01What is a jam start
Most Phish songs have a composed section followed by an improvised section. The jam start is the moment the band leaves the composed structure.
This can sound like the last chord of the song ringing out and evolving into something new, a shift in rhythm or texture, or simply the moment Trey stops playing the melody and starts improvising. It's often obvious, sometimes subtle. When in doubt, mark where it feels like the jam begins.
02Why this matters
Right now, our audio analysis looks at the entire track: composed sections, jam sections, and crowd noise all blended together. That means our scoring and comparisons are muddier than they should be.
Once we have accurate jam start times across the catalog, we unlock:
- Jam-only scoring — rate performances based on the improvisation alone, not the composed parts.
- Jam similarity — find jams that sound like a specific performance, based on the jam section alone.
- Jam shape classification — categorize jams by their energy arc (slow build to peak, ambient descent, rollercoaster, etc.).
- Jump to Jam — one-tap access to the improvisation on every track across the site.
03Step by step
Sign in and open the tagger
Go to /tag and sign in. You'll be assigned a track automatically. Each track is exclusively assigned to one tagger at a time, so there's no duplicate work.
You'll see the song name, date, venue, and a waveform.
Listen and find the jam start
Tap or drag the waveform to seek through the track. Use the -30s / +30s buttons to jump around quickly. On desktop, use arrow keys (30s) or Shift+arrows (5s).
You can also toggle Auto-play in the header. When enabled, each new track will automatically start playing when loaded.
Mark the jam start
When you hear the transition from composed to improvised, tap “Set jam start to [time]”. The button flashes to confirm, and a marker appears on the waveform.
Fine-tune with the nudge buttons (-10s, -2s, +2s, +10s), or press J on desktop to set it to the current playback position. Tap Play from jam start to verify it sounds right.
The Save & Next button stays disabled until you've set a jam start. You must actively place the marker.
Save and move on
Tap Save & Next (pinned to the bottom of the screen) to submit your tag and load the next track. On desktop, you can also press Enter.
Not sure about a track? Hit Skip. The track won't come back to you, and it'll be available for someone else to tag.
04Tips
- Listen before you mark. Scrub through the track and find the transition yourself.
- Songs with long composed sections (Fluffhead, Reba, YEM) often have long intros. The jam usually starts after the final composed peak.
- When in doubt, err slightly early. It's better to include the transition moment than to cut it off.
- Some songs jam from the start (Tweezer, Ghost). For these, mark where the song leaves its initial groove and starts truly exploring.
05Keyboard shortcuts
Desktop only. Speed gain compounds quickly once committed.
SpacePlay / PauseJSet jam start to current timePPlay from jam startEnterSave & NextSSkip← / →Seek 30 secondsShift + ← / →Seek 5 seconds06How trust works
New taggers: your first 5 tags are reviewed to ensure quality. After that, you become a trusted tagger and your contributions go live instantly.
You can track your progress in the tagger. It shows how many you've submitted and how many are left until review.
07Where your credit appears
Every track you tag displays your name across the site:
- Track pages — a Jam button appears in the waveform controls alongside Play and Peak, with “Tagged by [your name]” displayed next to it.
- Everywhere tracks expand — homepage, setlists, audio explorer, and song pages all show the Jam button and your credit when a track is expanded.
- Contributors page — your total count and rank on the contributors leaderboard.
- Your profile — contributor badges displayed on your public profile page.
08Contributor badges
Earn badges on your public profile as you tag more tracks:
- Contributor — 5+ approved tags.
- Power Tagger — 25+ approved tags.
- Elite Tagger — 100+ approved tags.
- Legend — 500+ approved tags.
- Trusted — Earned after first 5 tags reviewed.
Ready to tag?
Pick up where the catalog needs you. The next track loads automatically — no setup required.