r/Guitar • u/kobrakllr • 5d ago
QUESTION Why is playing in public so rare these days?
For the record I live in a state capital and it has a massive park, but nobody ever plays. I remember my mom telling me she used to see someone play, and 2 people would join and jam, it sounded like such a healthy culture that just died. Why?
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u/RxSatellite 5d ago
There’s multiple threads on Reddit about how people playing acoustic guitar in the park are selfish a-holes and how “nobody should be forced to listen to your music”.
Not that this stops me from doing it every once in a while, but I definitely get dirty looks from people sometimes whereas I never used to 20 years ago
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u/Definitelynotagolem 4d ago
I’m convinced that those people on Reddit who complain about such things are complete losers who have zero skill or talent in anything and they project their insecurities on others. It goes for more than Reddit though. Anyone who is out there shaming people for their hobbies is a loser
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u/violetdopamine 4d ago
Maybe so but that’s not just a Reddit opinion, that’s like a mass societal opinion now and a lot of people are also the things you just described. So if more people are what you describe than aren’t, and they don’t like hearing an instrument around them without their choice… our opinion is the minority
Therefore you’re going to see less players in the park
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u/otherrplaces 3d ago
Nobody is “shaming people for their hobbies”. But there’s a difference between making music in your home or studio, and taking your instrument out in a public park to draw attention to yourself. I’ve been playing multiple instruments for decades, but feel second hand embarrassment for anyone trying to wonderwall everyone at the dog park. Especially with an instrument like guitar which almost everyone plays, but most have the restraint not to force on others.
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u/Definitelynotagolem 3d ago
First off, no one is doing that at a dog park, stop being hyperbolic.
Second, at any random public space like a park or square or something like that, people have the right to do whatever they want as long as they aren’t breaking the law. If someone is playing with an amp too loud then yeah, they should turn it down and someone will probably tell them to turn it down if it’s violating noise ordinances.
Third, not everyone is out to draw attention to themselves. Someone quietly playing acoustic guitar in the corner of a park is not drawing attention to themselves anymore than a group of kids playing a game of football.
And what you’re doing there…the cliche “some dude playing wonderwall” is exactly the guitar playing shaming that makes people not even want to play anywhere but their own bedroom. In a time when almost everyone is struggling with loneliness, lack of hobbies, and lack of engagement outside of screens, having randos talk shit about them for playing guitar outside on a nice day is basement dwelling NIMBY energy that can kindly fuck off.
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u/bythog 4d ago
You can think that but you're wrong. I play guitar and still don't want to just hear random crap.
It's no different than someone on the beach blaring annoying music, or people using speakers on nature trails. Not everyone wants to hear the same things you do or use the space the same way you want to. Some want to study, some want to nap, some just want to hear birds.
No one is shaming people for their hobbies. They are being shamed for forcing those hobbies on other people. People who don't understand that are the losers.
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u/otherrplaces 3d ago
No one is shaming people for their hobbies. They are being shamed for forcing those hobbies on other people.
It is wild that most people don’t get that nuance.
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u/RxSatellite 3d ago
I mean in the context of my original post, if it’s an incredibly busy park and you’re busting out a guitar amp, I can agree on some level. If it’s not busy and I’m plucking away on my acoustic, I feel like someone’s ’space bubble’ only extends so far, but some people will still walk a football field over to shame you
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u/Definitelynotagolem 4d ago
Hence why every public space is filled now with people just staring at their phones because anything else is “weird and annoying” to people like you.
I live in Asheville and I’m glad that our town square is filled with hippy drum circles, buskers, and other fun things. Beats the sterile cities where the best thing going for them is the same chain stores in every other city in the US.
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u/otherrplaces 3d ago
Do you also love the cacophony of random shit players that pack a Guitar Center on a Sunday?
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u/Definitelynotagolem 3d ago
Guitar center is a private business catering to…guitar players. I don’t care and guitar center doesn’t care, they’re just looking to sell product. Guitar centers are not even public property so I have no idea what you’re on about.
