Sea of Thieves is arguably the most popular modern-day co-op pirate game right now. Take to the seas with your friends and embark on a whole bunch of different adventures. But what would a pirate adventure be without the iconic sailor shanties we all know and love? That's where playing instruments in Sea of Thieves comes in.
If you want to flex on your enemies while their ship sinks, or just have a bunch of fun sorting through the several shanties in Sea of Thieves, we'll show you how to play instruments in Sea of Thieves.
While you're here, also learn how to get the King's Chest and how to get Curses.
How to Equip Instruments in Sea of Thieves
If you can't find the Instruments in your inventory and are wondering about the ones lying around that you can't pick up, then no need to worry.
To select an instrument you need to open your equipment radial and press R or B(on Xbox) to go to the More section. This will display your available instruments and you can select any of these.
You can choose from the following Instruments:
- Concertina
- Hurdy-gurdy
- Drum
- Banjo
How to Play Instruments in Sea of Thieves
Now that you have your instrument equipped, you can play any random shanty with it. However, if you want to pick a specific Shanty, you can repeat the steps above and navigate to the Shanties menu from the Equipment Radial.
The player to pick a Shanty first becomes the lead of the Shanty and every other player joining in will be backing support. The other instruments will play fewer notes and be less prominent in the music.
Statues such as being under the influence of Alcohol with Grog, being underwater, or being in the Ferry of the Damned will change how you hear Shanties.
Lastly, Shanties have a unique usage when you encounter snakes. You can play music to pacify snakes, which makes avoiding or capturing them much easier.
All Shanties in Sea of Thieves
There are a total of 25 Shanties in Sea of Thieves:
- Becalmed
- Bosun Bill
- Grogg Mayles
- Ride of the Valkyries
- Summon the Megalodon
- We Shall Sail Together
- Who Shall Not Be Returning
- Stitcher's Sorrow
- Jolly Good Fellow
- Happy Birthday
- 1812
- Seek the Dead
- Maiden Voyage
- Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life)
- Ballad of the Mer
- Row Row Row Your Boat
- Infernal Galop
- Captains of Adventure
- Hoist the Colours
- (It's a) Rare Shanty
- It Had To Be You
- Oh Hail, the Pirate Lord
- Deck the Hulls
- 12 Deeds of Giving
- Call of the Bells
That's all you need to know on how to play instruments and all shanties in Sea of Thieves. For more, check out our other guides revealing how to get the Glitterbeard set and how to complete the Tall Tales in order.