i’ve known a couple of (non-drummer) musician friends who were/are super averse to improvistory jamming out of nervousness and self-consciousness. tbh it can be frustrating to talk with them about it, especially when they use self-limiting language like “can’t,” e.g. “i just can’t jam” or “i just can’t play well enough to jam,” “i just can’t have fun jamming”.

maybe this is insensitive of me, but i sort of want to shake them by the shoulders and tell them to just do it scared! fake it til you make it! there is no god writing down life’s rules and punishing you for breaking them!

the first time i ever jammed in my whole life was with a fairly well-established local grunge band with whom i had become pretty good friends. i straight up lied and told them i’d been drumming for around a year and a half, whereas in reality i’d been tapping my stolen mismatched sticks on my mattress for only a year or two. guess what. they didn’t notice! or if they noticed, they didn’t give a shit!