Editing Open mic (section)

==Music==
Open mics provide an opportunity for emerging musicians to gain experience performing to a live audience without having to go through the process of getting normal music gigs, which is very difficult to do without experience or a demo recording.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} They provide an outlet for singer-songwriters. Prior to their popularity, the only outlets generally were [[folk clubs]], which were not always friendly towards creators of new music and preferred traditional popular music. They also suggested that music performed by acoustic musicians or solo artists in this manner would necessarily be folk music, a misconception that still commonly exists today. Some organizers have chosen the title "acoustic night" or "acoustic club" in an attempt to indicate an event run broadly on the lines of a folk club, but with a much wider range of musical styles.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}
[[File:Open_mic_blues_night.jpg|thumb|250px|right|An open mic jam session in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] in January 2015]]
Open mic events are most commonly held in the middle of the week or at the very end of the weekend when footfall through venues is low. They rarely occur on the hallowed Friday and Saturday night time slots, when venues are busy with weekend customers and any live performances are professionals who have been booked. The most common night for an open mic in the United Kingdom is Thursday, with Wednesday in second place.<ref>{{cite web|title=Open Mic Finder Statistics|url=http://openmicfinder.co.uk/Statistics|access-date=23 February 2013}}</ref>

A popular open mic arrangement in the United States is the "Blues Night". In this format, a bar or club will dedicate a particular night, usually in the middle of the week, as being "open mic blues night". The establishment may supply a [[house band]], typically guitar, bass, and drums, and sometimes a keyboard. Singers, guitarists, and harmonica performers who wish to play sign up, usually with the host. This person is tasked with screening the performers, choosing and ordering, and getting the performers on and off stage in a polite manner.

Since the songs chosen need to be simple enough so that a band of musicians who have not played together can perform them without practice, blues standards are used. Songs might be announced as a "12-bar fast shuffle in C" or "slow 12-bar blues in F", or similar phrases that should be familiar to all concerned. Lead singers, keyboards, horn players (usually saxophones), and various percussion instruments are common additions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rayrayblues.com/bluesjams/|title=Phoenix Blues Jams|last=rayray|website=www.rayrayblues.com}}</ref>