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“Type 1” is used to describe a jam within a song’s jam segment that follows the ordinary, customary course or structure for that song -- even if the jam in question is “extended” for a longer time than normal. Such jams stay within the song’s typical chord progression, key, rhythm, melody, etc. For example, every version of “Sample in a Jar” to date -- EVERY SINGLE VERSION -- has a “type 1” jam segment. Most jams within most versions of any given jamming tune, like “Stash,” “David Bowie,” “DWD,” “Tweezer,” “BDTNL,” etc., are “type 1.”

On the other hand, a “type 2” jam occurs when the band’s improvisation leaves the song’s customary structure behind and ventures into new territory. It’s a safe bet that every 20+ minute Phish jam consists of at least some “type 2” jamming (see the list of 20+ min Phish jams here), but length is not necessarily going to indicate “type 2.” Some confusion on the use of these admittedly silly terms may be because almost every -- if not every -- “type 2” jam begins out of a song’s customary structure, i.e., almost every “type 2” jam begins as “type 1.” And, frankly, a “type 2” jam may even return to “type 1” if the song’s typical melody, theme, coda or outro is returned to after the “type 2” improvisation is finished.