I had to apply to the HRM library system to host the Spryfield Sing Circle and this is what I wrote in my proposal:

A song circle (also known as a singaround) is an event where musicians, singers, and music-lovers can come together to hear, learn, and make music in a community setting. Musicians and singers sit on chairs, facing inwards in a large circle. Audience members – who are always welcome – are typically situated outside the circle. The leader begins a session by introducing the song they’re about to lead. They might provide some interesting background about the song as well as tell the musicians in the group some musical information (e.g. the key of the song or chords being used). The song leader then leads the group in a spontaneous performance of the song, with anyone welcome to join in.

The lead then passes to the next person in the circle who may do likewise, or request of the group some accompaniment to a song that they would like to sing. Alternately, they might simply pass the lead on to the next person.  (The latter typically happens when someone is not yet prepared enough to participate and will be tapped for participation in the next round.)

The song-making continues around the circle – perhaps multiple times – until the allotted time is complete.

A song circle is not an “open mic” or “open stage.” It’s not a place to show off one’s musical or vocal talents. If one can take a musical lead break within one of the songs and the current song’s leader indicates they can do so, that’s fine – but a song circle is more like a music jam than a performance.

Most song circles naturally attract musicians of the vocal and acoustic string instrument areas. Hence, guitars are the most common, followed by other similar instruments like mandolins and ukuleles. While any musician is welcome to participate in a song circle, someone playing a trumpet or full drumkit would probably not be welcomed! Since most acoustic string instruments are “chord-based,” participants typically perform with chord notation as their guide. That is, the chord names placed above the lyrics of the song wherever the chords are changed during its performance.

“Beginner” musicians are generally not welcome at song circles, mainly because their skills are not developed enough to be playing in a group and they often come to such events essentially looking for music lessons. Such people need to be dissuaded from attending because a song circle is not a group musical instrument lesson.

Song circles are a great place for both moderate and experienced musicians to learn from others; you’re sitting in a circle and can see and hear what others are doing. Moderate players (“moderates”) are more likely, however, to be following a printed (or displayed on a computer tablet) version of the songs because they’re developing their skills. Experienced players, on the other hand, often don’t need to follow anything written and are performing from memory. They also probably have developed a “musical ear” and are able to easily detect and play musical song patterns on the fly; accompanying someone playing a “new” song is relatively simple for an experienced player.