Two Song Circles

[Brent Hahn]

Weirdly enough, within the past five days I've been to two outdoor house concerts (both with a small PA and stage) followed by a song circle, which was just a literal circle of folding chairs with no amplification. Besides me, there were a handful of other people who attended both.

The interesting thing to me was that the circle last Tuesday was a slightly smaller group, meaning a physically smaller, tighter circle, maybe 12 feet in diameter. The one last night was more like 16 or 18 feet in diameter, and there was a bit more street and neighborhood noise. In a nutshell, the Tuesday song circle totally worked; you could sing and play with some nuance and people could hear the words, and you could tell you had people's attention. The one last night wasn't a disaster, but pretty close. If it had been magic rather than music, on Tuesday your closeup card tricks would have come off great, but last night night you'd have been sunk if you weren't sawing a lady in half.

[Mandobart]

I've been attending and sometimes leading many song circles/acoustic jams over the past 15 years or so. Some are folk, some are bluegrass, some are anything goes....

There are a few features (I won't call them "rules") that fun, successful song circles have:

1. Leaders who organize, host, encourage and handle logistics (where, when, how long, format, etc.).

2. Players who support the circle - NOT just their ego, personal favorites, agenda, performance careers/hobbies.

3. Instrumental variety. 10 guitars all banging out the same chords is not near as pleasant as one person on bass, someone covering mandolin, fiddle, etc.

4. Aids for the new players (chord sheets, lyrics, song books, maybe run through the song slow to show chords and changes).

5. SIZE LIMIT - these things usually fall apart with more than 10 players. Even that is pushing it.

6. Mutually understood and communicated jam etiquette - back off and play softly when someone else is singing or taking a break/lead; TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENT (as needed throughout the session); follow the rhythm, lyrics and meter of whoever is leading the song (not a different version you prefer); avoid originals or jam busters that no one knows but you; NO ENDLESS NOODLING while someone is introducing the next song or between songs.....

7. No amps, mics, etc. If someone plays very quietly everyone else just has to lay back.

I'm sure I'm missing something. I'm currently attending 2 of these song circles each week after ~ 2 years of not having any.

[phydaux]

I'm very fortunate that the monthly barn jam I attend has a good host who not only provides an awesome gathering place (finished barn with concrete floor, rugs, chairs, AC, PA system, WiFi) but also shows a deft hand at running things.

[Blueser100]

Glad folks are getting out and playing. I won't be attending any jams or song circles anytime soon. Case rate way up in LA County.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Blueser100

Glad folks are getting out and playing. I won't be attending any jams or song circles anytime soon. Case rate way up in LA County.

This was in LA County, actually. And yes, in the testing sense, the case rate is way up. I know quite a few people who have tested positive in the last few months, but a positive test is all it was. Minimal or no symptoms. At this point we've gotten really good at detecting the presence of a bug that doesn't do anything.

At both of these events, there were more than a few folks who were masked up. That will probably become a feature of the landscape from this point forward. And it's proven to be a good idea for bug-proofing in general. Heck, I haven't had as much as a sniffle since the initial lockdown and most people say the same thing.

[phydaux]

Originally Posted by Blueser100

Glad folks are getting out and playing. I won't be attending any jams or song circles anytime soon. Case rate way up in LA County.

It says on our meetup.com page "Fully Vac'ed Only, Please." We don't wear masks, but anyone who wants to is welcome to.

I had to skip one month myself, back in November, as I had tested positive for The Plague. Also missed a week and a half of work, quarantining, and burned up all my PTO.

Such are the times we live in.

[phydaux]

I'd also like to throw out there that the hardest part of having a band is having a gathering place where the gang can regularly get together and rehearse - The "garage" portion of "garage band." Similarly the hardest part of having a regular jam is having a decent space to host it in.

I know full well that I'm spoiled beyond belief that the guy hosting my monthly jam has a house on a HUGE lot with a finished barn that we can play in.

Previously I lived in a condo complex with a nice function room, but the HOA wanted $75 for four hours use. Even just once a month that's more than I'm willing to dish out for hobbies.

Back when I was trying to learn the mandolin I had heard the phrase "Parking Lot Jam" several times. Considering all the malls with dead anchor stores and vast, empty parking lots I had considered getting a folding pavilion & some folding chairs and seeing if I could drum up any interest in playing outdoors.

I was informed that "Parking Lot Jam" referred to impromptu playing in the parking lots at bluegrass festivals, not regular jams in Wal-Mart parking lots.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by phydaux

Back when I was trying to learn the mandolin I had heard the phrase "Parking Lot Jam" several times. Considering all the malls with dead anchor stores and vast, empty parking lots I had considered getting a folding pavilion & some folding chairs and seeing if I could drum up any interest in playing outdoors.

I was informed that "Parking Lot Jam" referred to impromptu playing in the parking lots at bluegrass festivals, not regular jams in Wal-Mart parking lots.

At the start of Covid, the open-mic venue I mixed sound for had to close and I worked up a scheme involving a flatbed truck and a short-range FM transmitter. It would have worked the same way as a church service at a drive-in movie (remember those?), only wireless. We couldn't get either the recently-closed Sears or the newly-dead K-Mart to play ball (although the belly-up Sizzler may have been another option) but it would have been epic.

[phydaux]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

At the start of Covid, the open-mic venue I mixed sound for had to close and I worked up a scheme involving a flatbed truck and a short-range FM transmitter. It would have worked the same way as a church service at a drive-in movie (remember those?), only wireless. We couldn't get either the recently-closed Sears or the newly-dead K-Mart to play ball (although the belly-up Sizzler may have been another option) but it would have been epic.

What got me back into guitar after a many year layoff was a twice a month ukulele group that met in a church basement not too far from me. I thought that might be fun, so I bought a baritone uke & method book just in time for lockdown, April 2020.

By the time they resumed meeting again they were meeting in a public park so everyone could stand six feet apart. I didn't have a music stand then, and given the wind off the river I couldn't juggle my uke and the handed out song sheets, which were new for the group as well since previously in the church basement they had used an overhead projector. And when I tried to look over some else's shoulder they would FLEE FROM ME, since I was an unknown person and I was breaking social distancing.

So my first few uke jam gatherings were genuinely awful.

Just as well, since that motivated me to get my Guild D-25 back in playing shape.

[tbeltrans]

To make things really tick along regardless of the size of the song circle, mix magic and music. Saw the lady in half while playing guitar and singing.

Just make sure you can put the lady back together again before calling the trick a success.

[lowrider]

Before Covid, I used to play with a different jam group every week on Long Island and Upstate. We all keep trying to get going again but Covid keeps knocking us back again. I was going to start my group back up in my back yard but now Long Island is blooming again. I thought we'd be back but not just yet.

I think singing in a group is probably one of the worst things we can do right now. We all spew when we sing. I see it all over my guitar. I don't want to get sick and I don't want to get anyone else sick, so for now I'm staying solo at home, learning some new songs, and hoping to get back with my friends someday soon.

[Silly Moustache]

I have run my Acoustic Music club twice monthly since 2006, but closed down in March 2020 before the laws came in.
We used to meet in a pub, but I felt that I had to find a venue where we could "socially space" with good ventilation.

It cost me a lot to hirev a hall that could take 150-200 for about twenty folks.

I hold two session per month, one with a small p.a., offering 15 minute sessions and one as a song circle with no p.a.

Some attend both, other have their preferences.