Run a jazz jam? Here’s a free host kit for the night: a jam session sign-up sheet, a house-rules poster with New York bassist Will Lyle’s jam etiquette, and a list of tunes that have a free bass lesson on this blog. Each one prints in black and white on US Letter or A4, and each has a QR code to the Jazz Jam Finder, our map of jazz jams, checked against each venue’s own page.
Sign-up sheet
25 numbered lines for name, instrument and tune or key, a box to tick once they’ve played, and spaces for the date, venue and host.
House rules poster
Seven rules for sitting in, each with Will Lyle’s own words. Tape it up where players see it before they sign up.
Tunes with free bass breakdowns
27 free lessons on 26 tunes, from All the Things You Are to You Must Believe in Spring. Leave it on the table for the bass players.
Want all three? The whole kit as one PDF, US Letter or A4.
Why put them out at your jam
A sign-up sheet gives everyone an order they can see. It’s also the first thing Will Lyle tells players to look for when they walk in: “There’s a sign up sheet, use a sign up sheet.” The Tune / Key column lets the band see what’s coming.
The house rules poster covers how to sit in: use the sheet, ask the bass player on the stand before you take a tune, don’t push to the front, and start making your way up when the band plays the head out. Every rule is Will’s, quoted from lesson 5 of his course.
The tunes list gives players something to work on before the next jam. Every tune on it has a free bass lesson on this blog, and the QR code on the sheet opens the full list with links.
Get the Jam Finder badge
If your jam is on the Jazz Jam Finder, you can put this badge on your website. It links to the Jam Finder, where players can find your jam and the other jams in your city.
Embed code
<a href="https://blog.betterbasslessons.com/jazz-jam-sessions/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=jam-finder-badge" title="Find jazz jam sessions near you"><img src="https://blog.betterbasslessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bbl-jam-finder-badge.png" srcset="https://blog.betterbasslessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bbl-jam-finder-badge-2x.png 2x" width="200" height="160" alt="Listed on the Better Bass Lessons Jazz Jam Finder" loading="lazy"></a>Paste it into your site’s HTML. Rather host the file yourself? Download the PNG or the 2x PNG for sharp screens.
Not on the map yet? Add your jam
We list a jam when the venue’s own website, calendar or ticket page, or the host’s, shows it with a recent or upcoming date. Send us yours and we’ll check it.
Already listed, and the night, the time or the host changed? Use the same form.
Tunes with free bass breakdowns
These are the jazz tunes with a free bass lesson on the Better Bass Lessons blog, the same list as the printable.
- All the Things You Are: walk the 36-bar form, then solo from the melody
- Autumn Leaves: learn the first 8 bars in G minor, walk the whole tune
- Bags’ Groove: Percy Heath’s two-feel on an F blues
- Billie’s Bounce: fingerings that make the bebop head swing
- Blue Haze: Percy Heath’s blues line, plus a triads-only drill
- Blue Monk: turn the melody into a bass solo
- But Not for Me: Israel Crosby’s walking line with Ahmad Jamal
- But Not for Me: Chet Baker’s solo, and how to make yours melodic
- Bye Bye Blackbird: Paul Chambers’s walking line and two-feel
- Cheek to Cheek: Israel Crosby’s walking line with Ahmad Jamal
- Confirmation: Charlie Parker’s head on upright, then solo on it
- Dexterity: Paul Chambers’s solo, played in thumb position
- Donna Lee: Jaco’s break, which is just the A-flat major scale
- Four on Six: the upright fingering that saves your wrist
- Freddie Freeloader: what Paul Chambers plays on the B-flat blues
- Giant Steps: how Peter Washington walks it
- Have You Met Miss Jones: Ray Brown’s line, and time vs feel
- Inner Urge: the melody on upright, the easy way
- Joy Spring: Clifford Brown’s solo, with fingerings for the bridge
- Long Ago and Far Away: Ray Brown’s simple two-bar phrases
- One Finger Snap: Charlie Haden breaks the walking rules
- Passion Dance: Ron Carter on one chord for bars
- Poinciana: Israel Crosby’s counterpoint to the piano
- So What: three fingerings for the bass melody
- Spain: upright fingerings for Chick Corea’s tune
- The Intrepid Fox: Ron Carter’s two-bar phrases
- You Must Believe in Spring: Eddie Gomez’s solo, and how to learn it
Where the house rules come from
Will Lyle is a New York City jazz bassist. Lesson 5 of his Better Bass Lessons course, From Unknown to Unavailable, is about getting in the room: shows, jam sessions and house sessions. His first gig after moving to New York, with a guitar trio outside a coffee shop, came “just because I went to a jam session a couple nights before.”
Go deeper
From Unknown to Unavailable
A field manual from NYC bassist Will Lyle for bassists who can play but aren't getting the call, and don't know why.
FAQ
Are the jam printables free?
Yes. Download the PDFs and print as many copies as your jam needs. Each one comes in US Letter and A4.
Will they print in black and white?
Yes. The sheets are mostly black on white to save ink, with a few red accents that print as gray on a black-and-white printer.
How do I get my jam on the Jazz Jam Finder?
Send it through the add-a-jam form on the Jam Finder. We list a jam once the venue’s own website, calendar or ticket page, or the host’s, shows it with a recent or upcoming date.
Where do the house rules come from?
They’re New York City bassist Will Lyle’s jam etiquette from lesson 5 of his Better Bass Lessons course, From Unknown to Unavailable. The quotes on the poster are his words.
Who can use the Jam Finder badge?
Any venue or host whose jam is listed on the Jazz Jam Finder. Paste the embed code into your website, or download the PNG or SVG.
Sources
- Will Lyle, From Unknown to Unavailable, lesson 5: “Getting in the Room: Shows, Jam Sessions, House Sessions and Saying Yes to Everything” (Better Bass Lessons). Every house rule and quote on this page.
- Jazz Jam Finder: how listings are checked, and the add-a-jam form.
- The Better Bass Lessons blog lessons linked in the tunes list above.
Better Bass Lessons isn’t connected to any venue on the Jazz Jam Finder. The printables are free to print and share.