Friday, January 31, 2014

More news and thoughts about the Pete Seeger letter

This has been an incredible week. The story of the letter I received from the late Pete Seeger has traveled far and wide. I have been hearing from old friends and making new ones from all across the country. I love how the story is traveling between family members, musicians, music teachers and music lovers from all walks of life.

During this week I met and became friends with a photographer online who took a picture of Pete Seeger writing letters. I received an article from a reporter sharing Pete Yarrow's account of his last day with Pete Seeger, which featured a family/community singalong. It is also now featured in my local paper, the Sacramento Bee.

I've had offers from strangers and friends to help publish the pamphlet of jam tips that I wrote to Pete about and will be working on that in the coming weeks, as well as tips for how to organize music jams. Today, my story was shared on NPR's All Things Considered so it will now reach an even wider audience. The NPR story ends with Pete Seeger singing "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You", which left me in tears.

People are celebrating Pete Seeger as a songwriter, musician and activist, and all of that is well-deserved. But to me his greatest gift was as a songleader, in getting people to sing along and experience the joy of singing and participating and making music together. It is one of the most fundamental joys a human being can experience. Today there are song circles and music jams that happen all over the world, but I believe there are even more people who, because of fear and self-doubt, hold back the music that’s inside them. I want to help let it out. That was what I wrote to Pete about and that is what he asked me to do in his letter. I will carry out his wishes – doing so will be one of the most joyous tasks I’ve ever undertaken.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Letter from Pete Seeger, received Jan. 28, 2014

Like many Americans, I spent much of yesterday thinking about Pete Seeger on the news of his passing. I listened to his songs, watched YouTube performances, and had an NPR "driveway moment" listening to Terry Gross' 1985 interview with the legendary folksinger who has inspired so many, including me.

I wrote a letter to Pete Seeger back in August 2013 asking for his advice about how to spread the message of making music to more people, and included a printout of my "20 Jam Tips" for making music with friends.

To my astonishment and delight, yesterday, the day after his passing, Pete Seeger's response came back. His letter was written in the margins of mine and signed "Pete" with his iconic hand-drawn banjo.

Here's what he wrote:
Dear Kim - I've read this article several times. I think your article on jamming is wonderful and should be printed, not just in Sing Out, but in other magazines as well and issued as a lovely pamphlet, on good paper, with good drawings on the cover. 
But I'm now 94 and can't help much. My health is not good and I'm being cared for by my daughter Tinya. You stay well, keep on. 
94-year-old Pete (with banjo drawing)   Jan. 2014
After sharing this news with a number of friends, it spread to Jason Verlinde, who wrote this wonderful story for Fretboard Journal, including some photos of the letter. Rachel Leibrock has a nice writeup too in the Sacramento News and Review

Here is a closeup scan for a closer look:




It appears I've got some pamphlet printing to get to! Rest in peace Pete Seeger, and thanks for teaching us how to sing along.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

"Learn to Jam!": 20 Tips for Making Music with Friends

Since 2005 I have made a point of getting together with friends on a regular basis to make music. It's always on Thursday nights and it's called "Music Night".
I recently shared my 20 Jam Tips with legendary folk singer Pete Seeger. He urged me to share them with a wider audience. Here's a quick rundown of the material I plan to put into a "lovely pamphlet", per Pete Seeger's advice:

20 Jam Tips

(i.e. Jam Etiquette or “Jamiquette”)

1. Always tune – spend $20 to get a good electronic tuner to clip on your instrument and use frequently.

2. Identify a few songs you want to play and learn them. Find the chords and lyrics online (Chordie.com is a great resource) and create songsheets. Find YouTube videos of people playing those songs and play along. Memorize the words and chords so you can play those songs without a songsheet.

3. Put together a binder of your songs and start building your repertoire. Bring your binder with you to jams. Keep your songs roughly in alphabetical order so you can find them quickly. Plastic sleeves make it easier to shuffle songs around & keep songsheets weatherproof.

