Rails End Open Jam (Liquor Pie Lizards)
Rails End Beer CompanyBroomfield
1st & 3rd Monday
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- House band Yes
- Signup
- no signup required; bring your instrument
- Host
- Liquor Pie Lizards
11625 Reed Ct, Unit B, Broomfield, CO 80020
Jams · Open jams
Open jams on the Front Range
Open jams take any player and any genre. The host builds bands from whoever signed up, so the music changes with who shows up each week.
Schedules change. Confirm with the venue or host before you go.
How open jams work
What gets played
Bands play whatever the people on stage can agree on, like a blues shuffle, four-chord rock, a funk vamp, a country two-step, or a song somebody brought. Hosts steer groups toward tunes everyone on stage can fake.
How signup works
Open jams almost always use a list where you write your name and your instrument. The host mixes groups so each one has drums, bass and someone on chords, then works down the list in rounds.
How a set goes
Each group plays two or three tunes. With the host's help, the group agrees on something simple in a few seconds, and someone counts it in.
Habits worth knowing
- Name everything you can play when you sign up, so the host can build a group that works.
- Bring the song you'd call, key included, so the huddle on stage stays short.
- Pick tunes the least experienced player on stage can play.
- Switch instruments only if the host offers, since the list sets the order.
Monday
Swallow Hill Monday Night Jam
Swallow Hill Music (Quinlan Cafe)Denver
Mondays, weekly
from 8:00 PM
- Host
- Spencer Erik Crawford
- Cover
- $10 suggested minimum donation
71 E Yale Ave
Tuesday
Rock For The People Women + Femme Musicians Meetup & Jam
The End Lafayette (inside Dog House Music Studios)Lafayette
1st Tuesday of the month
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
- Cover Free
- Age All ages
- Signup
- RSVP at rockforthepeople.org/shows-events
- Host
- Rock for the People
- Gear provided
- Guitars, basses, amps, piano, drum kit, percussion, vocal mics provided
525 Courtney Way, Lafayette, CO 80026
Rockabillies Tuesday Open Jam / Blues Jam
RockabilliesArvada
Tuesdays, weekly
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
- Signup 6:30 PM
- Host
- Jeff Engler
- Gear provided
- Full backline: drums, guitar and bass amps, vocal mics
12363 W 64th Ave, Arvada, CO 80004
Local Sessions Open Jam
Lot 46 Music BarEdgewater
Tuesdays, weekly
from 8:00 PM
- Signup 7:30 PM
- House band Yes
- Host
- Blake Mobley
- Gear provided
- Drums, bass amp, keyboard, guitar amp, mics. Bring your own guitar, bass, or horn.
- Good to know
- Message the host a couple of days ahead if you want the house band to learn your song. Otherwise bring your own band, a backing track, or jam with the house band.
5302 W 25th Ave, Edgewater, CO 80214
Wednesday
Wednesday Acoustic Open Jam
Crazy Mountain TaproomDenver
Wednesdays, weekly
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
1505 N Ogden St
Thursday
Sit-N-Bull Saloon - Open Jam Night
Sit-N-Bull SaloonIndian Hills
Biweekly (every other Thursday)
from 6:00 PM
- Cover Free
- Host
- Bryan
- Gear provided
- Full stage with guitars, drums, amps and instruments provided
5450 S Parmalee Gulch Rd, Indian Hills, CO 80454
Sunday
The Sunday Flipside Music Jam
Table Public HouseDenver
Sundays, weekly
2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Host
- Steve Crenshaw and Friends
- Gear provided
- All backline provided
2190 S Platte River Dr
Mutiny Comics and Coffee - The Jam Before the Slam (Denver Mercury Poetry Slam night)
Mutiny Comics and Coffee (Mutiny Information Cafe)Englewood
Sundays, weekly
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (jam); slam 8-10 PM; open mic after the slam
- Signup
- 7:30 PM (slam signup, in person), in person
- Host
- Denver Mercury Poetry
- Cover
- No cover stated; $50 cash prize for the slam
3483 S Broadway, Englewood, CO 80113
Sunday Jam Sessions (coached) at Musical Life Denver
Musical Life DenverEnglewood
Sundays, weekly
from 7:15 PM
- Age All ages
- Signup
- RSVP on Meetup (paid)
- Host
- Robby Schechter
- Gear provided
- School backline (lesson studio)
- Cover
- $20 per session (free for private students, 4/month)
2842 S Broadway, Englewood, CO 80113
Photos belong to the people credited on them. If one is yours and you want it down, tell me and it comes down.
