, I'd say I know a lot of different chord types. It's just that our guitarist wont do theory. =/ I have gotten him to learn basic chords though.

chords ARE theory. he needs to know all chords as well. major, minor, dominant, augmented, diminished, and altered chords. with that being said, you must know the inversions to each of these, including the 7th chords.
as far as "jamming" goes improvisation-wise.... that depends on how determined one is to learn all of their scales/modes, chords, and chord progressions with chord progression licks. However, that's only 50% of jamming. The rest is listening to other professionals, copying them/transcribing their solos, analyzing what makes "this" sound, what makes "that" sound. Once you have learned how everything works from a theoretical standpoint and know it extremely in depth, that is when you will be able to forget all of the theory and just play what comes to your mind. o and btw, if you can't sing it, you can't play it.

one other factor to having a good jam session is how familiar you are with your instrument, and how many ensembles you have played in prior to the sessions, whether it be classical, orchestral, etc.

Okay, Yeah chords are theory, that came out wrong. What i meant to say is the little bit I taught him is nothing he understands. He knows the chords I showed him, but refuses to learn the relationships between the chords. He is to stubborn to take my advice and learn how to do this, but thanks for the advice anyways. As of yesterday I kind of got fed up with him being lazy, so it's no longer a problem.

[Mister Revenant]

It's also about how the musicians mesh together. They have to be able to work together and feel off each others vibe. If he doesn't work with you guys then it just wont work out. I have dealt with many people and those kind will just hinder the rest.