Mayne Singers

Guitar

The guitar's job in a shanty band is not to be the most interesting instrument in the room. The most interesting instrument is the eight voices. The guitar's job is to:

  1. Give the singers an unmistakable tempo and downbeat.
  2. Carry the harmonic motion so nobody has to think about chord changes.
  3. Stay out of the way of the vocal frequencies.

That's it. A guitarist who plays clean, steady, and a bit less than they think they should is doing the job right.

The chord vocabulary

Most of this songbook lives in three keys: D, G, and A. Learn these shapes cold and you can play 80% of the repertoire:

  • D, A, G, Em, Bm, A7, D7
  • G, C, D, Em, Am, B7
  • A, D, E, F#m, E7

The minor-modal songs (Drunken Sailor, Wellerman, Bully in the Alley, She's Like the Swallow) sit in Dm and use:

  • Dm, C, F, Am, Gm, A7

If you can play those 18 chords, you can play every song in this book.

Strumming patterns by shanty type

Halyard (pulling) shanties

These coordinate a pull on a rope. The pull happens on the strong downbeat. Your strum has to make the downbeat unmistakable.

The pattern: DOWN — down — DOWN — down. Heavy bass note on beats 1 and 3, lighter strum on 2 and 4. Tempo 60–80 BPM.

Songs: Haul Away Joe, Bully in the Alley, Leave Her Johnny, Haul on the Bowline.

Capstan (walking) shanties

These coordinate continuous walking around a capstan windlass. Smoother, more flowing. Tempo 100–120 BPM.

The pattern: down — down-up — down — down-up (the classic boom-chuck). Or for more drive, D D U U D U strums per bar.

Songs: Roll the Old Chariot, Drunken Sailor, Wellerman, South Australia, Rolling Down to Old Maui.

Forecastle / forebitter songs

Songs sung off-watch for entertainment. Slower, more lyrical, often in waltz time or rubato.

The pattern: gentle fingerpicked arpeggios, or soft full-down strums on each beat. Lean into space; let the lyrics carry the song.

Songs: Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate, She's Like the Swallow, Wild Mountain Thyme, Mary Ellen Carter.

The boom-chuck — the core technique

Most shanty guitar comes down to the boom-chuck: bass note on the downbeat (boom), full strum on the off-beat (chuck).

For a D chord in 4/4:

  • Beat 1: pluck the open D string (bass note). Boom.
  • Beat 2: full down-strum of the D chord. Chuck.
  • Beat 3: pluck the A string (the alternating bass). Boom.
  • Beat 4: full down-strum. Chuck.

This pattern works on every chord — the bass note alternates between the root and the fifth of the chord. For G: low E (the G root on the 3rd fret of low E) and then the D string. For A: A string and then E string. For C: A string and then G string.

Learn it on one chord (D), then move it to every chord you know. It's the most useful right-hand technique in folk guitar.

Capo strategy

The capo lets you transpose without learning barre chords. The basic move:

  • A chord shape with capo on 2nd fret = sounds like B.
  • D shape with capo on 2nd fret = sounds like E.
  • G shape with capo on 2nd fret = sounds like A.

For a shanty band, the most useful capo positions:

  • Capo 2 — for keys of E (D shape), A (G shape), B (A shape).
  • Capo 4 — for keys of F# (D shape), B (G shape), C# (A shape).
  • Capo 5 — for keys of G (D shape), C (G shape), D (A shape).

The song page has a Capo dropdown — pick a capo position and the chord names recalculate to show what you're actually playing.

What not to do

  • Don't strum harder than the singing. If the band can't hear themselves, you're too loud. Drop down.
  • Don't add fancy chord substitutions. A traditional D, G, A song doesn't want a D9 or a Gadd11. Play the printed chord.
  • Don't fingerpick a halyard shanty. The whole point of a halyard shanty is the pull. Fingerpicking dissolves the downbeat.
  • Don't change strum patterns mid-song. The band locks onto your rhythm. Changing it disorients everyone.
  • Don't be the only instrument if there's a mandolin in the band. Lay back during instrumental breaks; let the mandolin take a turn.

Setting up the guitar for shanty work

  • Strings: medium gauge (.012 to .053). Light strings sound thin in an ensemble; medium gauges project and stay in tune longer.
  • Tuning: standard EADGBE, always. Don't get fancy with DADGAD or open tunings for a shanty band — capos handle everything.
  • Pick: a medium pick (.73mm) for boom-chuck. A heavier pick (1.00mm+) for the loud capstan shanties. Thin picks (under .60mm) are for delicate fingerstyle stuff, not this music.
  • Action: medium. Easy enough to play barre chords cleanly; high enough that hard strumming doesn't buzz.

Practising

The single most useful practice for shanty guitar: play along with the reference recordings for every song in the book, at full tempo, in the printed key. Use the Playlist page. If you can play through Wellerman at Nathan Evans' tempo for the whole song without dropping a beat, you can hold the band together.

Then practise the same song at half tempo for two minutes. This is what builds the muscle memory that holds up when you're nervous, distracted, or having the band locked onto you for the downbeat.