What each instrumentalist needs
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly Your first time on any stage is fine, and so is playing basic chords or a groove and following along.
- 3, middle You hold your part, take a solo or a verse, and know the common tunes.
- 4 to 5, experienced People expect you to know the tunes by name and keep up, and working pros sit in.
Guitarists
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You know a dozen open chords, you have a capo, and you can follow a called key when someone says the chord names out loud.
- 3, middle
- You can play barre chords in any key, follow the common progressions by number, and take a short pentatonic solo.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You can hear chord changes without being told, cover bass or lead when the group needs it, and arrange a stranger's song on the spot.
We make you the guitarist a pickup band is glad to see, with keys, numbers and steady time. Guitar lessons
Bassists
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You can play roots on beat one with your eyes on the guitarist's hands, and you ask for the key before the count-in.
- 3, middle
- You can hear one-four-five and the common pop progressions, walk between chords, and lock in with a drummer you just met.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You can play any style the list throws at you, fill whatever gaps the group has, and run the band from the back without saying much.
We train your ear for progressions and for locking in with a drummer you don't know. Bass lessons
Drummers
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You can play one steady rock beat and one shuffle, at the band's tempo.
- 3, middle
- You can match a feel to a song you've never heard, play brushes on the soft ones, and end songs off eye contact.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You can play country, funk, swing and Latin feels on demand, steady a rushing band, and count in at the right tempo for the song.
We build the common feels and practice listening before you play. Drum lessons
Keyboard players
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You can play triads from chord names called out loud, and play softly until you're sure.
- 3, middle
- You can play by numbers and keys, choose between pads and comping, and fill only the space the band leaves.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You can cover the bass with your left hand when there's no bassist, play an intro when asked, and keep a mixed group together from the keyboard.
We work on reading chord charts, the number system, and playing less. Piano lessons
Singers
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You know one song with the words down and your key on paper, and you're patient while the band finds it.
- 3, middle
- You have a few songs in different feels, you can give the band the progression in numbers, and you can start on pitch from the guitarist's chord.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You can lead the group by calling the song, the key, the feel and the ending, and you can put a band of strangers at ease.
Inquire about a good teacher for you, and I'll recommend someone if I know one.
Horn players
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You can play long tones under the band, you know the melody of one tune, and you ask which concert key has been called.
- 3, middle
- You can play riffs and pads by ear in the common keys, take a solo over a twelve-bar blues, and sit out for whole verses.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You can fake melodies by ear, harmonize a line with another horn, and add intros, stops and endings the group didn't plan.
Inquire about a good teacher for you, and I'll recommend someone if I know one.
Harmonica players
- 1 to 2, first-timer friendly
- You have a C harp and an A harp, you know second-position basics, and you play only in the gaps.
- 3, middle
- You can match a harp to the called key fast, play folk and blues fills, and lock chugging rhythms with the drummer.
- 4 to 5, experienced
- You have a full set of harps, you know your positions, you can play the melody when there's no singer, and you know when to stop playing.
Inquire about a good teacher for you, and I'll recommend someone if I know one.
Walk in ready.
In a lesson or two before your first jam, we cover the progressions and tunes a mixed stage can agree on, how the signup works, and how a set goes. Once you're my student, I'll help you pick the right jam, and I'll be there.
Book a lesson How a first jam goes
$75 an hour, in your home or on Zoom. You pay after the lesson.