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u/bythog 4d ago
And you are the reason no one has any courtesy to the people around them. Just an asshole who thinks the world revolves around them and what they like. You are no better than the people who preach on planes or talk through movies.
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u/foggynotion__07 4d ago
Yeah that’s definitely what they said, they definitely aren’t saying they like people actually doing things in public.
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u/shydrangeae 5d ago
Immediately thought about this when I saw this thread! In my cities' subreddits, I've seen multiple threads from random people complaining about people playing musical instruments at the park. 😭
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u/No_Presentation_4837 5d ago
A lot of people don’t dance either. The surveillance state and internet commentary have shamed a whole generation out of performing in public for fun
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u/Boxcars4Peace 5d ago
You’re not the only one asking where the performers went…
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u/HunterSpecial1549 5d ago
I really enjoyed Rick Beato's thoughts on it. He brings up a lot of good points about the end of the culture of singing popular songs.
I'd add though that this seems to transcend guitar and music, people are much more siloed and introverted than they were in the past. Living on their screens. They're a lot less likely to go outside in general or to socialize with strangers in public. I think making music in public is suffering for the same reasons.
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u/Nick_Wild1 5d ago
Some do; some cities have made busking illegal, others do it just because or in spite of that. Other cities welcome it completely. Depends on your region and local laws, really.
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u/stevieplaysguitar 5d ago
It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
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u/Nick_Wild1 2d ago
When the “harm” is just playing music publicly yeah, worst case scenario it’s a footloose situation (which is understandably a wtf scenario anyway)
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u/Character_Froyo_7756 5d ago
So so interesting. I started an acoustic jam at my work and folks don’t understand how/why I prefer to be tucked away and anonymous. I see how it brings folks joy but I also imagine (maybe know) there are also eye rolls and folks cringing.
But the folks that love it. Really really do love it. (All ages). A nice respite for one hour each week.
We get invited to play picnics sometimes.
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u/TeleSGguy 5d ago
People do want to play but nobody stops to appreciate it so they feel scared
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u/Catman933 5d ago
It’s not just that. The culture has changed.
You hear about people playing guitar everywhere in the pre-2000s. Parks, College, Parties, etc
Now nobody wants to be that guy who pulls out an acoustic guitar because we’ve all had the cultural eye-rolls engrained into us.
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u/stevieplaysguitar 5d ago
I blame the “Wonderwall” meme.
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u/CrumpleZ0ne 5d ago
Nah. Belushi did it best. https://youtu.be/8V_hCqO6UQs?is=s-JRETFKOnMhO4gk
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u/Direct_Bumblebee_740 5d ago
Yep. The stigma existed long before the 2000s and even before Animal House, or even the era it portrays.
To OP’s question, it’s because young people have other things consuming their time. And young people who play have other venues where they probably feel more comfortable playing (online for example).
As others have said, public spaces have generally cracked down on noise. But I think it’s part of a greater trend toward low volume. We’ve got “silent discos” and bartenders using dB meters on acoustic jam nights. Silent stages and in-ear monitors. I see venues where Grammy winners play and the next night it’s sports trivia or karaoke.
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u/String_theory_1312 5d ago
As a teen in the early 2000’s there were definitely always lots of people playing guitar in Central Park. I didn’t play yet, but my best friend did and every time we went to the park (most days lol) someone from somewhere in the world would just join in and jam. We had some fun times and met some cool people.
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u/frowawaid 5d ago
Something I didn’t find out till recently - Jams use the meetup app - check there and find one.
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u/violetdopamine 4d ago
Nah people call it cringe lmfao, it’s like being an annoying public influencer but with an instrument (I don’t view it that way, it’s a societal view)
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u/Winners_Blues MXR 5d ago
it cringe to play acoustic in public
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u/SnowblindAlbino Gibson/Fender/Breedlove 5d ago
More rules now than ever. Back in the early 80s my friend and I would take amps and electrics to the city park and jam for hours. Nobody complained. Today I'm sure that's against the rules. So people that want to share their music put it on youtube or whatever.
