Help me play with others.

So I have been playing guitar for a couple years now... not my main instrument but I know all main open and bar chords and the major and minor scale and have written quite a few songs. Every time I play with people we play my songs so when it comes time to jam with the occational person I am at a loss of how to follow. I can kind of but I its def my week point...

any pointers? I am theory oriented and if you point out some rules (I know they are meant to be broken) it would help me out.

Thanks

i think that just the more you play with others the easier it gets

lol I am almost in the same rut as you are my friend. Honestly when you jam, I would suggest just come up with a cool riff or some chords and then let everyone catch on and then run with it. let the song take you where it wants(your mood also decides the feel of it). sometimes a good jam really lightens up the practice and the tensions, because no one is going to be mad at you for not doing something "correctly" shall we say.

but really, just let yourself go and really run with it, you'd be surprised that once you enter the land of freedom with riffing and keys, its not so bad.
I can't help with the theory part of it all as I usually don't try to follow exactly what the bass is doing, he usually follows me during jams and holds down the progression; which if I play say, G5 A5 and C5 I usually just go the easy route and pick a pentatonic minor(or major) out of either C,A, or G. Improv really helps keep it fun and easy, if you can improv pretty well then go with that out of something in the same key. Keep it spontaneous you know?
well, hopefully this helps,
Case

PLay as much as You Can,memorize patterns,and scales,but not only the shape of the scale!! Also memorize the sound of every interval on that scale,thats the Secret Behind Jamming,use your ears and train them!! They are your best friends!

One technique you could try at first is figuring out the basic chords that the other person is playing. Then use that chord progression to try and come up with something of your own. Or you could just throw some scales down if you want.

It's kind of hard to say exactly HOW to play with other people taking into consideration that not everyone plays the same, people have different styles and you just have to learn to adapt to fit with the way other people play. The more often you play with the same person, you'll find it gets easier and easier to play with that one particular person, but that's not to say you wouldn't be able to just jam with someone you never have before.

I guess really what I'm trying to say is that it's a little technique and the rest is feel. You just go with it and if it doesn't sound good , just change it up until you come up with something that works.

I hope that helps.

amen!
and chord-wise, think: 'Inversions!" ..
IE >> #1 Plays Bm 2nd-fret while you play Bm 3rd fret X5443X (the B on G-string being the root) ...and so on and on and on...
ENJOY!

RAWK!
Cs

I would just say, practice. That simple.