JamKazam sessions are the virtual gathering places where musicians can come together online to play music together, live and in sync. You can also get into a session alone to work on music independently, with the ability to play along with backing tracks, make recordings, and more.
To create/start a session on JamKazam, open the Windows or Mac app (not the website - you can't play in sessions in a browser on the website - you must use the desktop app). You will see the home page of the app. Click the the large orange tile labeled "Create Session" (pictured below with arrow).
You now see the Create Session page (pictured below).
There are four options for creating a session listed under the "start a session" header text, as explained below.
Quick Start Private
Private sessions are useful when you don't want to be disturbed by others. For example, you may want to use a session for a rehearsal with your bandmates. Or you may want to use a session for a private music lesson with an instructor and a student. In these kinds of situations, you don't want uninvited musicians to just drop into your session and start playing or talking.
To create a private session immediately, click the Quick Start Private button (pictured below with arrow).
You now see the Session page (pictured below).
Your private session has been created, and you have been dropped into this new private session alone. You can adjust your session settings, play along with backing tracks, make recordings, and so on by yourself.
However, if you want others to join you in your private session, you'll need to invite them. To invite other musicians to join your session, you must first be connected as friends on JamKazam. Click here for instructions on how to search for your friends on JamKazam and then send them a friend request. Once your friend has accepted your connection request, you can invite your friend (or friends) to join your session.
Quick Start Public
Public sessions are a good choice when you don't have plans to play with a specific friend or friends, and you want to leave your session open so that other musicians in the JamKazam community can just drop in and join you. Musicians can come and go as they please. This makes for an exercise in serendipity, and your mileage will vary, but many JamKazammers enjoy using this option as a way to meet new musician friends and have new, fun, and sometimes unexpected musical experiences.
To create a public session immediately, click the Quick Start Public button (pictured below with arrow).
You now see the Session page (pictured below).
Your public session has been created, and you have been dropped into this new public session alone. You can adjust your settings, play along with backing tracks, make recordings, and start messing around musically by yourself.
If you have friends on JamKazam and want to invite them to join you in your public session, you'll want to invite them. To invite other musicians to join your session, you must first be connected as friends on JamKazam. Click here for instructions on how to search for your friends on JamKazam and then send them a friend request. Once your friend has accepted your connection request, you can invite your friend (or friends) to join your session.
If you want others in the JamKazam community to join your session, you may want to say something about the kind of music you'd like to play, so that your session is more likely to attract like-minded musicians. To do this, click the gray Settings button in the session toolbar (pictured below with arrow).
You now see the Session Properties dialog box. When you Quick Start Public to create/start a new public session, the default session name is "Open Session", and the default description is "Feel free to join this session, it's open!" (pictured below with arrow).
If you want to be more descriptive/specific, simply edit the Name and Description of your session, and click the orange Update Settings button at the bottom of the dialog box. This will update what other musicians see when they use the Find Session feature to browse through public sessions they might want to join.
Quick Start Friends
If you have friends on JamKazam and want them to join you in a session, the Quick Start Friends feature is a good option. This creates a private session so that musicians can't just wander into your session (as they can with a public session), but you don't need to send invitations to let your friends in. Anyone who you are connected with as a friend on JamKazam can enter your session, even without an invitation.
To use this feature, click the Quick Start Friends button (pictured below with arrow).
You now see the Session page (pictured below).
Your private session has been created, and you have been dropped into this new private session alone. And your friends can see and join your session, even if you don't take the time/effort to send them invitations.
Schedule Future
To schedule sessions that will take place in the future, click the Schedule Future button (pictured below with arrow).
This starts a multi-step wizard that walks you through a lot more controls and session settings than the quick start buttons above. To learn more about how to use this feature, click here to read the help article on scheduling future sessions.