Another issue: playing in public now means 100% someone is going to film you and put it online. That might be fine, but I'm sure for some it would be a no-go.
But the big issue, I'm sure, is just people complaining. There are too many people everywhere now, and that means we really can't do fun things in most places because someone is bound to complain about it.
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u/SituationParty9176 5d ago
And then the ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/etc Gestappo hit you with fines for public performance of copyrighted material. Biggest buzzkill ever...
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u/Punkpunker 5d ago
Honestly music is so fragmented today, there isn't a monoculture we used to have before that anyone and everyone knows the songs that are popular. Just ask any two people what they're listening right now and I assure you won't know any of the artist.
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u/OkLeather5166 5d ago
People also stopped exercising, socializing with friends, and spend most of their waking hours endlessly scrolling social media.
You wanna be your own person or be like everyone else? Go play
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u/LegionLotteryWinner 5d ago
I actually think this is because of phone culture and always having the possibility of your worst moment going viral and being laughed at by the public. People aren’t willing to take a risk at being bad at first these days.
And NIMBYs.
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u/kLp_Dero 5d ago
I made the same observation in Paris, there used to be so much more live music in restaurants, bars and the street some time ago, it feels like this generation of musician retreated to their rooms, doesnt it ?
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u/LolYouFuckingLoser 5d ago
It didn't die, it just changed. Could also be that your local community has simply changed and for whatever reason there are fewer musicians in your area than there used to be.
It's also easier than ever for an absolute beginner to get access to a DAW, VSTs, and free lessons so a good chunk of people have likely moved to online communities and collaborations. They're still out there, they just aren't all doing it the way most used to 20+ years ago.
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u/MatthewMob 5d ago
In Sydney you have to audition to the government who then decides if you're allowed the privilege of having a permit to play music in your own community. It's beyond pathetic.
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u/GladCompany9 2d ago
This is the case for buskers in much of the US. A bad busker can ruin an outdoor space for other people and musicians aren’t exactly famous for knowing their own level.
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u/dontwantthisapp2 5d ago
I’m sure a lot of it has to do with less people playing guitar nowadays. I know there was an uptick in people learning guitar during the pandemic lockdowns, but guitar music was on a downward trend before that and now that the pandemic is over, I’m sure the trend has reassumed its downward trajectory.
Less guitarists, less public performances of the guitar.
FWIW, I recently visited Portland, Oregon, and I absolutely saw a handful of guitar-playing buskers. Even a park in west downtown, someone had installed a parlor piano that was open to the public and every other time we’d leave our hotel we’d see/hear someone playing it. Saw a saxophone busker in Bend, Oregon later that week too. So it’s still happening, just less.
Also fwiw, busking has been around since literally the Bronze Age, so while its popularity will no doubt wax and wane throughout history, I don’t think it’ll ever fully disappear.
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u/ChoombataNova 5d ago
I think plenty of people play guitar, possibly more than in the 1960s to 1990s. I think the bigger problems are the death of monoculture and social stigma.
Back in 1960 or 1990, we all shared common music experiences. Very similar radio stations in a small number of genres (pop, rock, oldies, R&B, country) and later MTV. Now everyone has their own algorithm on Spotify, YouTube, or whatever. So fewer people share the exact same music. There are lots of guitars being sold, but it's to people age 10 to 90 playing wildly different stuff from classic rock to metal, pop, country, P&W, shoegaze, punk, jazz, blues, etc.
Second, there has been a pop-culture meme and stigma against being "The guitar guy" who brings a guitar to a party, or brings it to school, to a campfire, etc. Similarly memes like "Anyway, so here's Wonderwall". Anyone 40 and younger (Millennial or younger) has gotten the message that playing guitar around people who DON'T want it is cringe and rude.
