(The night that a clearly intoxicated woman wandered into Kavarna from off the street and sang a blues song with Lil’ Rev. It was fine, until it wasn’t and we had to ask her to leave. This photo doesn’t really have anything to do with the topic, but it deserves to be on the internet.)

I think that, in most cases, music is more fun to play than to listen to. There’s a spectrum, of course; the other end would be music that’s more fun to listen to than to play. People have told me that some of John Williams’ film scores would fall into this category. Maybe the ideal music is exactly as fun to play as to enjoy—but how would you identify it? Pretty sure hardcore punk rock would qualify, however. If you haven’t guessed, this is a listicle.

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Top 5 types of music that (I suspect) are more fun to play than to listen to:

(Based on what, you’re asking… in some cases, experience, but it’s not like I have a lot of that. So mostly this is based on gut feeling.)

5. County Fair Blues. It’s not particularly fun to listen to since it leans heavily on the expected. But the people who play it seem very happy. I imagine it’s satisfying to step into these well worn shoes and walk comfortably in circles, always returning to the I. You’ll be sure to receive some polite praise and a beer afterwards.

4. Pep Band Rally Music. This one’s from experience. In high school, I was invited to play bass guitar for the East High Pep Band. The band director passed around parts, which were all minimally notated on card stock. There were no rehearsals. We’d just play through the music right there on the sidelines. It was all sight reading in public; simple stuff, sure, but fun. I can’t imagine it sounded all that great. And then, while the game was being played, we’d sneak outside and smoke.

3. Hammered Dulcimer Music. People who play the hammered dulcimer are always eager to play at literally any gathering of people. Monster truck rally? Yes! Children’s birthday party? Yes! It always sounds the same = unfun. I can absolutely see how it must feel amazing to play, so this is absolutely not a reflection on hammered dulcimer players. The one exception would be for Eastern European cimbalom players, as above.

2. Noisy Music. Personally, I really like noisy music. Noisy music comes in many forms—the differences of which are lost on people like my wife who won’t listen to any. But I’m thinking of music downstream from Glenn Branca, early Yoko Ono, and similar. So, Kim Gordon, Bardo Pond, Burning Star Core, some Sonic Youth, etc. For some of us, this music scratches an itch at the back of our brain—I’m not sure how else to put it. But for most people? They’d literally rather do anything else, and who can blame them? This music is really fun to play though, who doesn’t enjoy making noise?

1. Dixieland Jazz. Funny straw hats, garish vests, playing joyful music with your mates while wearing matching outfits… Dixieland jazz looks like an obscene amount of fun. However, it’s long since become unlistenable. Which may be why so many dixieland jazzers feel compelled to use fire alarms, involve pet dogs, and employ other non-musical gimmickry. If it’s not being played in New Orleans, it’ s probably best not played.

PS. In looking for examples on YouTube, I was shocked by how much AI music slop I encountered…