The United States Navy is the world’s largest and most powerful naval force. Founded on March 27, 1794, the United States Navy has only increased in size since then, and it is now the third largest of the United States armed service branches. The United States Navy’s stated mission statement is,
“Recruiting, training, equipping, and organizing combat-ready naval troops to win battles and wars while ensuring security and deterrence through persistent forward presence.”
Sailors would use music to deal with life at sea and function as a coordinated group.
Sailors on Navy ships used to utilize songs to help them cope with life at sea. These songs are referred to as sea shanties, shantyman’s songs, or maritime labor songs.
They were traditional tunes sung to help with rhythmical work. When they were sung, they served to coordinate the crew’s efforts.
Musicians in the Navy proved useful in more ways than one.
As the United States Navy has expanded, many artists have joined its ranks. As these musicians performed at funerals and festivities, it was discovered that they improved the morale of not just sailors but also civilians.
Since 1794, musicians in the Navy have banded together to establish a variety of musical organizations.
The US Navy now has six performance ensembles: a ceremonial band, commodores, concert band, cruisers, country current group, and sea chanters.
The Sea Chanters’ enthralling performance went viral, garnering over 9.1 million views.
Back in 2014, five sailors in the sea chanters charmed the crowd with their performance. Their performance was part of the Avenue series for the United States Navy Memorial in Memorial Plaza in Washington, DC. Their music choices evoke the sounds of the Jersey Boys of the 1960s.
Despite the fact that the songs were from the 1960s, the audience enjoyed every minute of it.
Although the 1960s had long since passed, the tunes from the Jersey Boys that these sea chanters brought back to life delighted the crowd, bringing them to their feet as they rose from their seats and began to dance and sing along.
These guys were coordinated with musical beats, much like sailors chanting sea shanties.
Throughout the concert, the sea chanters took turns mounting the stage and belting out their solos in a balanced and coordinated manner, much like the old sailors did on their boats.
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