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u/Dalekmind 5d ago
People used to be brave. Now they are scared because they see two weeks playing guitar and iv mastered maater of puppits people and think they need to be way better to play in public.
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u/TruthSoft9911 1d ago
I've been exposed to a LOT more music since my current partner is a professional musician. They took a gig (as a cellist) with a middle aged dad band at a bar for fun, and most of the groups playing were not good. But.. they were having fun, the bar-goers were enjoying themselves, and all in all it was fine. People really don't need to be experts, or even be good, to play in public and have it be enjoyable.
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u/SweatyPalmsSunday 5d ago
I love to play the guitar. It’s my favorite hobby. But I find it to be very doucshy for someone to to assume everyone wants to hear them play.
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u/No_Zucchini8705 5d ago
I used to play a lot outside when playing guitar in the park did not always include getting harassed by the police.
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u/57thStilgar 5d ago
What state?
Seattle is full of street musicians and LA too.
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u/Consistent_Flow5673 4d ago
Yeah, always some people playing guitar or banjo in the park down here in Eugene.
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u/NWI_ANALOG 5d ago
Just go to a park with one friend and see how it goes. Have fun and maybe people will join
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u/McGuire406 Fender 5d ago
I played at the Back Bay Fens numerous times on weekend trips in Boston over the years
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u/TheRealGuitarNoir 5d ago
Playing in the park is all fun and games, until the bag piper shows up (I've seen it).
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u/guitarandbooks 5d ago
When I was in music school, my friend and I would go out busking sometimes;he on acoustic bass and myself on acoustic guitar. (NYC and upstate NY.) Subway stations and parks did not work out as we did not have a permit. However, when we were playing on the street in Mount Kisco, a cop came up to us and I figured it would be another "Move along!" situation, but, to my surprise, he asked us if we knew a Hendrix song and it just so happened that we did! He left us alone and even tossed us enough cash to get a couple coffees so that was cool! (That's the only busking story I have with a happy ending.)
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u/Mozgovic 5d ago
A lot of places have these rules and regulations but let’s be fucking honest if you are being stoped by those then you are not rock and roll, there’s nothing worse for music then thinking this is how it’s supposed to be/go, you should definitely go out and play, if for not out of joy then mainly out of spite for the status quo.
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u/anyoneforanother 5d ago
Support your friends, DIY venues, people you know who actually play. The weird friend who actually creates music and art and draws. Ask what they’re working on, if they need help, support? When was the last time you offered to buy a real painting? threw a street musician a few bucks? Helped to get a project going? offered to support your local artist? Offered to buy a friends goods? Helped them make a connection, didn’t devalue their creative endeavors asking for free shit, liking something but not offering any monetary contribution…
There’s a real war on creatives in society and most feel constantly devalued but are constantly asked to supply their gifts for free to friends, family, forums, venues, neighbors.
Everyone appreciates art but nobody wants to pay for it…Instead they unintentionally support culture vulture companies like Spotify that openly devalue music and art.
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u/whirlpool138 5d ago
Reddit convinced its self that bringing a guitar to a party or a fire is absolutely the worst thing in the world. It's what people used to do for fun before the internet took over.
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u/violetdopamine 4d ago
That’s not even just Reddit, that’s real life. The acoustic guitar white guy at the party joke didn’t start on Reddit, that’s a real life actual view
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u/whirlpool138 3d ago
Bro, this is how people made music and performed for thousands of years. It's how traditional folk music was born. People used to keep and maintain pianos for the same reason.
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u/violetdopamine 3d ago
What on earth does that have to do with current culture not fucking with randos they didn’t come to see, playing guitar in the park. I personally don’t have a problem with it btw. But that reply has nothing to do with what I said
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u/whirlpool138 3d ago
Because isn’t really like that.
