Hi all,

It occurs to me that one of the reasons I like music is connecting with the audience and getting them to smile and participate.

This is most commonly done through dancing, and/or karaoke.

But what about singing along during choruses, and possibly other unique ways ? Have you guys experimented with audience participation at all ?

Also - what songs do you think work best when trying to get people to sing along during choruses ? - pop, rock, TV themes ? your genre of choice - though I don't think this lends itself as well to jazz or classical music ha ha

Any popular tune that the majority of people can sing.
Any tune with a simple melody and easy words that the audience can learn to sing in an instant.

You probably will have no success to have 'em sing along the "Auctioneer" or "El Paso", but "Hey Li Lee Li Lee" will work.

A lot of Christmas season songs will work, probably not suitable to use any other time of the year. (You could, if you dare to, and might even have a lot of success on a very hot summer day with "Jingle Bells" for example.)

Know your crowd and you might have success with Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters"
In an Irish pub many Irish songs will work so well that you don't even have to sing.

So, actually it all depends on the crowd and the crowd's knowledge of songs.

"Minnie the Moocher" works very well! It's not about the style so much as the participation.

"American Pie" always works.

"Calendar Girl" is a good one - they can shout the months.

"Lion Sleeps Tonight" - everyone likes to do the "weem-a-[*****]"s and many like to do the falsetto..

You can usually get people to do the "wa-wa-wa-wa-wonder...." on "Runaway".

Ain't No Sunshine. Let 'em do the "I know"s...

Proud Mary.

"Friends In Low Places".



HAHAHA - guess I should have said weem-a-wap...

"Who Stole The Kishka" usually gets them going.

Joe, pick the songs you like to sing along with and get out there and sing them.

It definitely depends on your projected market.

The songs that go over well in the yacht club in Miami will be very different from those at a teen club in Chicago.

Age and tastes are a factor.

The rule being that they should be popular with your audience and have a very strong, repetitive hook.

I've seen them sing along with "I Just Called To Say I Love You", "Mustang Sally", "Brown Eyed Girl", "Margaritaville", "Happy", "Uptown Funk", "Do Wa Diddy", "Taking Care Of Business", and others. This for the South Florida middle-aged to adult country club/yacht club/retirement community group (it's where the work is around here).

Insights and incites by Notes

Depending on your audience.....

this might work: The Vietnam song....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qPUJhy0Dz4

Country Joe had a good audience participation with it, to the point that he didn't have to sing.

Thanks for your many particular suggestions - I knew some of these would work well already (as a spectator) - but some are new to me. Keep them coming.

Neil Diamond has quite a few that the audience often knows and enjoys singing along with.

Any others that haven't been mentioned yet ?

We got a lot of response with "In Heaven There is no Beer":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzC_koWckdY

This a good old Jimmy Buffet song that always got a rise out of the audience everywhere it's played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL9O0B0gzZE

If course the country club crowd and wedding reception crowd might find it a bit .... I believe the word is... "inappropriate". The watering hole crowd will sing it loudly along with you.

Okay, everyone, I had to sign up to this forum just to put these two songs on this list.

The songs themselves are completely clean and fine to be sung anywhere.

The unsung Audience Lyrics that every Aussie will shout at the top of their lungs are not.

Will I ever see your face again? By The Angels.

And

Living next door to Alice. By Smokie.

I have never heard them sung without the audience Shouting out the unsung lyrics in the chorus.

Welcome to the neighborhood Corey.

Be assured that your contribution is well received. We sure hope this isn't the only reason you joined and that you will stick around too!

The song that surprised me with people singing along is "Unchained Melody" and another "Wonderful World". "Blueberry Hill" also gets people in. It is not unusual to not be able to hear myself for the audience putting their two bobs worth in. It really makes one feel good.

My audience wouldn't know who "Alice" was.

Tony

A lot of the songs I know are the standard pop/rock folk tunes that have become clechè.

1. Brown Eyed Girl
2. We will Rock You
3. Sweet Caroline
4. Bohemian Rhapsody
5. Sweet Home Alabama
6. Hotel California
7. Play that Funky Music
8 My Girl
9. Stand By Me
10. Hey Jude - Get them to sing the na na na naa part.
11. Celebration by Kool & the Gang
12. Under the Boardwalk
13. Here Comes the Sun

Those are my suggestions for songs that the audience can sing along while you perform. However, there are some famous jazz tunes for audience participation. Think about songs like What a Wonderful World, L-O-V-E, Georiga on my Mind.

P.S. Like someone else mentioned, pick the songs you like to sing and have them participate. You just might get people to sing along to those lesser known songs and your originals.

Living Next Door to Alice is one of my favorite songs!

How come no-one's suggested "Running Bear" (duckin' & runnin' for cover)

And if you want to know why, PM an Aussie. Too rude for this forum

Tried that! The cops didn't think it was funny, something about exposure

"99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall" Note to self - this may not work well at a temperance convention.

Campfire songs like "On Top Of Ol' Smokey", "Oh My Darling Clementine" - in the style of cartoon character Huckleberry Hound.

Television theme songs.

For Blues Brothers fans there's "Stand By Your Man" and theme from Rawhide.

When I think of songs with audience participation, the ones that comes to mind are either songs with chants in them, or songs that are so catchy and that everyone knows. For example, We Will Rock You or We Are The Champions by Queen come to mind. And I whole heartedly believe any time Don't Stop Believing by Journey is playing, everybody is going to sing along. Celebration by Kool & The Gang comes to mind as well.

That great Canadian anthem...The Rodeo Song

Ow, OW!! Stop that!

Where's my flak jacket??

Bob

When I was gigging full time, you couldn't go wrong with the old wartime songs. Long way to Tipperary, Pack up your troubles, roll out the barrel, knees up mother Brown. All those kind of songs really got folk singing their hearts out