Google today (Nov. 8) released JAM with Chrome, a website that lets musicians play music together online.
JAM offers 19 instruments, including drum kits, keyboards and nine different guitars. If you're not sure how about the difference in sound between a distorted and a crunch electric guitar, you can hear a sample by clicking on each one. Once you start playing, you can switch instruments as often as you like.
In the default “easy mode” you can experiment by clicking individual strings, drum pads or keys, or you can play around with the four different autoplay functions and let the machines do the work. You can slow down the tempo to 40 beats per minute as you learn a new progression, and if you really want to feel like you're back in your elementary school band class, turn on the metronome.
But JAM isn't just for beginners. Switch to “pro mode” to play an instrument using your keyboard.
Musicians can invite up to three friends to join the jam. Clicking an invite tab opens a window where you can choose to post your JAM link on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. The first three friends to respond will be able to play with you. (Vocalists have been left out of this party.) A chat window is also available for those participating in a jam session.
Jam with Chrome is not available for mobile devices — only laptops and desktop computers through the Chrome browser .