Keep a steady pulse first—like a metronome that you can feel in your chest—then let the groove sit in a loop. When you hit the jam side, drop the metronome’s visual, but keep that pulse in your mind. Let the notes spill over the set structure like a breath, but still feel the shape you carved out. It’s like a dance: the steps are your clean riff, and the spins are your improv. If you feel the tension rise, pause for a second, breathe, then jump back in. That balance between ritual and freedom will make the jam feel both tight and wild.

I start with a tiny ritual: a quick stretch, a single clean chord that feels right, and a quick mental count of four beats. That gives me a steady frame, like the first beat of a heartbeat. Then I let my ears pick up the first hint of a groove—maybe a subtle swing or a syncopated feel—and I let that pull me into the space. I keep the frame in the back of my mind while I let the riff meander, but I always listen for that first time it starts to sound too loose. When it does, I tighten the loop again, so the improv and structure stay in conversation. It’s a dance of focus and freedom, and that tiny ritual keeps me from getting lost.