--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now any person who plays an acoustic…" description: "\"Now any person who plays an acoustic guitar standing up on stage with a microphone is a folk singer. Some grandmother with a baby in her arms singing a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/pete-seeger-1942_acoustic-guitar_now-any-person-who-plays-an-acoustic-gui_1554101.png" --- # Now any person who plays an acoustic guitar standing up on… ![“Now any person who plays an acoustic guitar standing up on stage with a microphone is a folk singer. Some grandmother with a baby in her arms singing a 500-year-old song, well, she's not a folk singer, she's not on stage with a guitar and a microphone. No, she's just an old grandmother singing an…” quote by Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/pete-seeger-1942_acoustic-guitar_now-any-person-who-plays-an-acoustic-gui_1554101.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/pete-seeger-1942_acoustic-guitar_now-any-person-who-plays-an-acoustic-gui_1554101.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/pete-seeger-1942_acoustic-guitar_now-any-person-who-plays-an-acoustic-gui_1554101.png) > “Now any person who plays an acoustic guitar standing up on stage with a microphone is a folk singer. Some grandmother with a baby in her arms singing a 500-year-old song, well, she's not a folk singer, she's not on stage with a guitar and a microphone. No, she's just an old grandmother singing an old song. The term "folk singer" has gotten warped.” [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The definition of “folk singer” has broadened, blurring traditional boundaries between authentic folk and modern performance contexts. **In simple terms:** Folk singer label is now vague. Key Takeaway Clarify genre expectations. Themes music culture identity Mood analytical thoughtful Type commentary observation When to use this quote - music festivals - artist branding - cultural preservation - media labeling Key Concepts genre fluidity authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How do you define authenticity in music? - Should labels evolve with culture? A Different Perspective Broad definitions can dilute cultural significance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acoustic guitar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acoustic-guitar/) [Acoustics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acoustics/) [Arms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arms/) [Baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby/) [Folk Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folk-singer-395206/) [Folks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folks/) [Grandmother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandmother/) [Grandmother Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandmother-singing-5815866/) [Guitar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guitar/) [Microphones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/microphones/) [Old song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-song/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Singer Grandmother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singer-grandmother-5815865/) [Singers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singers/) [Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing/) [Singing Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing-old-645366/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Standing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standing/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Term Folk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term-folk-5815867/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [The thing about Bob Dylan's performative essence is that he keeps singing these old songs as well as the new songs, and the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-f-thomas/the-thing-about-bob-dylan-s-performative-essence-is-that-he-keeps/) [Richard F. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-f-thomas/) > [“More and more, he heard his spine playing stick games through his skin, singing old dusty words, the words of all his years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/more-and-more-he-heard-his-spine-playing-stick-games-through-his-skin/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“From all the roofs and gables and old wooden houses in Gloucester came a thousand merry voices singing the old Christmas rhymes - all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrix-potter/from-all-the-roofs-and-gables-and-old-wooden-houses-in-gloucester/) [Beatrix Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrix-potter/) > [“singing in the old-fashioned language of this good-hearted man, who sold us Hope at the lowest possible price,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/singing-in-the-old-fashioned-language-of-this-good-hearted-man-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I feel most alive when I'm singing along to old gospel music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-hill/i-feel-most-alive-when-i-m-singing-along-to-old-gospel-music/) [Judith Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-hill/) > [What I miss today more than anything else - I don't go to church as much anymore - but that old-time religion, that old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gaines/what-i-miss-today-more-than-anything-else-i-don-t-go-to-church-as/) [Ernest Gaines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gaines/) > [When I'm not touring, I sing at home, either at the piano or I'll pick up my guitar, singing old Buck Owens songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burton-cummings/when-i-m-not-touring-i-sing-at-home-either-at-the-piano-or-i-ll-pick/) [Burton Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burton-cummings/) > [When