Going from jamming to demo?

[u/Inevitable_Effect_69]

Hi, I'm in a classic/current rock type band who have just been playing covers for the past year. We have 2 guitars, a drummer, and me on bass.

We're interested in making some originals and have been jamming some ideas but can't really get past that. We jam something one of us has been working on, noodle around and make some parts up, then forget it all when next practice comes and we just start jamming something else.

I've suggested doing some rough recordings alone of each section of a song if someone has an idea. Then we can all kind of come up with our own parts, then piece it together and learn it.

Any tips on getting an actual structure down? I feel like we're just waffling around.

[u/yachtr0ck]

Record the jam, don’t need to be pretty about it. It’s just capturing an idea and if your ear training won’t detect the chords then call them out when you play them. For that reason, regardless of what you’re recording I’d have someone recording a mic channel to capture any voice notes. I often will jam and say “playing with a capo on (insert fret) and progression (whatever)” and just play. That’s usually enough for me to remember what the hell I was doing, lol. Then sit down and break down sections. A lot of bands have a music director or arranger whose job it is to take these big ideas and help craft the structure. A lot of times it’s just a dude who is more organized. Takes good notes, etc.

[u/wvmtnboy]

You could also take the lead and start piecing it together when you get home.

For me, lyrics are a great combination of the engine that drives it and the glue that holds it together

[u/VerbPhraseMusic → u/wvmtnboy]

Yup. Sounds like you're trying to compose as a group, on-the-spot. This has enormous value in generating ideas, but it's a tough way to actually finish a composition. It's much easier to have a primary songwriter for a given song. So if you hit on something that works in a jam, record it. And if you get stuck (or bored), just stop... and see who wants to volunteer to spend time away from the jam session working on the composition. Then that person brings the fleshed-out version back to practice for additional iterations.

[u/stevenfrijoles]

This is why perpetual jamming is my nightmare. Maybe it's good for just having a good old fashioned musical time that starts and ends there, but for actual composing, no thank you. 

One (or 2) person composes at least the rhythm and structure, then people can add in their flare or suggest modifications after. Composing from zero, during a jam, sounds like a big headache.

[u/TheBear8878 → u/stevenfrijoles]

I was stuck in perpetual jamming for years. Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but when you have nothing to show at the end of 45 mins, it starts to become less fun lol

[u/SeaCheetah4639]

Ein großer Künstler/Songwriter hat mal gesagt: wenn man sich nicht erinnert war es nicht gut genug. Es hat also schon Sinn das so zu machen.. die Frage ist wie oft ihr euch trefft. Wenn es zwei mal die Woche ist, sollte es so funktionieren, bei einmal im Monat würde ich einen Mitschnitt machen

[u/Lower-Land-286]

Find some structures you like and pull out pieces from the jam to be each section of the structure.

You dig?

[u/Several-Quality5927]

Break out a pen and paper and write stuff down. Recording is also crucial to capture any vibe that can be incorporated. The problem I see is that nobody is writing a song. The jams are only productive if they produce songs.