RE: [Harp-L] NEED HELP Jamming Etiquette/Open Mic

[Patrick Killeen <patrickkilleen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Abner
 
You don’t necessarily need strict rules, just some degree of organisation so people know where they stand
 
How about this as a way of handling the situation, split the evening up 
into a number of slots and write up who’s playing in which slot on a 
blackboard.  So you end up with something like this
 
Slot 1
John – Guitar + Voice
Paul – Bass and voice
George – Guitar
Abner – Harp
 
Slot 2
Fred – Guitar
Barney – Harp
Wilma – Bass
Bambam – drums
 
Etc.
 
That way if someone’s waiting to play they can see roughly when they’ll 
get their turn and if someone tries to hog the stage the person running 
things can say “You have to stop now so that we’ve got time for these 
other players”
 
Somebody needs to be in control of the list and stop the musicians when 
the slot is over.  As long as that person treats everyone fairly then the 
list can just be a guide: a slot can be extended a bit or an extra player 
can be slipped in; if the night overruns and you run out of time for the 
last slot then you can promise the players guaranteed earlier slots the 
next time round; if you get inundated with players then you could up the 
number and reduce the duration of the slots; etc.
 
With any open mic a lot depends on the people running it, they need to 
get the right balance between controlling the running order of the evening 
so everyone is treated fairly and being flexible enough to bend the rules 
to keep things relaxed.

Patrick 		 	   		  
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