jammr is designed for improvising to a chord progression (usually 4 or 8 bars).
It is different from playing together in real life. Here is an explanation of how
to successfully jam together using jammr.
1. Post the chord progression in the chat
Enter the chord progression that you want to play into the chat so others know
which chords to play. A simple text notation like “Am Am7 F G” is easy to
read for A-minor A-minor-7 F-major G-major.
If the progression is long or has chord changes within a bar then it helps to
write it like this “Am | Am Am7 | F | G” to show that the Am7 chord is played
partway through the second bar.
Common chord notations:
A - A major
Am - A minor
A7 - A dominant 7
Am7 - A minor dominant 7
Amaj7 - A major 7
Asus4 - A suspended 4
A7b5 - A dominant 7 flat 5
Aadd11 - A major with added 11
Adim - A diminished
2. Set Beats Per Interval (BPI)
Tell jammr how many beats are in the chord progression so it can keep you in
sync. For example, if the chord progression is 4 bars long then set BPI to 16
because 4 bars x 4 beats = 16. Another common BPI value is 48 for a 12-bar
blues.
Use the “!vote bpi 16” chat command to set BPI to 16 or click Vote | BPI in the
menu bar.
This step is essential! If BPI isn't set to the length of the chord
progression then you will not be in sync with others.
3. Set Beats Per Minute (BPM)
Tell jammr the tempo of your jam session so it can keep you in sync. This must
be set even if there are drums. When playing without drums it is recommended
to enable the metronome so you hear the tempo you are playing at.
Use the “!vote bpm 120” chat command to set BPM to 120 or click Vote | BPM in
the menu bar.
This step is essential! If BPM doesn't match the tempo you are playing at then
you will not be in sync with others.
If you follow these 3 steps you will have successful jam sessions with everyone
playing in sync. You can learn more about jammr's interval-based jamming
system in this forum thread.