[davetbass]

Originally Posted by superblonde.org

Song forms (context here, is blues) which use 1, 4, 5, should also be straightforward to describe. Currently they are not. There is the standard 12-bar 1, 4, 5. It is so common and basic that it is boring, so players modify it. So there is also the quick-change, the turnaround, the double turnaround, and a whole bunch of other slight variations with nondescript names or regional names. Playing the wrong form would be completely incorrect. Players give up on attempting to communicate the form because the current music system does not provide a way to do so. They say, "meh, you'll hear it when it comes." That's b.s. Or sometimes they will communicate by naming a song which has the same form, which is fine if all players know that song, but that is not true when the players are not from the same school. "It's the Sugar groove, play Sugar, it's the Sugar" is about all a player has time to say on stage before beginning a jam, and if the bass player hasn't played Sugar before, they will not be able to cop the desired groove (until maybe halfway thru the song, when the players correct each other to gel the sound). These are all examples of a system which is inefficient, incomplete, and broken.

Definitely sounds like you've been to a bunch of jams, that's a great description of my experience also, I would say that system is inefficient and incomplete. However I would say that it works to some degree, because people who have never played together can put together some tunes that the crowd will really like (especially if the crowd is middle age women and the tune is "Mustang Sally", lol)