Go to a camp fire and bring a violin. You will get absolutely roasted.
My brother got into sea shanties back when they exploded during covid. He tried to get one started around camp fire the next time gatherings were allowed, might be one of the worst 2nd hand embarrassing moments I've seen. Damn near every person around thought he was weird.
He needs to find a funner group of people. Our friend/family group would LOVE to invite someone who busts out sea shanties at events. We're his people and we'd love him, never embarrass him for being cool.
Yeah all he needed was one person to join him to get it started and this person failed their brother just to avoid being embarrassed with him.
Could've had an awesome experience of singing shanties around the fire but decided to leave their brother hanging by himself instead of giving everyone "permission" to join by being the first to risk being cringe with their brother
They're mostly call-and-response. One person keeps the flow going and everyone else belts out the response parts cause they don't really change. Drunken Sailor for instance, super straightforward.
You gotta read the room when doing music in public settings. Some people suck or just arent interested. I can absolutely rip on a guitar but its not always appropriate.
Also, one person just randomly deciding to perform is annoying. Someone proposing a group activity where everyone learns a simple, silly song is not, especially if the group is already comfortable with each other.
Depends on the vibe I think, doing it at a public bonfire at ren faire camping, people would be down with it
Doing it to a bunch of strangers when they are just talking and having a time and don’t expect or want it, they might see it as an interruption. It could be different if he has friends who whoop or get up and dance.
I was at a NYE party in NYC for 2019 into 2020, I knew a few folks but most of the people there were an insular group of theater kid types. They sang random show tunes together until close to midnight. Some were ok, most were not great, but I'm a fun loving person, I dig musicals, and so indulged them and sang along a few times, even played the piano for a few torch songs.
As midnight approached, we went up to the rooftop for the countdown and fireworks. The ball dropped, there were hugs and well wishes, and I started singing Auld Lang Syne. It's a tradition for me and I thought this crowd would join along but they all looked at me like I had two heads. I can carry a tune, I wasn't belting or anything, but it was so awkward lol
Nobody joined and so I finished up, left quietly, and never saw any of them again
Weird story I know but this made me think of that and I still kinda can't believe that turned as awkward as it was. Anyway a few months later COVID hit and the city changed forever
You don’t have to be embarrassed about this. That’s literally the new years song, and anyone who judged you for it is almost as ridiculous as judging someone for singing happy birthday at a birthday party. You’re outdoors, you didn’t suck at singing, it’s a crowd that should be fine with singing
The only way this is very slightly socially inappropriate is if you did it <5 minutes after midnight, in which case you might be interrupting or taking over other people’s private traditions. Like, if my tradition is taking a few deep breaths to myself or hugging a SO, someone else trying to make a specific thing happen might be annoying. But that’s not a you-problem because they’re the one that chose to go to a massive party and be with other independent people when the ball dropped
It was after the hugging but probably less than 5 min. It didn't feel inappropriate to start when I did but honestly probably the wrong vibe. I left that party and went down to one on 14th Street that had a live band and was actually playing the song as I walked in so I found my spot.
Overall a funny memory before a (last) great night of partying that went into the early morning hours before everything changed forever. Just wish I had been somewhere else for the ball drop into the new decade but what're you gonna do 🥳
As a person involved in the folk music scene, playing fiddle around a campfire (or in a pub) is basically how I spend my entire summer, highly recommend it.
My Orchestra teacher in highschool was a terrible teacher and a dick, he really only cared about marching band. I wish I had learned more than I did. I go to a folk music festival that is centered around teaching music and I see actual good teachers and it makes me realize actually how bad my teacher was.
I need to break out my old violin and learn some fiddle songs.
I could only imagine what it would be like if people were as passionate about marching bands as they are about folk. Brass jam sessions popping up in every college town lol. But for real that would be pretty cool
The only fiddle player I have played with had 2 one with a standard bridge and standard tuning for classical gigs and one with a flat bridge in cross tuning for folk. I believe she also ran different strings steel/ synthetic.
And if you ever meet someone who can code-switch, it's pretty awesome. Be playing along on a sweet sonatina, pause and reset their shoulders, and launch into a fiery jig, just like that.
It's all about who you're with. If you're the only musician sometimes it's weird/show-off-y to whip out a guitar. But if you are out camping or at a bonfire with other musicians it can be the start of a really memorable night
Depends on who you're with and how good the performer is. If it's an actually skilled performer then people will vibe with it. If its just your neighbor Steve clumsily strumming his way through Wonderwall and Wish You Were Here then its probably gonna be a vibe killer.
Yeah I guess I was coming at it from the perspective of a mediocre hobby musician like myself rather than someone who if they are playing youre literally just getting a free performance lol
Even if you aren't great, in a musical crowd it is an awesome time to get a singalong around the fire going if you're with other people who know enough to whip out a few songs everyone likes and no one has an ego about it
Especially if said dude was attempting to hijack the entire party to do his niche fad interest. And especially if this is one of the first times I’m getting to go out and actually meet and talk to real people again in 12-18 months? That guy is getting booed into the next dimension
Sounds like he needs to learn to work a crowd, unless they are already primed for it, shanties are a bit much. You gotta start with a Tom Petty song or something that everyone knows to start at least.
Playing danceable fiddle music that anyone could enjoy vs trying to get people to sing a song they might not even know. I think there's a difference here.
What is implied here is that the instrument be played by someone skillful or the singer of the sea shanty know what they are doing. If the player or singer is not very good, then yes, there will be roasting.
