What do you play just for fun?

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by bg56

Jeff - cool idea (littles sing along). What do you play? Would love to get some ideas for things to play for my grandssons.

Raffi stuff is great (Down by the Bay, Bananaphone,etc) and my kids like anything from a movie they like (I've played "you've got a friend in me" about 10,000 times) but really anything with a good sing a long component works...my kids (6 and 4) love Hank Williams, Guided by Voices, and Steely Dan

[JonPR]

Strange question. I play everything for fun. If it isn't fun, I don't play it.

Even when I'm being paid to play something that is not my usual taste, I find a way to enjoy it.

I appreciate that the word "fun" usually means something trivial or superficial, as opposed to deep and moving, but I don't really make that distinction with music. For me, all the music that I enjoy works on all those levels.
I.e., the notion of music being "just" for fun doesn't really compute for me. It implies that music can be purely trivial or superficial, and I'm not sure I know of any music like that.

I mean, there is music which seems deliberately designed to be that, as if denying any potential depth, but it doesn't usually work. The more it tries to pretend it isn't deep, the more irritating it is - like an intelligent person yelling inanities in your face. I try to avoid listening to music like that - but I will still enjoy playing it if asked.

[rick-slo]

I guess fun is to distinguish between tunes you choose to play versus playing exercises (scales, etudes, etc.).

[Nymuso]

I see the "just for fun" designation as music you play strictly for your own enjoyment and do not perform for others. This does not mean to me that songs chosen for performance are not enjoyable to play.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Strange question. I play everything for fun. If it isn't fun, I don't play it.

Even when I'm being paid to play something that is not my usual taste, I find a way to enjoy it.

I appreciate that the word "fun" usually means something trivial or superficial, as opposed to deep and moving, but I don't really make that distinction with music. For me, all the music that I enjoy works on all those levels.
I.e., the notion of music being "just" for fun doesn't really compute for me. It implies that music can be purely trivial or superficial, and I'm not sure I know of any music like that.

I mean, there is music which seems deliberately designed to be that, as if denying any potential depth, but it doesn't usually work. The more it tries to pretend it isn't deep, the more irritating it is - like an intelligent person yelling inanities in your face. I try to avoid listening to music like that - but I will still enjoy playing it if asked.

It can still be fun. These tunes are just for fun though.

I play other music for artistic expression, personal challenge, etc...and that's still fun.

Playing the "itsy bitsy spider" for my kids is pretty much only "fun," but sometimes that's plenty of reason to play.

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by Pitar

Everything I do is fun. I can't imagine playing, otherwise. I don't do requests if I don't like them. That would not be fun.

Bingo. Same here.

[bg56]

I've only been a member of AGF for a couple of weeks but I have enjoyed the interaction so far. The replies I got to my "fun" question were insightful and will help me expand what I look to for "fun play".

The comment was made "why ask this question, I only play what I think is fun" - great question. I am just restarting guitar after 30 years and honestly, my first go round was not much more than open chord strumming (which I enjoyed). This time around, I'm trying to grow my skills and knowledge to allow a broader selection of music to play. As such, much of my "play" is designed to exercise and improve my skills. While I could say I enjoy this time of playing, it's not my ultimate target music selection (at least most of them aren't).

Thanks for all the suggestions, I've already started looking at many of them to determine if/when I'll be able to add to my "fun play list"