Guitar Jam

What in the heck is guitar jam? It almost sounds like something you would have with toast and tea. Well, I'm just being silly. You already know that it's slang to describe playing guitar with other musicians.

But did you know that jamming with others is one of the best ways to learn
new songs and licks on guitar? In fact, much of my own early education was gained this way. Back then, I used to take my guitar almost everywhere I went. As you can imagine, this gave me lots of opportunities to jam with other musicians I'd meet.

A simple guitar jam session can also lead to more serious collaboration. One of my very first original songs was co-written with a friend. She came up with a line for the chorus and I wrote all the verses. The chorus line she wrote was the inspiration I needed to spark my own creativity. After that I continued to write more songs. Perhaps this wouldn't have happened if we had
never gotten together in the first place.

Can jamming take the place of professional guitar lessons? Well, I'm not looking to work myself out of a job yet, but the truth is, many famous guitar players never had formal lessons. What they often did have was opportunity. Eric Clapton and Jimi Henddrix for example, had the chance to jam with some of their blues heroes while they were developing their guitar skills. They were a bit obsessive/compulsive when it came to practicing too. Which only goes to show that, whatever path you take, the road to becoming a great guitarist doesn't "just happen" overnight. It takes a lot of time, hard work and dedication. But, in my opinion, guitar lessons can help make the trip a little smoother and easier.

Kathy Unruh is a singer/songwriter and webmaster of ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for over 20 years. For free guitar lessons, plus tips and resources on songwriting, recording and creating a music career, please visit:http://www.abclearnguitar.com