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Will the Circle be Unbroken
Community Music Circles: Homespun Jamming at Its Best
by Jason Borisoff
If you're a regular reader of Making Music magazine, you may have noticed a central theme that appears in many articles: get out and play! To get the most out of your music making, it's important to get out regularly and share your art with others, whether it's your friends and family, a local open mike, or if you happen to live in East Haddam, Connecticut, Pete Govert's Community Music Circle.
Members of Pete Govert's Community Music Circle
From Africa, with Love
Govert grew up on the South Side of Chicago and, inspired by the great blues players of the city, he learned to play the guitar. After college, he joined the Peace Corps and was soon shipped out to East Africa. "What I thought would be two years turned into 14," he says. While there, Govert fell in love with the rhythmically rich African music tradition.
"One thing that really struck me is how integrated music is in the life of everybody there," says Govert. "There isn't a separation between performer and audience; everybody is making music all the time." Regardless of "talent" or type of instrument, everyone in Africa is welcome to make music and they infuse music making into daily routines.
When Govert returned stateside in 1999, he felt an absence of music making in Western culture. Not only that, he had relocated to the unfamiliar Northeast. Not knowing anyone in the area, he wanted a way to connect with the community, and most importantly, play music. "I have noticed, over the course of my many years of playing music, that if I select the right song, and provide some gentle facilitation, pretty much any group of musicians can play music together," Govert explains. With this philosophy in mind, he pitched the idea for his first Community Music Circle to the local parks and recreation office, and has been successfully running it once a month for a decade.
When you show up to the Community Music Circle, you can expect to find a group of diverse people, aged 13 to 70, playing everything from guitars to basses, saxophones, harmonicas, banjos, and even percussion toys. "I have a group of regular folks who come in, and then I have the people who I don't see regularly," says Govert. "The key is to have at least one person willing to take the facilitator role, and you need to have the right songs."
Every musician has experienced the lull of a jam session, where no one will volunteer the next tune to be played. Moments like these often spell death for a jam circle, where there is more awkward noodling than actual tunes. Another jam-killer is introducing songs that are too complicated. In general, a song that takes more than two minutes to teach is probably too difficult for a jam.
"You call the song, tell a quick story about it, give the key, and then play it for about a minute, and ask if everyone has it," Govert explains. "Then you ask if anyone wants to take a solo or improvise over the tune, and then you start." Tunes can be as long as 20 minutes, but sometimes they don't work out and end shortly in a 'train wreck.' "Either way, it's always a lot of fun," says Govert.
West Coast Style
On the opposite coast, Bea Romano of Downey, California, doesn't often run into lulls in her jam sessions. "We have no issues with keeping it going," she says. "That's not a problem at all." Romano started up her own jam with her husband, Jim, when California traffic became too much to continue monthly outings to a jam in Anaheim. In October 2008, their Downey Folk Music Jam was born.
Based on the jam they attended in Anaheim, the Downey Folk Music Jam follows a round-robin format, where each participant takes a turn either calling a tune or passing the decision to the next person.
No stranger to folk jams, Romano picked up the hammered dulcimer about 20 years ago as a hobby and began playing with Jim, a guitarist. "I didn't know what I wanted to play; I knew I wanted something portable and easy because I had no music background," says Romano. "I just fell in love with the hammered dulcimer when I played it." As a folk musician, the Downey Music Folk Jam was originally designed to be a place to perform traditional Irish and contra dance tunes, but that's not how it turned out.
Three participants at the Romano's Downey Folk Music Jam
"I can't control those guys one bit," she laughs. "I started by calling it the Downey Folk Music Jam, thinking that we would attract the folkies. Well, we got some folkies, but at the same time, these musicians play everything, from blues to rock to country to jazz to old time waltzes."
Unlike the Community Music Circle, the tunes at the Downey Folk Music Jam can get complicated, though the teaching process is similar. "We call the name of the tune and at least the key," Romano explains. "If it's a complicated or unusual tune, we'll call out the chords."
While Romano doesn't have the music theory background of some of the musicians, she has other ways of showing off her musical prowess. "I get back at them by calling a 9/8 time slip jig, and watch as they struggle with it," she jokes.
In 2009, the Downey Folk Music Jam was featured on CNN. Check out the clip on the website (www.tiny.cc/DFMJ), or search "Downey Folk Jam" on YouTube to see the Romanos and their jamming buddies in action.
Spread the Word
While Govert is always looking for ways to promote his own circle, he is just as interested in showing other people how to organize and maintain their own. On his website (www.communitymusiccircle.ning.com), he has tips for beginner jam facilitators and those who want to take the initiative and form a circle of their own.
To that end, Govert has worked hard to make his website an exhaustive resource for those interested in starting a jam. For example, he has extensive song lists, tips on finding places to host jams, planning advice, and even ideas for how to make jams profitable. This is a must see for anyone thinking of starting a community music circle.
The Downey Folk Music Jam also has some great resources, including a jam etiquette list to help keep things running along smoothly, and also a list of jammable tunes. Beyond that, Romano advises that a music circle is as successful as the energy that the players put it into it.
"Don't be afraid to do it," Romano says, encouragingly. "As long as you're energetic and enthusiastic, it will promote itself and work off of its own energy."
Jason Borisoff is practicing new tunes to share at the next jam.