I'm sitting in the church alone, I can hear singing of the old people. I can hear their singing and I can hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gaines/when-i-m-sitting-in-the-church-alone-i-can-hear-singing-of-the-old/) [Ernest Gaines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gaines/) > [I think folk music helps reinforce your sense of history. An old song makes you think of times gone by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-think-folk-music-helps-reinforce-your-sense-of-history-an-old-song/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I don't think of myself as a folk singer per se, but I really like blues and string-band music. When I started listening to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loudon-wainwright-iii/i-don-t-think-of-myself-as-a-folk-singer-per-se-but-i-really-like/) [Loudon Wainwright III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loudon-wainwright-iii/) > [If someone asked what kind of music I play, I wouldn't say I'm a folk singer; however, if folk music means music for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langhorne-slim/if-someone-asked-what-kind-of-music-i-play-i-wouldn-t-say-i-m-a-folk/) [Langhorne Slim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langhorne-slim/) > [At one stage, I wanted to be a folk singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-allam/at-one-stage-i-wanted-to-be-a-folk-singer/) [Roger Allam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-allam/) > [Everybody would grab a guitar and listen to somebody else and call themselves a folk singer. When they didn't know no more songs, they'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brownie-mcghee/everybody-would-grab-a-guitar-and-listen-to-somebody-else-and-call/) [Brownie McGhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brownie-mcghee/) > [In my early life, I was a professional folk singer. I used to sing on the national television and radio in Canada. Nobody knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-gordon/in-my-early-life-i-was-a-professional-folk-singer-i-used-to-sing-on/) [Mary Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-gordon/) > [Pete Seeger is a modest, unassuming, cheerful, and kind-natured man. He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/pete-seeger-is-a-modest-unassuming-cheerful-and-kind-natured-man-he-s/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) ## More by Pete Seeger > [Honest songs aren't written for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/honest-songs-aren-t-written-for-money/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [My father, Charles Seeger, got me into the Communist movement. He backed out around '38. I drifted out in the 50's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/my-father-charles-seeger-got-me-into-the-communist-movement-he-backed/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [In the sixties, during the Vietnam war, when anarchists and pacifists and socialists, Democrats and Republicans, decent-hearted Americans, all recoiled with horror at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/in-the-sixties-during-the-vietnam-war-when-anarchists-and-pacifists/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Now somebody will ask me, Pete, how can you prove these songs really make a difference? And I have to confess I can't prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/now-somebody-will-ask-me-pete-how-can-you-prove-these-songs-really/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [The truth is a rabbit in a bramble patch. All you can do is circle around and say it's somewhere in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/the-truth-is-a-rabbit-in-a-bramble-patch-all-you-can-do-is-circle/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I was about 16 years old years when my father took me to a square dance festival in North Carolina. For the first time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-was-about-16-years-old-years-when-my-father-took-me-to-a-square/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [It was Rachel Carson's famous book 'Silent Spring' that got me involved with the environment. I read it in The New Yorker, in installments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/it-was-rachel-carson-s-famous-book-silent-spring-that-got-me-involved/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [When you play the 12-string guitar, you spend half your life tuning the instrument and the other half playing it out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/when-you-play-the-12-string-guitar-you-spend-half-your-life-tuning/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Folks out in the country couldn't afford to pay for anybody else to make music. They had to make their own. So the peasantry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/folks-out-in-the-country-couldn-t-afford-to-pay-for-anybody-else-to/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [If there's something wrong, speak up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/if-there-s-something-wrong-speak-up/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [This world is so full of hypocrisy, the only way you can be honest is to be a hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/this-world-is-so-full-of-hypocrisy-the-only-way-you-can-be-honest-is/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [There is a big, beautiful world that could be destroyed by selfishness and foolishness. We musicians have it within our power to help save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/there-is-a-big-beautiful-world-that-could-be-destroyed-by-selfishness/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [And the people in the houses All went to the University And they got put in boxes Little boxes all the same, Little