Sing-alongs for the talentless

June 17, 2009 3:27 PM

How can a person without skill or talent have fun at an informal family-style sing-along?

I'm going to a family reunion where everyone else is musical and the big activity is a sing-along. They — a group of 10 adults and 4 teens — want to do a lot of Beatles songs and so forth. I don't play any instruments and I'm not any good at singing. I can perfectly well enjoy being around the others and listening, but I don't want to be/look too passive. Somebody suggested a tambourine, which seems on the right track, but too annoying. Any other instrument I could play without skill or talent? Any techniques for enjoying a sing-along without skill or talent?

posted by Alizaria to human relations (13 comments total)

Egg shakers are a lot less annoying than a tambourine.
posted by The World Famous at 3:30 PM on June 17 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sing. Badly. It's ok, in a big group nobody can really hear you anyway and the point is to have fun not to be the next von Trapp family. Wait...does that example date me? Hmm... The point is to have fun, not to be the next Jackson 5. There, that's better.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 3:33 PM on June 17 [3 favorites has favorites]

How about a kazoo? Or a little shaker like this?

Also, if they're into the Beatles--you could learn all the Ringo songs. No real singing talent required to pull them off like the originals, just a sense of humor and some enthusiasm.
posted by padraigin at 3:34 PM on June 17

Several Beatles songs have a clapping beat to them, so you could join in that.
posted by jedicus at 3:40 PM on June 17

Egg shakers are a lot less annoying than a tambourine.

Similarly, you could experiment with any noisy, inexpensive dry goods in a smallish container. This has the upsides of being free (if it can be found around the house) and comical.
posted by Jaltcoh at 3:51 PM on June 17

If you want an instrument, the ukulele is made for you. No difficult fingering or calluses to build up. No great expectations when you bring it out. Just learn a few chords and skip any that come up if you can't remember.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:57 PM on June 17

perhaps invest in a small set of hand drums.. again, much less annoying that an tambourine and a little easier to keep time with than the egg shaker...especially if you don't have experience with either.

Have a good time, sound like lots of fun and laughs to come!!
posted by Weaslegirl at 4:25 PM on June 17

I don't play any instruments...

Percussion suggestions are great. Don't feel like you have to do anything fancy—shakers, hand drums, improvised mallet-and-drumhead constructions made from whatever's sitting around can all be good stuff. Mix it up if you like, may make things more fun as you play around.

If someone else there is a confident percussionist, maybe informally buddy up with them some and play off their strengths; they'd probably be happy to lead you around a bit in impromptu rhythm lessons.

Tambourine is really only annoying if you play it both (a) loudly and (b) badly, so if you're careful about the first part and/or work on the second part you should be okay. Don't feel like you have to shake it like crazy, you can set the thing in your lap and strike it like a drum and be okay. Same goes for any number of shaker type instruments, really—if you feel like moving it through the air is too sloppy/noisy a way to use it, just keep it stationary and whack it to produce your noises.

...and I'm not any good at singing.

Not good as in you don't have a very strong voice or don't like the sound of it very much? Not good as in you're verifiably bad at picking up and carrying a tune? Not good as in you've never gotten comfortable singing and don't know what your strengths and weaknesses are?

Advice kind of varies depending on the answer there:

If you know you're tone deaf—you, a bucket, and yet no tune being carried, etc—then, yeah, singing along loud and proud is a mixed bag because singing-with-friends/family should be pretty easy-going stuff but jarring singing might still get on some folks' nerves. Singing along quietly as long as you get some enjoyment out of it? Do it to it.

If you can pick up the key and carry a tune reasonably well, sing as much as you feel comfortable. Big sing-alongs are great for the blend of voices they produce—I wish I could have a mixed group of seven or eight casual singers-along at my disposal when I record music, because it's just such a great natural sound, even if nobody in the crowd is a singer's singer.
posted by cortex at 4:42 PM on June 17

My tactic is to find the most low-demand, easy-going song that's appropriate for the situation and sing that one. Go for the comedy/sympathy vote. For the Beatles, I would suggest Yellow Submarine - they even let Ringo sing that one. For karaoke you can't fail with Copacabana, as long as you do it with gusto. For informal singalongs, Maid When You're Young, Seven Drunken Nights, or the Billy Connolly version of D.I.V.O.R.C.E are all good bets. Just get stuck in and enjoy yourself. No-one will care if you're any good.
posted by Jakey at 4:43 PM on June 17

Lip-sync.
posted by Zambrano at 5:50 PM on June 17

Rock Band for the Xbox 360. Anyone can sing. Or play drums. Or the guitar.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:06 PM on June 17

Sing sing sing. Be into it. Fun is better than good.
In other words, what If I only had a penguin said.
posted by monkeymadness at 7:11 PM on June 17

Thanks for all the suggestions! The whole sing badly/lip-sync dilemma is one I've had since childhood. Singing quietly is a good compromise. I don't want to seem inhibited, but I don't want to impinge on anyone's pleasure.
posted by Alizaria at 7:53 AM on June 24