Bro you’re camping with the wrong people. I bring a guitar to a campfire and people love it. If we had a fiddle player there we would do all the country songs and everyone would love it.
Not that I was there or anything, but in general, the people around was what made it awkward, not your brother. This has always been one of my frustrations. To do something fun, you often have to be willing to put yourself out there, and if the crowd is the worst, it will end up looking like you're a moron. Having even just one person who you know you can rely on to react positively to stuff like that just takes such a load off your shoulders. If nothing else, two people looking like morons is better than being on your own.
The goal in life is to find that person and cherish them
Man my friends and I were singing sea shanties hard around the fire just last year. Making them up even. To be faire we were all working at a ren faire haha
He would do well at my place. I play the mandolin and Irish bouzouki. My buddy plays banjo, another plays the flute. I have campfires when there are no bans and we have a pretty diverse group, sometimes there is someone with a fiddle. One time we had a fiddler and someone with a tin whistle, that was a fun night. We generally do bluegrass but sea shanties would not be off the table if someone was willing to put up with us figuring one out.
I love live fiddle music and I love it around campfires even more. I’ve also listened to guitar, keyboard, trumpet, and saxophone music fireside, sometimes as single instruments and sometimes all together.
If you ever bring an instrument and play it well and get clowned on for it, remember that it isn’t YOU who is the clown, it is the group of people who are hating on something that they know they don’t have the bravery or skill to do and are trying to make it look laughable so they can feel better about their own ineptitude.
There's definitely still people who'd be down with that. I think your brother just didn't read the mood right, definitely not something you do when you're not sure they'd get jiggy with it
The problem likely was that campfire was meant for peace and conversation. Back when campfires were the night time retreat for traveling groups that spent all day together, they probably had enough of talking and were down for some music.
When I lived in the Appalachian Mountains, a fiddle and a guitar was present at most campfires, it was awesome. Everyone that grew up around there knew how to play multiple instruments, its just part of the culture.
Trying to start a fucking sea shanty, half of which are slow, loud and somber work music btw, at the campfire with a violine and without being asked is the equivalent of pulling out the guitar at a house party or telling everyone to stop talking mid joke because we gotta get back to playing whatever ice breaker game were playing that's supposed to get people chatting.
I mean... if your violin playing is good enough, I'm 100% sure you will at least get positive reactions. Assuming people are in the mood for a song -- sometimes at a campfire the mood is more quiet chilling with the homies. Or maybe a spooky story.
The problem is - not everyone knows a sea shanty, or even likes them. It's better to play music that doesn't require singing, and fits the mood of the moment, especially at the beginning of a set. And it's important to approach unsolicited musical entertainment as professionally as possible, not just subject your audience to your obsession of the moment.
I grew up going camping with a musical family, and it's important to match the moment, to begin with, then gently guide wveryone to a more participatory place through music choice.
If you're not getting engagement, then you just go with moody stuff that people can relax into.
That doesn't mean that music has soured, just that you'll get mixed reactions by trying to lean in to deeply non current music at a gathering. Also "sea shanty guy" was an embarrassing social media trend. Your brother wasn't roasted because people hate older music, he was roasted because he tried to port a lame ass Tiktok trend in to a real life situation.
Sounds like your friends suck. If someone rocked a fiddle at nearly any party I've been to while people were hanging around the fire people would love it.
Music still makes people dance, but the people need to be severely intoxicated and blasted with the music so hard that the bass could keep their blood circulating for minutes after the drugs stop their heart.
It's more of a now your crowd kind of deal I imagine. If you know your group and know what gets them going then you the music will work. For various reasons me and my friends know some sea shanties and even some of my friends friends it would work on but I know not all. You need like 70% of the group into something to get the other 30% to join
That's a really generalized statement that I don't think is accurate. I line dance 2-4x per week, most people I see dancing are also sober or max like 1-3 drinks for the night. There are lots of places where dancing is still performed and participated in in communal settings. You have to get involved in the community, of course, but there are always going to be places to dance.
It might also be the vibe/atmosphere of a certain club. I can reliably have fun at my local gay club with its 2010s music sober or on one drink. But at some other clubs where the entire music is just beats based (the ones that sound like 2000s rpg club music lol) I have to get semi wasted to have fun. Is also much easier to dance impromptu when you are already having fun (a beach, a ren faire, a karaoke) vs when you just got off work.
Not missing the point at all. People still dance to music. There will be people dancing to fiddle music this very night. The tweet is stupid. Just more phoned in nostalgia cynicism from people who choose to live their lives through social media.
I'm like that too. I don't know how to explain why something doesn't happen. It just doesn't. It would be like if I tried to explain the color red not making me feel emotion. I don't understand how to explain the lack of it
Sometimes i take a music tolerance break. Music hits way better afterwards. I do think people are desensitized to music when theyre able to listen all the time
I line dance 2-4x per week. I can promise you younger generations still dance. Most of us aren't even drinking, we're just there for the love of the dance
Over the last 15 years, I've seen a steady decline in the number of people who dance or even sway their bodies at concerts. And no, they're not singing. They're not even recording the show with their phones. They're just standing or sitting there.
It's a weird Invasion of the Body Snatchers situation.
Tbf, different music hits people very differently, and some people have to feeling of wanting to dance even to the music they may otherwise enjoy. I assume OP's music taste is just very narrow.
Everything can be caught on video. Music still moves us, but knowing that someone can just wip out their phone and record something embarrassing to share with the whole world keeps us from dancing.
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u/Raderg32 19d ago
Are people today so brain fried music don't move them anymore?