The Great Lakes Acoustic Music Association, based in Kalamazoo, is dedicated to acoustic music. Once a month, a jam session for beginners is held at the Kalamazoo Public Library, led by past GLAMA president Kathy Nichols. WMUK's Lorraine Caron reports:
Kathy Nichols started playing guitar as an adult, just a few years ago, and has since focused on the mandolin. She says as nice and welcoming as everyone was when she went to her first jam sessions, she realized there was insider information that she needed to learn. Who starts a song, who ends it and how is a beginner to know these things? So, she now runs a once-a-month slow jam to pass along tips and techniques to joining in a jam session.
[Kathy Nichols] “There are some rules and as I participated more and more I kind of figured them out. So, that what we do is teach how a jam goes and what is good etiquette and what isn’t. There are courtesy things you can do, like pointing out the chords as they are coming up in a song. In an advanced, or what we call a hot jam, everyone can quickly figure it out for themselves. But it takes a while to learn where those chords are.”
Even musicians who take traditional lessons can find value in the slow jam, as it gives them a chance to play with others, and react, in-the-moment, to live music. Nichols says the jam for beginners has attracted quite a few participants.
[Kathy Nichols] “Our largest one was 31 people, so safety in numbers. If you don’t know where a song is going or how to make a certain chord, no one can really hear you if you miss it. The other element is, we provide a safe environment for people to step up and take a lead in a song. When you’ve done it a while it becomes natural and you get it.”
The slow jam sessions are held on the first Wednesday of the month in the Van Deusen Room, on the third floor of the downtown Kalamazoo Public Library. They start at 7 p.m., last about an hour-and-a-half, and attendance is free. Nichols, who spent decades of her career as a nurse, says she believes participating in music can positively affect ones’ health.
[Kathy Nichols] “Anything that promotes acoustic music and playing together. There’s something that goes on inside a person, both emotionally and physically in playing music. And you get those sound waves coming and meeting at just the right time. That’s such a joy I just want to help other people find that. If the whole world was as happy as I am when I’m playing music, then we would have no problems in this world.”
The next GLAMA slow jam session is Wednesday, April 4th, at Kalamazoo Public Library’s main branch on Rose and South Streets.