The Campfire Guitarist

[Robin, Wales]

It's that time of the year again where playing outside around the campfire is back on the agenda, and I played my first campfire session of the year last Saturday night. It is something that I really enjoy, and I thought that it may be useful to have a discussion here on AGF about what helps to make taking a guitar to a campfire evening a success. Here are some thoughts from me; please feel free to amend or add to the list:

The Guitar: Robustness, stability and a strong voice I think are the key elements. The guitar is going to take some knocks, possibly be handed around, and has to cope with fairly rapid temp change and going through the dew point (damp). I have used A & L and Seagull guitars for camping for many years. Plywood b/s, solid top and strung with medium gauge strings for punch and tuning stability outside. At present I have a 00/000 size Legacy, which is a little more convenient to handle and transport than a dread, but I have used dreads in the past too. Smaller bodies with heavier strings can cut through well outside - I have never had a problem with volume.

Accessories: Strap; sometimes you are going to want to stand and play as well as sit and play. Capo; you may well need to transpose - fast! A song that you may know in G might be needed in Eb for another singer. I use yoke capos because they live on the guitar permanently - always to hand. Tuner; something bright and solid in operation - TC Unitune in white is my favourite (white, so you can spot it if you put it down!). Picks; the loudest and easiest to see that you have - I like Wegen flat picks picks in white. And I use Fred Kelly Slick Pick thumb pick in white and nickel fingerpicks to cut through when finger picking songs. Seat; any folding stool without arms.

Approach: A campfire is not a gig. You have a mostly active audience. They will listen to and enjoy your "solo spot" but you must also throw them some fish. After all, collective music making can be fun and creative for you and them. Crowd pleasers don't have to be well known pop songs. Last Saturday night my "hits" were Welsh language nursery school songs and folk songs. And that brings us to - adaptability.

Adaptability: I think that this is the key to a successful evening. I can pretty much guarantee that I am going to end up at a campfire playing songs that l don't know beforehand, playing with musicians I have never played with, and singing harmonies that I have never sung. So being familiar with musical building blocks and seeing playing guitar, and therefore guitar practice, as an open skill rather than a closed skill is helpful.

For example: last Saturday night we were camping with my wife's school friends from the 1970s at a reunion. One of the folks there was a professional flautist who gigs with a jazz ensemble in London. So it was bluegrass songs with jazz flute breaks, great fun!!! Then the campsite owner came over to see what was going on. She turned out to be a spritly 80 something with a mine of Welsh folk songs. So I ended up accompanying her to songs like Ar Lan Y Mor and Calon Lan. I had to find her key and work out the chord sequences to the songs she was singing on the fly, whilst adding harmony. There was another guitarist there who knew a few 1970s hits, so I played and sang back up for him.

Now I'm no great shakes as a guitarist, and I'm no great shakes as a singer. But I guess that I have got a reasonable number of tools in my musical tool box, and can often find one suitable for the job at hand. So I would say that, for a campfire session, practicing to be adaptable has been as important as learning songs.

Learning songs v song books: This is not an either/or it is be able to do both. I have found it very useful to have 40 or so songs completely memorised. I find that I need those pieces where I can play and sing and still pay full attention to the people and the environment. Also, it is a PITA to read a book in the dark, or have a music stand - that changes the whole vibe and spontaneity. However, you will get the "do you know?" questions. So my go to response is to say "Find the lyrics and guitar chords for it on your phone and come and sing it with me". If they are keen then they will do that. And a couple of minutes scanning the chords and melody with them is usually all that's needed to get you into "their" song. And that move of ownership is empowering. I do see my role as a campfire guitarist as a facilitator rather than just an entertainer.

Tolerance: I find that I need a big dose of tolerance to make a campfire session successful. I am quite prepared to have my songs "trashed" by the out of tune, out of time beginner. To be interrupted. Or just be seen as "having the radio on". I certainly need to park my ego and realise that the night is not about me. This is not a concert situation! I need to really pay attention to where folks are with the evening. When to play, when not to play. When to hand on to someone else etc. If you have to have things a certain way, then the campfire is possibly not for you as a music space.

So I hope that the above is helpful. I really love campfire playing. I love it's spontaneity and creativeness. I have played with some great musicians and singers. Drunk a lot of beer, and made some wonderful friends.

