You can get many opinions of what constitutes “Old Time” music so a few brief words about that. Most of the Old Time jams in this part of the country consider the tunes and styles of music played in the 200+ years or so leading up to 1939 to constitute “Old Time”. It is NOT played in the style of bluegrass music (made popular by Bill Monroe in the 1930’s) although some tunes are shared between the two genres.
Every style of music has unique jam etiquette. What is considered polite may vary from one old time jam to another though it is always a good idea to show up on time, have your instrument in tune with other players, be mindful that the same tune might be played differently by different old time gatherings so listen before playing. The tunes are almost always instrumental only, without vocals, and acoustic instruments only without amplification. Most groups are very welcoming and patient. Use an online search engine to learn more about old time jam etiquette online if that helps you feel more comfortable to approach a new jam group.
Here are some open jam opportunities (updated Dec 2025):
1. Green Country Old Time & Contra music jam meets the first and third Thursday of each month in Collinsville OK at the Silver Dollar Café. This group has a page on Facebook by this name that you can join for reminders of upcoming jams or changes in schedule or location.
Some online resources you can check out include:
We keep a collection of tunes that we play in the Tulsa area at www.glotma.org/tunes
This includes a large repository of tunes that have been transcribed by Michael Barrett (Kansas)
One of our festival goers has also compiled a spotify channel with versions of a lot of these tunes (albeit not necessarily the same version you might hear at a Greenleaf jam) Spotify Greenleaf Page
These two resources are highly reliable, excellent sources of tunes:
TaterJoes – A Collection of Old-Time Fiddle Transcriptions, Banjo Tabs, Recordings, Etc. http://www.taterjoes.com/
Penn State Univ – Old Time Fiddle Tunes: https://www.mne.psu.edu/
Other Sources:
Jere Canote Old Time Guitar Tab & Recordings:
Library of Congress – Fiddle Tunes https://www.loc.gov/item/
North Atlantic Tune List (lots of MP3 downloads): https://natunelist.net/
https://oldtimetikiparlour.
https://dla.acaweb.org/
https://www.slippery-hill.com
Documentary films: www.folkstreams.net
Archive of early and old country music: https://