Mass Appeal Guitars 2026: Songs of Awesome in Union Square NYC — June 21
Detalles
Join a massive outdoor guitar jam in Union Square NYC on Sunday June 21st!
This year Mass Appeal falls on Father's Day — so we're kicking things off with a James Brown classic to honor the occasion. But this event is for everyone: beginners and veterans, soloists and strummers, dads and kids and friends and anyone who loves music. Bring your guitar. Bring whoever you love making music with.
In association with Union Square Partnership and Make Music New York, hosted and sponsored by NYC Guitar School.
JOIN A MASSIVE GUITAR JAM IN UNION SQUARE
SCHEDULE:
3:00–4:00pm — Tutorials and open small group jams
4:00pm — Gather on the steps of Union Square South for a mass play and
sing-along
4:30pm — Hang out and enjoy live music live music from awesome local
bands and/or return to the city we love with the flame
of awesome burning within you!
TO JOIN:
STEP ONE: RSVP for the play along by clicking the RSVP button on the top right of this page. Know a dad who plays guitar? This is the
perfect Father's Day outing — tag him and share this link:
https://www.meetup.com/mass-appeal-guitars/events/314881231/
STEP TWO: LEARN TO PLAY OR SING ONE OR MORE OF THE BEGINNER FRIENDLY SONGS. Check out the ONE PAGE CHEAT SHEET OF AWESOMENESS to get started with super-broken-down-simple-versions of the songs.
2026 SONGS
1. 🎸Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" – James Brown 🎸
2. "Rebel Rebel" – David Bowie
3. "Pink Pony Club" – Chappell Roan
4. "Oye Como Va" – Santana/Tito Puente
5. "What's Up?" – 4 Non-Blondes
STEP THREE: Show up to Union Square Park South by the steps on Sunday, June 21st anytime starting at 3:00 pm to practice--there will be separate areas for each of the songs, plus one-on-one lessons will be available for absolute beginners. You can practice all or just some of the songs...Then we play EN MASSE at 4:00 pm! There will be room for about 120 people on the steps. You also bring your own chair or guitar strap to play standing up!
Check in at the welcome table near the steps to pick up song charts and enter a drawing for prizes like 3 months of guitar classes, T-shirts, and more.
Bring your guitar, uke or other instrument. Electric guitarists and bassists are welcome to bring battery powered amps (no supplied power is available.)
Bring water, sunscreen, a hat or whatever it takes to be comfy. And keep in mind that Union Square is a crowded urban park-we recommend gig bags with name tags to avoid confusion.
RESOURCES:
Check out the ONE PAGE CHEAT SHEET OF AWESOMENESS to get started with super-broken-down-simple-versions of the songs.
Note: we won't play songs note-for-note (although YOU are more than welcome to)-we will be doing simpler beginner-friendly versions.
Below are VIDEO TUTORIALS and Ultimate Guitar links.
- PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG - VIDEO TUTORIAL - TAB
- REBEL, REBEL - VIDEO TUTORIAL - TAB
- PINK PONY CLUB - VIDEO TUTORIAL - TAB (Important! Use the “transpose” function on Ultimate Guitar to go up 1 half-step, so that you can start with a G instead of an F#)
- OYE COMO VA SHEET - VIDEO TUTORIAL - TAB
- WHATS UP - VIDEO TUTORIAL - TAB
For full lyrics/charts for the songs, you can download charts like these from Sheet Music Plus (They cost $2-$5)
- PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG CHART
- REBEL, REBEL CHART
- PINK PONY CLUB CHART
- OYE COMO VA CHART
- WHAT’S UP CHART
Want more practice? Sign up for one of our 3-hr Song Lab workshops!
No pressure. No perfection. Just the joy of making music together. Sing, play—or both!
REGISTER FOR A SONG LAB HERE (Space is limited)
Song Lab Schedule:
Sun June 7th 3-6pm "Oye Como Va"
Mon June 15th 6-9pm "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"
Friday June 19th 5:30-8:30pm "What's Up?"
Special Bonus for our Mass Appeal crew: Not an NYCG Guitar School member? You can still save $35! During checkout for any Mass Appeal related Song Lab, apply the member discount and get half off!
Questions? Want to volunteer? Want to bring a group? Message us!
PS Here are videos of Hey Ya & Satisfaction from a previous Mass Appeal in Union Square.
#feature