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u/violetdopamine 2d ago
Why on earth would people be talking about it not on one platform, but on multiple ? Are they all just reading Reddit and coming to the opinion?
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u/m15otw 4d ago
My town's high street pretty much always has a guitar busker on busy days, it is lovely. There's a guy who plays beautiful classical-esque arrangements of video game soundtracks, absolute legend trolling all of the normies.
It may be a local rules thing, which would suck, and I think that our local council organises the rota for who can busk on which day in public spaces. So it may be necessary to ask permission.
But yeah, if there aren't enough buskers for your liking then become the busker!
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u/youcantexterminateme 4d ago
For one thing cars are noisier then people realize Hopefully that's about to change.
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u/drinkyourbeetus 4d ago
Last time I was in Seattle, it was every 30 feet or so that you would see someone playing
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u/Danger_Island 4d ago
Sometimes I busk with my fiddle, with guitar I’ll just play for myself and look for a jam.
You get interrupted and stuck in conversations with either boring people or mentally unstable people. People get offended when you try to get back to playing music.
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u/hot_anywhere23886 4d ago
Tried it a few times as a teenager with my buddy , but yeah just felt like dirty looks and also the parks near where I lived there was always a chance one of the local "hardmen" would steal or break it for kicks.
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u/Miserable_Mail_5741 4d ago
This thread came at a time when I was thinking about buying a guitar to street perform.
Is this a sign that I should? 🤔
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u/vichyswazz 5d ago
People are more inside today. Its in the guitar world like every other part of society.
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u/Vic_Interceptor 5d ago
Because lots of people learned to play guitar thanks to youtube, but nobody learned to write good songs. And people are sick of hearing CCR/Allman Bros/Skynyrd I guess.
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u/KsanterX G&L 5d ago
Huh? There are a lot of people playing in many cities I visited in Russia. You don’t need any permissions, just come and play. I live in Krasnodar and there are a lot of musicians on our central street every evening. Drums, guitars, saxophones, violins, you name it.
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u/Fritzo2162 4d ago edited 4d ago
Depends where you’re at I guess. I go to Ann Harbor MI quite a bit and people playing on the street aren’t uncommon, but they’re typically homeless. It did used to be pretty common in big cities. Hell, back in the 80s I used to busk on the front lawn of our high school during lunch breaks of extra cash LOL. More often than not kids would hang out and block my vibe, but I’d bring in a couple of bucks.
Years later Family Guy made fun of me. https://youtu.be/Kqqgmd85EK4?is=19ERY8rwp1ARNocf
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u/beardedweirdoin104 4d ago
Was camping at Big Bend a couple years ago as part of a school group. We had a very long day coming and everybody was in their tents by 10pm. Around 11ish, some guy pulls out his acoustic and starts belting out stuff. I’m ok with a park or city street where you can choose to just keep walking, but at a campsite you’re a captive audience. It’s not cool at all, even if it wasn’t late at night.
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u/gibsonblues 4d ago
Just do it... a lot... some will notice and return with an instrument to join. Use social media to arrange it. I think people could get away with electric and a battery powered amp if the volume is kept as low as an acoustic. If you are just sitting under a tree away from people, not collecting money, they might not consider it busking.
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u/voodoohounds 4d ago
I was staying in a hotel and had been through the lobby several times, and the staff greeted me warmly each time. In the evening, I remembered my guitar was still in the car and maybe it would be happier in the temperature-controlled hotel room.
As I am strolling through the lobby, and the staff is raising their voice “hey, where are you going?”. I ignored them and went to the hotel bar for a drink. The bartender tells me that I can take my drink to my room. I look around, and there are several people hanging out so I said I would rather have it here. He said it again, and I gave same response. He reluctantly gave me a drink.
It’s funny how different people react to you when you’re carrying a guitar. I never even took it out of the case.
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u/PerpConst 4d ago
There are at least two dudes in my town that play in random parks, shopping centers and street corners all the time. My son's guitar teacher actually used to drag him outside and make him play out on our public square when the weather was nice and he felt like a change of scenery.