4. Most songs played are made up of three chords and usually begin on the chord of the key the song is in. Learn the chord sets, the 1-4-5 rule, and practice chord changes within each key and you will be able to play 90% of the songs played in any jam. If you play guitar, learn and use “cheater” bar chords (playing only the bottom four strings) to be able to transition more quickly between chords.

(A/D/E – C/F/G – D/G/A – E/A/B – F/Bb/C – G/C/D).

5. A major chord works in place of a 7th chord almost always (i.e. G/G7, C/C7 etc.)

6. If you play guitar and don’t know the chords to a song being played, watch the hands of someone who does. If you play another instrument learn to recognize guitar chords.

7. Let the songleader lead – even if the song sheet in front of you has different words or a different order for the song parts, let the songleader lead it as he/she wishes, with instrumental breaks, changes in lyrics etc.

8. Wait your turn. Jamming is a “small d” democratic pastime. Generally everyone sits in a circle and each person takes a turn to suggest a song. In more casual, established circles it might be more of a free for all, in which case you should feel free to call out a song when there is a lull – the idea is to avoid monopolizing song suggestions.

9. When it’s your turn, it’s your choice. Be ready to pick a song when it’s your turn. You can lead the song, or suggest a song someone else can lead that you want to hear or play along with.

10. Play appropriate to the jam - suggest songs that are in the style the jam group is playing (country, 70’s rock, bluegrass etc.) and play appropriate instruments (ex: don’t bring electric guitars to an acoustic jam).

11. Call out the chords before you start the song and demonstrate how the “A” and “B” parts of the song go before you actually start playing it.

12. Songleading is hard and requires multitasking: singing, playing, keeping the tempo to the song steady, and watching for people who want to do instrumentals. Take breaks for instrumentals if you have people who want to play them. When it comes time to call them to play, call their name or instrument, or just make eye contact and nod your head or point your finger at them.

13. Get quiet for the instrumentals . The act of calling out an instrumentalist can be very subtle which is why it’s important for all players to pay attention and notice when an instrumental is underway. In an acoustic jam, especially big ones, it can be hard to hear the instrumentalists, so to amplify these players other players will “get quiet” on their instruments.

14. Watch for the end – it’s up to the songleader to decide when a song ends, and he/she will let you know the song is wrapping up by sticking their foot out or calling out “repeat that last line!”. Songleaders may also suggest an “a capella” moment in a song when all instruments are silent – be sure to watch for those too!

15. If you are leading a song, play it all the way through, don’t stop in the middle of it. If you forget the words just repeat a verse you already sang, whistle, sing “meow meow meow….” instead, invite an instrumental interlude or improvise in some other way. You can also bring a song to a premature end and skip verses if it’s really not working. If you start out in the wrong key, change it at the beginning.

16. Avoid using a capo, it makes you hard to follow. If you must use a capo, identify someone else in the group who knows the chords who other people can follow.

17. You don’t have to play every song. If you’re having trouble playing a song, don’t play the wrong chords – use your instrument instead to keep the beat, or sing along, or sit it out, tune, refresh your drink, take a break.

18. Ideally, jam songs are three chord or four chord songs. Five chords is about the maximum. Don’t select songs with too many chords or funky chords that no one knows (unless you all have the same songsheets or lots of people know the song by heart). Such songs are affectionately known as “jambusters”.

19. Don’t record or take pictures without permission. Jamming is not a performance, it’s an interactive experience that can be deeply personal and emotional. Taking pictures or recording people while they are playing can be very distracting and change the nature of the jam if players suddenly feel they must perform for the camera. Many jammers are shy and inexperienced, and often feel they are not “good enough” to play in front of others, so taking pictures or recording is also discouraged for this reason.

20. If you are sitting in the circle, you are in the jam. If you want to chat with someone, smoke, text or talk on the phone, respect other players and move out of the circle.