I do proudly define myself as a "campfire" guitarist and singer, because that most accurately defines my skill set. Perhaps though there is just a little bit more to being a campfire guitarist than meets the eye.

[martingitdave]

Great post. This is my favorite kind of music making. I lead song circles in my local area all year long. It’s this kind of environment but indoors in the winter. My skills as a musician have flourished, I’ve learned a lot of music, (same for the participants), and we now have a reputation that attracts beginners and accomplished players. I enjoy harmonizing the best. I used to play Irish music sessions too. Very similar and equally enjoyable.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Great post. This is my favorite kind of music making. I lead song circles in my local area all year long. It’s is this kind of environment but indoors in the winter. My stills as a musician have flourished, I’ve learned a lot of music, (same for the participants), and we now have a reputation that attracts beginners and accomplished players. I enjoy harmonizing the best. I used to play Irish music sessions too. Very similar and equally enjoyable.

I have been thinking about setting up something like a song circle in one of the local pubs for the winter. We used to have bluegrass and old time pub sessions around here a few years ago and they were great nights. It all went off the ball during the pandemic, but perhaps I can resurrect something this coming autumn when the nights start drawing in.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

I have been thinking about setting up something like a song circle in one of the local pubs for the winter. We used to have bluegrass and old time pub sessions around here a few years ago and they were great nights. It all went off the ball during the pandemic, but perhaps I can resurrect something this coming autumn when the nights start drawing in.

Music therapy in Winter is the best.

[zuzu]

Great post! Communal acoustic music touches a nerve (sometimes deeply buried) in almost every human. And kudos for addressing adaptability in your post! I will never forget travelling with my new bride, 4 decades ago, deep into Appalachia to attend a family picnic at her Granny's home. I had been playing and performing a variety of music with various people for about 8 years and was beginning to think of myself as a fairly well rounded musician. Imagine my surprise when, as the sun went down on the picnic, we all gathered around the front porch, my wife's father played a single guitar and, with about 30 people joining the choruses (in harmony!), we sang songs for an hour and a half which I had never even heard of. It was quite a thrill of sheer musical joy for me!

And an eye opener and lasting lesson for me as a musician. Not coming from a musical family (my grandfather did play, but died long before I was born) this episode was my first exposure to, shall we say, "native" music, music in it's first form, face to face, ear to ear, voice to voice, communally infective, and super fun. That can be the place where campfire playing will take you, and Robin has given us a wonderful guide toward reaching for it. Try it! You'll like it! And many thanks Robin!

[zeeway]

What a good description of the joy of group music. I believe everyone has music in them, and a group sing can coax the shyness out of a most people and bring back the pleasure of singing together.

[wood&wire]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

It's that time of the year again where playing outside around the campfire is back on the agenda, and I played my first campfire session of the year last Saturday night. It is something that I really enjoy, and I thought that it may be useful to have a discussion here on AGF about what helps to make taking a guitar to a campfire evening a success. Here are some thoughts from me; please feel free to amend or add to the list:

The Guitar: Robustness, stability and a strong voice I think are the key elements. The guitar is going to take some knocks, possibly be handed around, and has to cope with fairly rapid temp change and going through the dew point (damp). I have used A & L and Seagull guitars for camping for many years. Plywood b/s, solid top and strung with medium gauge strings for punch and tuning stability outside. At present I have a 00/000 size Legacy, which is a little more convenient to handle and transport than a dread, but I have used dreads in the past too. Smaller bodies with heavier strings can cut through well outside - I have never had a problem with volume.

Accessories: Strap; sometimes you are going to want to stand and play as well as sit and play. Capo; you may well need to transpose - fast! A song that you may know in G might be needed in Eb for another singer. I use yoke capos because they live on the guitar permanently - always to hand. Tuner; something bright and solid in operation - TC Unitune in white is my favourite (white, so you can spot it if you put it down!). Picks; the loudest and easiest to see that you have - I like Wegen flat picks picks in white. And I use Fred Kelly Slick Pick thumb pick in white and nickel fingerpicks to cut through when finger picking songs. Seat; any folding stool without arms.