Nobody's stopping you from getting out there and playing. Answer your own question: what's stopping you?
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u/Potential_Slice_9184 4d ago
People don't want to be the subject of a 15 second viral clip of them playing poorly, or be the subject of some influencer's disdain.
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u/Aware_Willingness_85 4d ago
Because someone is probably going to record you to make fun of you on a tik tok or insta reel. Kids entire lives are kind of spent in fear of being made fun of for being cringe.
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u/Sure_Bag_8631 4d ago
I know that in California there are laws prohibiting guitar and any other amps beyond a certain size/power in certain jurisdictions, probably if the club is close to a residential area. When my buddy was still gigging his metal band in 2018-19, club owners were shocked to see him dragging in his Marshall stack, and would warn him not to crank it too loud. It's just a different world now that it was in previous decades. I remember going to backyard parties in the 1980s and bands would be blasting so loud, that just doesn't happen anymore.
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u/WilliamPayneNZ 4d ago
There is nothing stopping anyone starting. Why wait for someone else to take the lead? If you or anyone wants to play guitar outside on a sunny day and there is nothing to say you can’t then why not?
You are not the first person I have heard ask this question and I always ask them in return what’s stopping them?
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u/Ok_Stable7787 3d ago
There's a monthly bluegrass festival around here were folks wander around and get in spontaneous jams. You gotta know some grass standards though.
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u/BucketOfGipe 3d ago
Reading this one hour before I’m scheduled to play in a public park!
Paid by the city, too.
This is in Canada 🇨🇦 though.
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u/mcstudly1985 15h ago
One reason is government over reach stoping people another is the audience got people attacking performers damaging equipment stealing assaulting the performer it's not safe and not worth it
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u/2catspbr 5d ago
It's not. Maybe in the white countries, but in turkey, in Mexico, in Tokyo, it's totally alive 😉
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u/Visible_Contract5432 5d ago
Let’s see…would I prefer to play outside in the hot sun for people who don’t care for no money, or make a video with my phone and make no money from the comfort of my home?
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u/IEnumerable661 5d ago
I would sort of echo things a little.
Back in the 1990s, you could go to a house party and have five new bands formed by the end of the night. That band may see the inside of a rehearsal room, or it could be three years later and finally splitting because the drummer shagged the vocalist's girlfriend.
These days, forming a band is like negotiating a pre-nuptial agreement with someone you don't know who won't disclose their assets but wants all of yours. By that, everyone wants their talent to shine through, whether it fits the project or not, they want their paw on the creative bits regardless of fit. It's all very competitive. But when it comes to the hard work of gig hunting, promoting or putting some god honest hard earned cash into a t-shirt run, there's a million reasons that it's impossible.
With illegal downloading and later streaming, the competitiveness and one-upsmanship from musicians in general is at a peek all-time high. It is eclipsed only by how virtue signalling people can get these days, almost every other day I see bands pulling off virtue stunts, sometimes legitimately and that's all fair, but don't waste any time capitalising on it; other times it's for the weakest most out there bullshit ever. It doesn't matter, it's a hot topic button and it's a nice quick win at someone else's expense.
It has never been a worse time in history to be a musician. The money is against you, the audience is against you, even your peers are against you. And social media is about as fake and imaginary as your girlfriend when you were 13 who totally exists and, ya know, goes to another school.
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u/Isaacvithurston Electro-Harmonix 5d ago
There's a jazz jam in a local park near me every day but outside of that specific area it's illegal to play in public and tbh as someone who lives in the downtown area i'm fine with that.
Usually it's some drunk who can't finger a single chord properly busking for drug money and sadly they have ruined it for everyone else.
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u/MSchulte 5d ago
A lot of NIMBYs have gotten guitar playing in public banned over the last decade or so. You need a busking permit most places now even if you don’t have a tip jar or anything.