We went camping with friends this weekend. Even with little sleep (think of little kids who end up in your sleeping bag in the middle of the night), it was a lot of fun. And I took my little Olympia parlor guitar!
More importantly, I took a print out of campfire song lyrics and chords. I actually had stuff to play and everyone could sing along. I will admit that I should’ve practiced through the songs a few times on my own before the camping trip. The rough starts and stops as I figured out the timing, strum patterns, etc. of each song really detracted from the overall flow. But people actually sang along and the kids had fun.
Also, the clip on tuner was essential to getting in tune and staying in tune with the temperature changes throughout the day and night. I can’t express how happy I am with that tuner and how easy it is to use.
Thanks to my family and friends for putting up with me!
Awesome! I think having a basic repertoire of a few campfire songs should be a compulsory social skill for all guitarists – as should knowing when not to get the guitar out. 🙂
So which were the songs that worked best? I find that “King of the Swingers” from The Jungle Book always goes down a storm.
King of the Swingers is a great idea, but unfortunately I went with a much easier group. Old McDonald Had a Farm, the ABC song, Twinkle Little Star (same tune), Sesame Street theme, and a few others.
I plan to put together an actual playlist for my next camping trip. It really was fun!