Approach: A campfire is not a gig. You have a mostly active audience. They will listen to and enjoy your "solo spot" but you must also throw them some fish. After all, collective music making can be fun and creative for you and them. Crowd pleasers don't have to be well known pop songs. Last Saturday night my "hits" were Welsh language nursery school songs and folk songs. And that brings us to - adaptability.

Adaptability: I think that this is the key to a successful evening. I can pretty much guarantee that I am going to end up at a campfire playing songs that l don't know beforehand, playing with musicians I have never played with, and singing harmonies that I have never sung. So being familiar with musical building blocks and seeing playing guitar, and therefore guitar practice, as an open skill rather than a closed skill is helpful.

For example: last Saturday night we were camping with my wife's school friends from the 1970s at a reunion. One of the folks there was a professional flautist who gigs with a jazz ensemble in London. So it was bluegrass songs with jazz flute breaks, great fun!!! Then the campsite owner came over to see what was going on. She turned out to be a spritly 80 something with a mine of Welsh folk songs. So I ended up accompanying her to songs like Ar Lan Y Mor and Calon Lan. I had to find her key and work out the chord sequences to the songs she was singing on the fly, whilst adding harmony. There was another guitarist there who knew a few 1970s hits, so I played and sang back up for him.

Now I'm no great shakes as a guitarist, and I'm no great shakes as a singer. But I guess that I have got a reasonable number of tools in my musical tool box, and can often find one suitable for the job at hand. So I would say that, for a campfire session, practicing to be adaptable has been as important as learning songs.

Learning songs v song books: This is not an either/or it is be able to do both. I have found it very useful to have 40 or so songs completely memorised. I find that I need those pieces where I can play and sing and still pay full attention to the people and the environment. Also, it is a PITA to read a book in the dark, or have a music stand - that changes the whole vibe and spontaneity. However, you will get the "do you know?" questions. So my go to response is to say "Find the lyrics and guitar chords for it on your phone and come and sing it with me". If they are keen then they will do that. And a couple of minutes scanning the chords and melody with them is usually all that's needed to get you into "their" song. And that move of ownership is empowering. I do see my role as a campfire guitarist as a facilitator rather than just an entertainer.

Tolerance: I find that I need a big dose of tolerance to make a campfire session successful. I am quite prepared to have my songs "trashed" by the out of tune, out of time beginner. To be interrupted. Or just be seen as "having the radio on". I certainly need to park my ego and realise that the night is not about me. This is not a concert situation! I need to really pay attention to where folks are with the evening. When to play, when not to play. When to hand on to someone else etc. If you have to have things a certain way, then the campfire is possibly not for you as a music space.

So I hope that the above is helpful. I really love campfire playing. I love it's spontaneity and creativeness. I have played with some great musicians and singers. Drunk a lot of beer, and made some wonderful friends.

I do proudly define myself as a "campfire" guitarist and singer, because that most accurately defines my skill set. Perhaps though there is just a little bit more to being a campfire guitarist than meets the eye.

Great story. Have you ever thought about writing and getting published? With a little elaboration, I see each bolded section as a chapter in your future nonfiction cult classic The Campfire Guitarist.

No, I don't work for a publisher but I am a technical editor who performs QC reviews on archaeological reports. I recognize quality writing when I see it. You spin a nice yarn and have good grammar; I definitely see potential for a book idea here.

[Robin, Wales]

Some lovely anecdotes and comments here - thank you.

Great story. Have you ever thought about writing and getting published? With a little elaboration, I see each bolded section as a chapter in your future nonfiction cult classic The Campfire Guitarist.

The Campfire Guitarist: Quite a book title! But what genera? Perhaps better as a historical romance....... or a murder mystery! Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I'm up to the task of writing anything longer than a post on AGF.

[wood&wire]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Some lovely anecdotes and comments here - thank you.



The Campfire Guitarist: Quite a book title! But what genera? Perhaps better as a historical romance....... or a murder mystery! Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I'm up to the task of writing anything longer than a post on AGF.

No worries, you don't have to write it if you don't want to. I was thinking murder romance or maybe historical mystery. Also, I thought campfire songs was a genre in and of itself; a colorful mixture of bluegrass, old time, folk, and Jimmy Buffett.