boxes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/and-the-people-in-the-houses-all-went-to-the-university-and-they-got/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [A good song reminds us what we're fighting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/a-good-song-reminds-us-what-we-re-fighting-for/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Most conservatives just want to turn back the clock to a time before the income tax - 100 years or so. I would like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/most-conservatives-just-want-to-turn-back-the-clock-to-a-time-before/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) [Explore all 196 Pete Seeger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## More Acoustic guitar quotes > [With my songs, the question is always, 'Can you pull it off live, alone on just an acoustic guitar?' That's the litmus test. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-colvin/with-my-songs-the-question-is-always-can-you-pull-it-off-live-alone/) [Shawn Colvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-colvin/) > [I learned tabla for three years when in school, then started picking up the basics of the acoustic guitar when in college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anupam-roy/i-learned-tabla-for-three-years-when-in-school-then-started-picking/) [Anupam Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anupam-roy/) > [One thing I really hate about people who play both acoustic and electric is if they try to play electric style on an acoustic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-gallagher/one-thing-i-really-hate-about-people-who-play-both-acoustic-and/) [Rory Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-gallagher/) > [Much of the music I remember from camp was unofficial: the songs a counselor would play for us on acoustic guitar or that an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/much-of-the-music-i-remember-from-camp-was-unofficial-the-songs-a/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [My first synthesizer was the VCS3. I got it in Bristol in the late Sixties, long before Pink Floyd used them. I had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-michel-jarre/my-first-synthesizer-was-the-vcs3-i-got-it-in-bristol-in-the-late/) [Jean-Michel Jarre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-michel-jarre/) > [“Other freshmen were already moving into their dormitory rooms when we arrived, with their parents helping haul. I saw boxes of paperbacks, stereo equipment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/other-freshmen-were-already-moving-into-their-dormitory-rooms-when-we/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [My first review in NOW Magazine - I played one machine, so I went to a soloist night, where everyone else played acoustic guitar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peaches/my-first-review-in-now-magazine-i-played-one-machine-so-i-went-to-a/) [Peaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peaches/) > [I collect as many acoustic guitars as I need for a specific purpose. Acoustic guitars are really just tools for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bonamassa/i-collect-as-many-acoustic-guitars-as-i-need-for-a-specific-purpose/) [Joe Bonamassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bonamassa/) > [I practice on the acoustic guitar a little bit, but I think I have reached the peak of my talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-hudson/i-practice-on-the-acoustic-guitar-a-little-bit-but-i-think-i-have/) [Tim Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-hudson/) > [When we did the 'Skin and Bones' tour I didn't even own an acoustic guitar, I had to borrow one from my friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-smear/when-we-did-the-skin-and-bones-tour-i-didn-t-even-own-an-acoustic/) [Pat Smear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-smear/) > [It all started in a local park in El Paso called Madeleine Park. At a ditch, a very small ditch, that everybody used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-bixler-zavala/it-all-started-in-a-local-park-in-el-paso-called-madeleine-park-at-a/) [Cedric Bixler-Zavala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-bixler-zavala/) > ['Flying In A Blue Dream' was quite automatic. I was working on another song, and I took a break and picked up my acoustic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-satriani/flying-in-a-blue-dream-was-quite-automatic-i-was-working-on-another/) [Joe Satriani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-satriani/) > [In certain ways I still feel like I'm finding my way. I feel pretty comfortable playing acoustic guitar and singing, but then I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-hay/in-certain-ways-i-still-feel-like-i-m-finding-my-way-i-feel-pretty/) [Colin Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-hay/) > [One of the signature things about Heart was the acoustic guitar in a rock format, which you didn't hear that often.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-wilson/one-of-the-signature-things-about-heart-was-the-acoustic-guitar-in-a/) [Nancy Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-wilson/) > [My stuff was more of a folk coffeehouse thing, with more acoustic guitar, just me doing a single, and then adding on instruments and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hicks/my-stuff-was-more-of-a-folk-coffeehouse-thing-with-more-acoustic/) [Dan Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hicks/) [Browse all 174 Acoustic guitar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acoustic-guitar/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Now any person who plays an acoustic guitar standing up on stage with a microphone is a folk singer. 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